2-Pole DC Motor Project - Some Ideas to Get You Started

Building a working 2-pole electric motor was more of a challenge than I would have thought but more rewarding for me also. This was a project for a high school class and I wanted to see how well I could complete the assignment. I don’t want to divulge all the little details but I will give some ideas how I approached this project.

Starting with the instructions you want to familiarize yourself with the components of the motor and the terminology.  Research how this type of direct current electric motor functions.  One term that was given in assignment was “soft iron”.  There is a definition for this as it refers to magnetic properties, look that up.  After this I start thinking about where I may find the materials needed for this project; wire I found at Radio Shack, the other parts I found at a hardware store and a hobby shop.

Part of the trouble I had was making an assumption, that being the power supply which was designed to cut through foam was direct current. After much frustration I discovered it was putting out alternating current.  On my first prototype I wound the wire around two nails with winds going one direction and then back. For my second version of the motor I wound a total of 400 turns around a core made up from several pieces of coat hanger wire taped in a bunch. The new motor had a brass rod shaft which should be plenty rigid. The commutator was built from a plastic spacer that fit tight over the brass rod and a brass tube that fit tight over the plastic spacer.  I cut this apart using a Dremel tool two make the two halves.

A.C. Power Supply - Bad Assumption

Using a new power supply that was direct current at 15 volts 800 mah the motor tried to spin but just wouldn’t get started.  At this point I replaced the two magnets with more powerful neodymium  magnets and the motor started to run immediately.  I would like to try to make improvements to a new motor and see if the cheaper ceramic magnets would work. The exact timing of where the commutator is split is another critical factor that I think could be improved on.

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Bill Kuhl

http://www.ideas-inspire.com