More PF questions...

[Darth Legolas]

So, here's a new PF question. Right now, on one of my PF batter boxes I have only one M-motor. That one motor is turning so many things that it's running really slowly. I can't add an XL-Motor because I have absolutely no room.

So, If I add a second M-motor, will the power of each motor speed divide in half? I don't know how it works. Does the battery box give it's full power to the thing hooked up to it, or just enough so it works? I really need both to be working at at least the speed the single one is now.

Thanks!

[paul_delahaye]

I don't think so, speed should remain the same because you are connecting them in parallel rather than in series but trial and error will prove whether or not you are right!

Paul

Edited January 9, 2010 by paul_delahaye

[Fistach]

So, here's a new PF question. Right now, on one of my PF batter boxes I have only one M-motor. That one motor is turning so many things that it's running really slowly. I can't add an XL-Motor because I have absolutely no room.

So, If I add a second M-motor, will the power of each motor speed divide in half? I don't know how it works. Does the battery box give it's full power to the thing hooked up to it, or just enough so it works? I really need both to be working at at least the speed the single one is now.

Thanks!

One Battery box is enough for even 4 or more M Motors. The power is sth that doesn't change (unless you cut off power source or there is not enough current for a higher number of motors). It will not divide it will stay as it is. It doesn't affect motors' power if you add another one but note it will deplete the battery box twice as fast. The speed will stay the same.

You can see my telehandler with 11 motors. They can work all in the same time - but the BB lasts for 15 minutes of fun :)

[Ricecracker]

What you have to do is gear it down. That means putting a small gear on the end of the motor, and having a larger gear That is rotated by it. Because the small gear takes less time to spin around in a complete circle, it'll effectively slow down whatever you're rotating.

[Brickthus]

So, here's a new PF question. Right now, on one of my PF batter boxes I have only one M-motor. That one motor is turning so many things that it's running really slowly. I can't add an XL-Motor because I have absolutely no room.

So, If I add a second M-motor, will the power of each motor speed divide in half? I don't know how it works. Does the battery box give it's full power to the thing hooked up to it, or just enough so it works? I really need both to be working at at least the speed the single one is now.

Thanks!

Definitely add another motor. Long term use at such a slow speed would damage a motor.

Consider the no-load speed of a motor. That is at least 300rpm for a medium motor or 110rpm for an XL motor.

A motor should run at more than half its no-load speed when under load. If you need to run the load at the high speed, add another motor if the speed gets lower, otherwise gear it down by a convenient ratio (8:24 or 12:20 are convenient as the axles are two studs apart, 8:16 less so because they are 1.5 studs apart).

The slowing down of more DC motors on the same battery box or power supply depends on the power supply. In electrical terms, how stiff the voltage source is, because for a DC motor the speed is proportional to voltage. A 6-AA battery box will supply enough current to maintain its voltage for 4 medium or 2 XL motors. A PF IR receiver can supply roughly the same, though the maximum rating from the two outputs together is 1 Amp (the same as two NXT motor ports because they use the same motor driver chip), lower than the maximum motor ratings.

If you need to drive a lot of motors at high power (more than 4 medium or 2 XL motors), use multiple power sources or IR receivers, setting the receivers to the same channel and connecting the motors to the same shaft (beware of reversed gearing!). One motor per wheel can be good for large vehicles as it gets the power straight to the wheels without wasting it in the transmission or overtorqueing transmission parts (particularly universal joints).

Mark

[Darth Legolas]

I don't think so, speed should remain the same because you are connecting them in parallel rather than in series but trial and error will prove whether or not you are right!

Paul

Thanks! I've been working on it for a while. Trial-and-error has been the whol project!

One Battery box is enough for even 4 or more M Motors. The power is sth that doesn't change (unless you cut off power source or there is not enough current for a higher number of motors). It will not divide it will stay as it is. It doesn't affect motors' power if you add another one but note it will deplete the battery box twice as fast. The speed will stay the same.

You can see my telehandler with 11 motors. They can work all in the same time - but the BB lasts for 15 minutes of fun :)

That covers my question on electricity, thanks!

What you have to do is gear it down. That means putting a small gear on the end of the motor, and having a larger gear That is rotated by it. Because the small gear takes less time to spin around in a complete circle, it'll effectively slow down whatever you're rotating.

Thanks! That actually makes a lot of sense! I think I'll do that. The smaller gear turns faster because there's less of it to turn!

Definitely add another motor. Long term use at such a slow speed would damage a motor.

Consider the no-load speed of a motor. That is at least 300rpm for a medium motor or 110rpm for an XL motor.

A motor should run at more than half its no-load speed when under load. If you need to run the load at the high speed, add another motor if the speed gets lower, otherwise gear it down by a convenient ratio (8:24 or 12:20 are convenient as the axles are two studs apart, 8:16 less so because they are 1.5 studs apart).

The slowing down of more DC motors on the same battery box or power supply depends on the power supply. In electrical terms, how stiff the voltage source is, because for a DC motor the speed is proportional to voltage. A 6-AA battery box will supply enough current to maintain its voltage for 4 medium or 2 XL motors. A PF IR receiver can supply roughly the same, though the maximum rating from the two outputs together is 1 Amp (the same as two NXT motor ports because they use the same motor driver chip), lower than the maximum motor ratings.

If you need to drive a lot of motors at high power (more than 4 medium or 2 XL motors), use multiple power sources or IR receivers, setting the receivers to the same channel and connecting the motors to the same shaft (beware of reversed gearing!). One motor per wheel can be good for large vehicles as it gets the power straight to the wheels without wasting it in the transmission or overtorqueing transmission parts (particularly universal joints).

Mark

Will do! I think I can get it all done now.