# HELP w/6 rpm motors heat



## gargoyle7 (Sep 21, 2013)

Hi there all!

In short, I am building a rather eccentric prop that is hard to describe, basically a Haunted Mansion animated black light diorama placed in an old 1952 television Will post pics/vids when done, progress has been coming along nicely, hope to have completed by Halloween.

Please keep in mind I am not that electronically inclined at times, so be nice

QUESTION - I have three 6 RPM motors I'm using (one for a miniature flying crank ghost), these motors are rated '120VAC 50/60Hz 6W .68uf'.

Seeing the 120VAC I assumed they draw current very similar to household US, so I wired them IN TANDEM on a sac'ed extension cord, plugged them in and they work fine, BUT after 20 minutes they are piping hot, I need these to last the long haul.

Am I doing something wrong?

Am I better off wiring each individually? Lowering current/different power supply?

HELP!

Any help VERY appreciated!

Lee in NC


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Are the motors rated for constant use or only for intermittent use?


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## gargoyle7 (Sep 21, 2013)

Thanks for reply!

I assume constant - label says 'synchronous motor'


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## gargoyle7 (Sep 21, 2013)

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=5-1702&catname=electric

These are what I'm using - are rated for constant


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

I have run those for hours, they do run hot but so far I have not had them overheat.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You also have to remember that you are running these in a fairly, if not completely, enclosed environment, so they aren't getting any cool air to help keep the temps down.
I'd look at wiring them separately and maybe add a computer fan or two to pull in fresh air, and or expel hot air from the back of the "TV".
Wiring them separately allows you to unplug them as/if needed, and if one has a problem you aren't having to give up all of them, it may help reduce the heat on the wiring too.


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## gargoyle7 (Sep 21, 2013)

heresjohnny said:


> I have run those for hours, they do run hot but so far I have not had them overheat.


good to know, did you wire them straight into household current? If not, what was your power supply?


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

What exactly is 'in tandem'?

With these motors, the correct way to hook them up would be 'in parallel'. This shows 6V, but imagine that is your electric cord and note how the motor leads attach:










You do NOT want to hook them 'in series' as this will cut the voltage to each motor in half and increase the current. I can't find a series motor schematic at this moment, but here is one for series LEDs - again just imagine the 6V is the two wires from your extension cord and the LEDs are your motors. (and ignore the GND arrow for this example)









You also need to make sure you have the capacitors still in the circuit. Your specs say 0.68uF, so these are 'capacitor run' motors and you need to have the cap in the circuit.


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## gargoyle7 (Sep 21, 2013)

Thank you everybody, helped a lot

corey - they were indeed 'in parallel', I did go ahead and wired one alone to see if there was any difference, EXACT same performance and just as hot, so while I'm at it guess I'll wire each individually in case one ever goes bad, easier to switch out

should I try a lower grade power source?

I DO have a couple of computer fans ready to install

Thanks again guys

Lee


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

gargoyle7 said:


> good to know, did you wire them straight into household current? If not, what was your power supply?


110 ac house current. Motor mounted on wood frame last year, I will probably rig a heat sink just to be safe,but no problems while I ran it.


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