24 replies to this topic

[defective]

can anyone help with a wiring problem?

i have two motors that i could use for my ball mill, but unfortunately dont know how to wire them to a plug safely.

if possible from the picture/s can anyone help or point me in the right direction without telling me to get a professional to have a look, thanks.

[portfire]

Where is the motor from? I'm sure we can help if you have a picture(s)

[Arthur Brown]

http://www.mancheste...g_Machines.html

Is a whole page of useful info based on a rock tumbler company. The cheapest offer on the page will get you a simple mill and drum for under £60 -that is certainly cheaper than you can buy the bits.

If you must make something be very careful you will meed to leave the machine running for 5 - 12 hours at a time so it must run safely unattended.

[digger]

http://www.mancheste...g_Machines.html

Is a whole page of useful info based on a rock tumbler company. The cheapest offer on the page will get you a simple mill and drum for under £60 -that is certainly cheaper than you can buy the bits.

If you must make something be very careful you will meed to leave the machine running for 5 - 12 hours at a time so it must run safely unattended.

They are cheap, but they are pretty low powered items. I am not sure how they stand up to very heavy jars full of lead crashing about.

I built my mill for £30 and it will easily turn 40Kg which is great when I need to mill chemicals to a fine powder as I can stick a few jars on at once, it even has a variable speed motor controller! (OK I have a bit more workshop kit than most).

With a bit of ingenuity and a few hours in the shed it should be possible to make one even more cheaply, think second hand pillar drill and you have a motor along with pulleys for changing the speed of your mill, you even get a zero volt release switch with that!

[phildunford]

if possible from the picture/s can anyone help or point me in the right direction without telling me to get a professional to have a look, thanks.

Show us the pics Defective...

[defective]

Show us the pics Defective...

sorry, could think of a website to upload them from, but im not at my house to access the pics now so ill do it some time tomorrow.

the motor is off a tumble dryer and has three wires coming from it, i know i need the capacitor for it but my friend still has that, the wires are red black and white.

other than showing you a picture this is the only useful information i can provide.

[defective]

Show us the pics Defective...

http://www.flickr.co...N07/3369265496/


is this any help?

Edited by defective, 19 March 2009 - 11:33 PM.

[Bonny]

http://www.flickr.co...N07/3369265496/


is this any help?

Although I highly doubt it you could have a 3 phase motor with no ground. Do you know the voltage? It could be a 2 speed motor (with one speed using the red and white and the other speed using the black and white). It is possible the motor is reversible (bonus) with the wiring combos the same as for dual speeds. Otherwise the white might be a ground...
I'd try wiring the black and white from the motor to the black and white on your plug and see what happens. Then try the red and white. Lastly, try black to black, red to white the white from the motor to the green on your plug.

[pyrotrev]

Do you have a multimeter to hand??? If so, measure the resistance between the different wires and I can probably work out what's what.

[defective]

thanks for trying tohelp guys, but ive managed to find some pulleys that may be able to be used with my 1/4 hp motor.

its speed is 1450rpm , but i just need to know the size of the pulleys to get the rpm to about 70 or 80.

[Bonny]

thanks for trying tohelp guys, but ive managed to find some pulleys that may be able to be used with my 1/4 hp motor.

its speed is 1450rpm , but i just need to know the size of the pulleys to get the rpm to about 70 or 80.

Keep in mind that the RPM you want is on the jar. So your speed would depend on drive roller size and jar size. If your drive roller is 1" for example, turning a 6" jar, you already have 6:1 speed reduction.
I use a 1050 rpm motor, my pulley ratio is ~5:1, turning my 1.25" drive roller at ~210rpm (IIRC). This rotates a 4" jar ~65rpm......I think. My numbers might be way out but you get the idea.

[Greenman]

Ive got kinda the same problem only my motor has six wires. Any one can help me and tell me to wire what to what. I also got the capacitator for the job. It all comes from a washing machine. Any help is appreciated:)

Here are som pictures:

[pyrotrev]

At a guess I would say the 4 wires coming out of the main bit of the motor are the 2 windings and the cable from the bit at the back is some kind of rotation sensor. Do you have a meter to measure the resistance between the wires? that would help decide it.

Edited by pyrotrev, 18 April 2009 - 12:03 PM.

[Greenman]

At a guess I would say the 4 wires coming out of the main bit of the motor are the 2 windings and the cable from the bit at the back is some kind of rotation sensor. Do you have a meter to measure the resistance between the wires? that would help decide it.

Ok, i just did some test with ohm meter. The brown and red are connecting, if i put electricity. The black and grey are connecting too. The white ones, are not connecting.
Brown and black, and red and grey aren't connecting niether.

I also noticed that the black and grey were connected to brushes, with a piece of graphite touching the motor.

Hope that helps

[Arthur Brown]

As a brush motor it is a VERY poor choice for a mill because there will always be dust by the mill, and the brushes will often spark -especially if there is dust present.

Washing machine motors have their own specific needs. Bi direction slow rotation for the wash cycle, then fixed direction fast rotation for the spin cycle. The controller board will be in control of the motor speed and direction. The motor may be AC or DC and the field winding will likely be across the supply. The armature winding could well be fed with a (simply) controlled voltage so that the shaft runs at the intended speed. The part at the end of the motor shaft could even be some kind of tacho transducer.