25Dx48L Gearmotor - Overvolt

Hi !!

I am from a robotic team (Equipe Phoenix) and we are using the 4.4:1 Metal Gearmotor 25Dx48L mm (pololu.com/product/1581/specs) in one of our projects.
We want to know if overvolting it to 11,1V will cause significant damage. The robot-battles last 2 min and we are not going to use them in long periods.

If it will bring damages, do you suggest something to regulate the voltage?

Thank you guys!

Alain Valentim Perna
alain.vperna@gmail.com
Equipe Phoenix de Robótica da Unicamp
phoenixunicamp.com.br/

Hello, Alain.

In general, running brushed DC gearmotors at higher voltages will decrease their lifetimes. This is not something we have characterized for that motor, so I do not know how significant the decrease in lifetime will be at 11.1V. If you are concerned, you could just limit your maximum motor driver duty cycle to something that keeps the average voltage closer to 6V, which is effectively equivalent to using a lower-voltage power supply.

By the way, such a low-gear-ratio motor is going to be very difficult to control and very easy to stall (and stalling a motor for a prolonged period of time is a good way to quickly break it). Are you sure that is the ideal gear ratio for your project?

-Jon