At my university I’m having a project to automate a shuffleboard. For this project i’m using a Pololu 25D motor, the 4842 motor.
Our system works, but with all the plastic 3D-printed gears at lot off friction occurs. As a result of that we are shouting about 10-15cm short (4-6 inches).
Tuesday our system has to work and we are kind of at a los.
Can I perhaps overvolt the 12V motor?
I totally understand that this is not recommend. But is there a possibility that you could guide me a bit.
The motor will ramp up to the max speed, stay there, and ramp back down. This will take less than 20 seconds. About 10-15 seconds later this will happen again.
In total the motor will ramp up and down 12 times, after that it can rest for 30 minutes.
Kind regards,
Michiel Niesen
Hello.
I saw the email you also sent on Friday and replied to that but missed the post here. In the future please let us know if you decide to ask the same question through multiple support channels so we can better coordinate a response.
In general, these kinds of motors can be used at voltages above and below their nominal voltage. Higher voltages will result in higher speeds and more torque, but they can start negatively affecting the lifetime of the motor, and they can also put the motor at higher risk of catastrophic failure when exposed to excessive loads.
- Patrick
So a 12V motor on 12,55V or 13V wouldn’t be a problem if I just watch out how hot it gets?
Kind regards
Michiel Niesen
In general I expect that to be fine if you just need a little more speed/torque and are okay with potentially losing some use life.
If you want to err on the side of caution, then watching the motor temperature might help you detect when the motor is overloaded. However, the response time for that could end up being too slow to provide meaningful protection, so I suggest using a current sensor to monitor the load on the motor more directly. A general recommendation we share on the motor’s product page for brushed DC motor operation is to limit the continuous load to 25% or less of the stall current.
- Patrick
