Turning Micro-Metal Gearmotors by hand

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1

Hello,

Quick question for you all. I’ve looked all over, including places where your motors are resold and haven’t been able to find the answer. Are the Pololu micro-metal gearmotors turnable by hand (specific motor in question is the extended shaft 50:1, pololu.com/catalog/product/2203)? My application would have it connected to an object that normally would be turned by the motor but would also occasionally be turned by hand while the motor was in a powered down state. It would also have the optical encoder you sell attached to track how much it moved. Is this possible?

Thanks!
-=Izrun

2

It is easy to turn the 50:1 and 75:1 motors by hand, if a small knob or wheel (2-3 cm in diameter) is attached to the gearbox output shaft. With the 100:1, I have a bit of difficulty starting it up and the motion is somewhat jerky. I see no reason why the encoder wouldn’t track the motion, but I haven’t verified it myself.

3

Thanks! That is great! I don’t think I need the torque of the 100:1. I can’t wait for my package to get here.