Using one DRV8835 and two 130-Size, 3V, 17kRPM, 3.6A Stall Brushed DC motors

Support Motor controllers/drivers and motors
1

Is it possible to drive two 130-Size, 3V, 17kRPM, 3.6A Stall brushed DC motors using the DRV8835 motor controller? I will be using a 3.7v 720mAh 20C LiPo battery to provide power to the motors and logic power will be provided by an Adafruit Feather52 microcontroller.

Will the motor controller burn up if the one of the motors stalls? I see that the controller will provide 1.2 Amps per channel and the motors free run current is 250 mA. This is for a hovercraft project and I will be attaching low-pitch propellers to the motors.

The controller is going to be controlled using the DRV8835 Controller Arduino Library as well.

Thanks for the help,
Ben

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Hello, Ben.

The DRV8835 driver is not a good choice for those motors. As you noted, those high power 130 size motors can draw a lot more current than the DRV8835 can handle. They also generate a lot of noise that the DRV8835 does not handle well. You can find a lengthier description of this, including scope captures and comparisons with added capacitors, in this post by Jon.

Our Dual MC33926 Motor Driver Carrier would be a better option. We also have a version of the dual MC33926 motor driver carrier in an Arduino shield form factor and as a Raspberry Pi expansion board. Associated libraries are available under the “Resources” tab of their respective product pages.

Brandon

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Thanks Brandon, I will have to look into the suggested driver. Unfortunately that driver takes my project over the $50 limit. May have to look at less powerful motors.

Ben