Motor Power Usage Tests
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2003 11:20 am
I've already done these tests before, but this time with more motors and a little different testing environment (no PCB middleman). Still can't get pictures in my gallery, so yet again I can only promise pictures are coming soon.
Motors Tested
Tomy: 1.0, 1.6, 2.2 and 2.6
ZipZaps: Stock, Performance, Turbo and Racing
Bit Char-Gmotors: 2.6, 3.0, 3.2 and 3.8
TinyRC: 3.8, R-Spec and Formula34
Testing Environment
The Motors were mounted in a clip from a work badge (looks like a big alligator clip) with a ground wire run through touching the barrel when mounted. To provide the power, the ground wire was run to one side of a battery (a fully charged, 160mAH NiMH Bit battery) and the negative was run through my Digital Multimeter (in series, to get readings) and then to the metal piece on the motor endbell to close the circuit and get the motor running.
In previous tests the Bits' PCB was in the middle and any limitation of the PCB wouldn't tainted the results. This time the tests are done straight from the power source.
I tested for no load against the motor and 'stalled' (the motor shaft was forcefully held not to spin).
Results:
All results are in MilliAmps (mA)
First number is under no load, second is stalled
Tomy
1.0: 34.5 / 93.3
1.6: 68.4 / 178.6
2.2: 64 / 259.3
2.6: 30.5 / 275.6
ZipZaps
Stock(Green): 26.9 / 122.3
Performance(Red): 37.6 / 227.1
Turbo(Yellow): 39.6 / 244
Racing(Orange): 57.6 / 273.6
Bit Char-Gmotors
2.6: 30.5 / 275.6
3.0: 294.8 / 310.6 (wow!)
3.2: 87 / 295.7
3.8: 106 / 344.8
TinyRC
3.8: 80 / 345.8 (Nice!)
R-Spec: 102 / 340.8
Formula34: 82.5 / 339.4
Final Thoughts
There's 2 things these numbers tell you; motor efficiency (runtime) and how much juice it'll demand to spin the wheels (torque).
The numbers under no load gives you an idea of the effiency of the Motor, the lower the number the less power it demands and therefore longer runtimes. Take the Tomy 2.2 vs the 2.6, even though the 2.6 is a higher RPM motor it uses less power when running and will last considerably longer than the 2.2!
The stalled numbers (I believe, not positive on this note) indicates how much the motor will demand for power to spin the wheels. The higher the number, the more torque it has...I'll have more concrete info when I do the 'hill climb' tests. I'm especially interested in that Bit Char-Gmotor 3.0, at no load it's pulling A LOT of juice!
Motors Tested
Tomy: 1.0, 1.6, 2.2 and 2.6
ZipZaps: Stock, Performance, Turbo and Racing
Bit Char-Gmotors: 2.6, 3.0, 3.2 and 3.8
TinyRC: 3.8, R-Spec and Formula34
Testing Environment
The Motors were mounted in a clip from a work badge (looks like a big alligator clip) with a ground wire run through touching the barrel when mounted. To provide the power, the ground wire was run to one side of a battery (a fully charged, 160mAH NiMH Bit battery) and the negative was run through my Digital Multimeter (in series, to get readings) and then to the metal piece on the motor endbell to close the circuit and get the motor running.
In previous tests the Bits' PCB was in the middle and any limitation of the PCB wouldn't tainted the results. This time the tests are done straight from the power source.
I tested for no load against the motor and 'stalled' (the motor shaft was forcefully held not to spin).
Results:
All results are in MilliAmps (mA)
First number is under no load, second is stalled
Tomy
1.0: 34.5 / 93.3
1.6: 68.4 / 178.6
2.2: 64 / 259.3
2.6: 30.5 / 275.6
ZipZaps
Stock(Green): 26.9 / 122.3
Performance(Red): 37.6 / 227.1
Turbo(Yellow): 39.6 / 244
Racing(Orange): 57.6 / 273.6
Bit Char-Gmotors
2.6: 30.5 / 275.6
3.0: 294.8 / 310.6 (wow!)
3.2: 87 / 295.7
3.8: 106 / 344.8
TinyRC
3.8: 80 / 345.8 (Nice!)
R-Spec: 102 / 340.8
Formula34: 82.5 / 339.4
Final Thoughts
There's 2 things these numbers tell you; motor efficiency (runtime) and how much juice it'll demand to spin the wheels (torque).
The numbers under no load gives you an idea of the effiency of the Motor, the lower the number the less power it demands and therefore longer runtimes. Take the Tomy 2.2 vs the 2.6, even though the 2.6 is a higher RPM motor it uses less power when running and will last considerably longer than the 2.2!
The stalled numbers (I believe, not positive on this note) indicates how much the motor will demand for power to spin the wheels. The higher the number, the more torque it has...I'll have more concrete info when I do the 'hill climb' tests. I'm especially interested in that Bit Char-Gmotor 3.0, at no load it's pulling A LOT of juice!