Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

It may not be applicable or the best solution to your problem this late in the season, but our team used a different motor/gearbox for our winch. We took the planetary gear box out of a drill and hooked it to a banebot 775 motor. This allows us easy lifting with no back driving or stalling.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Depleted uranium tie wrapped to the frame of the robot.




Whoops, wrong thread.

If you need more lifting than surgical tubing, lengths of bungee cord also work.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Time isn't really an issue for us, as we are now refining our robot for our next event, which is an off season event in June. Unfortunately here in Australia we aren't as spoilt for choice with regionals as in the US!!

It seems that having a worm or planetary gearbox is the best option to stop the motors heating up at the moment. I have one question though - will they perform ok with a few kilos of weight on them?

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

We designed part of our lifter gearbox with VEXPro versaplanetary gearboxes. However, I would check your load requirement against this document before purchasing one:

http://content.vexrobotics.com/vexpr...s-20150106.pdf

Watch out if you are planning on using a very low reduction with a CIM or a MiniCIM

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Depending on how much you want to lift you may need a stronger motor. We can reliably lift five totes without a can. If one wanted to lift heavier weights, adjustments would probably have to be made. As for performance. We did have a problem with the motor breaking. But we found that it was caused by our top limit switch malfunctioning. This caused the winch to constantly stall against the top of our elevator, which ruined the motor. Other than that the assembly has performed spectacularly.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

You could also make a winch:

Attachment 18662

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

1440 watts.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Not too long ago there was a thread talking about dry ice and its legality. Maybe that might work well ::rtm::

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Only if you plan on using all of that load. We have a pretty fast elevator (1-2ft/sec) and we haven't run into load problems yet in the versaplanetary.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

I love that idea! How hard was that to manufacture? How reliable is it?

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Last year we cooled our CIM motors and Compressor with server rack blowers. They were considered legal, and worked amazingly well. You can put the KOP heatsinks on them for further cooling.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Did you check the jumpers on your motor controllers? There is a jumper that lets the CIM freewheel (coast) or brake. Make sure you have the Motor Controllers in Brake mode. That will apply some counterforce, without having to power the motor. On our robot, brake mode is enough to keep the totes from dropping.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

Two CIMs should not be heating up during a match unless they are being very over-worked. Gear your mechanism more effectively to solve your real problem, don't address the symptom of over-heating motors.

Our 'totem' can support between 2 and 8 totes, plus the tote-grabbing bars, with a single stalled RS550 motor with no ill effects after two district events and lots of practice. We are using a 64:1 reduction with a 0.88in diameter spool to wind up cable.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

It's built from:

AM-0145 Toughbox
AM-0396 long hex output shaft, cut down a bit
2 - AM-0069a 500 Hex hub, modded with set screws. One hub is also modded with teeth
2" of aluminum tube - 1.75" OD
Mini Cim
HS-422 servo
#10 threaded rod
3/4" x 1/2" aluminum bar as spacer for dog (has F <-> B in photo)
3/4" x .125" aluminum bar for dog
.090 servo support plate (sits between bar and the gearbox, holds the servo in position)
small qty of .090 polycarbonate to make dog actuator for servo
2 longer bolts (I think they're 1/4x20) for fastening spacer bar and plate to gearbox
#10 machine screw with washer for pivot. The spacer is tapped to accept the screw and there's one washer on the other side.
spring (random hardware store spring)
smaller machine screws (#6?) to fasten servo to servo support plate

It's probably 3-4 hours of work all together.

One key to longevity is to keep the dog from riding on the modded hex hub when the winch is operating. When we operate the winch in the lowering mode, we slightly raise it first before actuating the servo, so that the dog does not bind.

The only concern we have is that the winch is supported on only one side. We're bringing another gearbox plate and necessary hardware to make a support for the other side if that turns out to be a problem.

Re: Best way to cool CIM motors?
 

@OP: If you're willing, please tell us about your gearing. How many motor turns does it take to raise the boxes 1 foot?