Fisher price motors
 

I was just wondering if anyone has heard anything bad about the fisher price stuff. I've heard that they r bad and can over heat.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

FP motors are great motors. They are very strong and many veteran teams make use of them regularly.
If you're worried about overheating, you can couple 2 victor sized fans to the body of the motor.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Mostly right. Just left some details out.....

They don't like to be stalled, so avoid conditions in which they will be.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

The Fisher Price motors are some of my favorite motors in the kit. They're light but powerful.

That said they are likely to overheat if they are stalled, but I would say that if used properly they are very reliable.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Thanks everyone for your help
does anyone have any info on how to make a forklift

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Has any team had any luck finding a place to buy additional FP motors??? We have put hours into online searches and phone calls to many possible sources, including of course Fisher Price, and Mattel and they as well as several service centers told us that due to liability (fire based recalls) that they can't sell motors/gearboxes anymore...they can only install them themselves...can anyone out there graciously help out?

Re: Fisher price motors
 

hmm... two questions Mr. Barry,

1. have you considered looking at products in which they come and ripping them out of there?

2. are you allowed to use more than two? I thought two was the limit.

good luck, vivek

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Two is the limit, but there is no limit as to spares.

As for them not selling the motor, try telling them that you are with the FIRST robotic competition. They might understand why you need only the motor then.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

We always use Fisher Price motors, and the only way they can go bad is if you engineer something that isnt up to the Fisher Price standards. Id have to say they have been the staple to our past couple years of drivetrain.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

The fisher-price motor has been with FIRST for years, in various models and makes. They all are around a 100 watt motor in a 550 can. They have, far and away, the highest power to weight/volume ratio of any motor in the kit.

The downside of that power in a small package is heat. These motors will very quickly overheat and fry if allowed to stall or even under load at low speed. They work fantasticly, right up to that critical temperature where the insulation melts. Reach that and the motor dies in seconds. There are ways to avoid that point, however.

1. Don't worry much about using heat sinks and fans etc. These motors, like all motors, overheat in the windings. Cooling the can doesn't do you any good over the course of a two minute match and the duty cycle these motors encounter. By the time the heat makes it through the end bearings to the can it's already done it's damage. If the rounds lasted longer and the motors ran a consistent speed the whole way through heat sinks and fans would make more sense.

2. Do not stall or overload the motor. I've heard 2/3 free speed kicked around as a good number to gear for. That means that you should gear such that, loaded, the motor should not drop below 2/3's of it's free speed.

3. Do not block the cooling vents. These motors have plastic fins attached to the back end of the armature shaft. These provide the only real means of 'active' cooling. If you don't block the vents and keep the motor spinning fast they are perfectly adequate at keeping the motor from frying. Let it get too hot and the fins melt off. After that happens it's about 3 seconds before all the magic smoke comes out. As always, the faster these motors are spinning the happier they are.

4. If at all possible, keep the vents on the front of the motor clear. If you can stand off the motor just a little bit to keep the front vents open then a good deal of air from the fan will pass over the armature and right out the front. I can't offer any hard data on how much this improves cooling, but it can only help.

5. In between back to back matches you can hose the motor down with cool-in-a-can or compressed air cans turned upside down. It's not good for the motor but it's probably better then running into a match preheated.

Always keep in mind that these motors have to make it through two minute matches at a time. You can get away with just about anything short of a stall or low speed under load. If you get through a day of matches on one set of FP motors, I consider it a win. Balance the longevity and health of the motor against the design of your robot. Maybe beating the snot out of the motors is the only way to get something to work right on the robot. If so, then balance that against your budget and ability to find replacements.

-Andy A.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

we found a place to buy them last year i will see if i can dig the site back up for you guys ill get back to you on that!

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Thanks, Brent...hope you can help us, and all the others that may be looking for spare FP's.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

http://kidswheels.com/vmchk/Gearboxe...els-Other.html

Here is a link to a website that sells FP motors you will have to look around on the page a bit. They also sell different gearbox's for FP motors.

HOPE THIS IS WHAT YOUR LOOKING FOR

Re: Fisher price motors
 

http://kidswheels.com/Gearboxes-Powe...-19-Pitch.html
I believe that is the exact one they send with the KoP

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Though the number of pinion teeth is the same, you absolutely must verify the model number on the motor itself. There are many Fisher-Price motors which have 19 teeth; only 00968-9015 is legal for 2008.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

A word of caution regarding the two minute match mentioned by Andy A.

During build or pre-match testing (especially driver training), don't forget to check your motor temperatures and give them frequent cool-down sessions.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

I contacted kids wheels and they are in the process of verifying that they have that model...
I will get back to you guys tomorrow with a exact link to that model motor (assuming they carry that model)

Re: Fisher price motors
 

We also contacted Kids Wheels and we were told the person who could tell if the exact motor was available (and for sale) would be out of town until next Monday. If anyone finds out before Monday, please pass the word!

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Ok when i contacted them they said they would let me know tomorrow??
I guess we will see if we can get any info from them.....

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Ok,
After hours of searching and many pnone calls we have been told by the most likely supplier of fp motors (KidsWorks in Austin) that this years 08 model is not available and that all of them available earlier this year from the manufacturer were picked up by FIRST. If you found a retail source, good for you and if you didn't use one this year and graciously shared yours with another team even better! Team 987 wound up using our local network of teams (now 15 in Las Vegas) and in just hours after putting out the word had offers to help supply us with back up fp motors. Maybe this was FIRST's intention all along-force teams to work together graciously? It worked...

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Indeed. I was able to call around and arrange a swap of small CIMs for the FPs 973 needs.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

57 has heard from official sources that FP itself will not work with individual FIRST teams and is re-directing them to FIRST. FIRST is apparently attempting to secure a supply of extra motors to put up for sale on the IFI FIRST Store as soon as can be managed. Till then, motor swaps and loans are your best bet. Maybe next year, FIRST will just chunk the quirky FP motors and gearboxes and go straight with BaneBots RS-550 motors. The peak power is about the same, so I don't see why not. It could be an arrangement similar to the CIMs and Mini-Bikes, get some in the kits, buy more if you need them. I think it'd work well for everyone involved.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

I myself would hate to see the fischer price motor go for a replacement as shotty as the banebots rs-550. In the off season our team had a mini competition and we chose just ordering 8 of these motors and 16:1 gearboxes to use as drive motors. And not a single one of the motors still functions, they are very very quick to let out magic smoke. If you use this motor put it in an intermittent operation area with at least 1 fan on the end of it due to the lack of an internal fan.

And when we toasted these motors some died with very little load on the shaft so its wasn't us abusing them. My mini bot i later switched out to fp's and it can now pull me around in an office chair no prob

Fans on Fisher-Price motors?
 

Has anyone gotten an official reading on whether you can add extra Victor fans on the Fisher-Price motors? Robot rules say we can use as many Victors as needed, but don't specify that the motor can be treated as a separate assembly from the controller, or that the motor can be used separately.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

There are muffin fans in the KOP that are not meant for the Victors. There are no rules that would prevent you from using one of these to attempt to cool a Fischer Price motor. Some of the board members far wiser in the way of motors than I (Joe Johnson perhaps? I forget) suggested that with the way the motor is set up it may only be marginally effective or even entirely ineffective to do this.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

We mount victor fans on the end of our FP's and it makes them very happy.... I would suggest doing it especially if it is in constant use on your robot...

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Looks like IFI's KOP store will be carrying the FP motors in a couple days ..

http://www.ifirobotics.com/first-store.shtml

You can also order victor fans from there, although I'm not sure how exactly it fits into the rules (since a fan is technically a motor .. )

http://www.ifirobotics.com/accessories.shtml

Re: Fisher price motors
 

Has anyone actually let the magic smoke out of an FP this year? My team made some interesting decisions with gripper design and ran into a scenario where the FP is exhibiting characteristics consistent with built-in thermal protection.

Under a constant load (with the FP's not turning) they will hold for a bit, then they will suddenly release. The victors are still outputting correctly and no "snap" of the breakers is heard. Then shortly after the motors can be used again.

Re: Fisher price motors
 

they do have a thermal cut off built in...
We are having the same problem but we think we have a solution:D