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Unread 02-12-2015, 18:34
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Re: SD540 Motor Controller

Quote:
Originally Posted by wilsonmw04 View Post
Do you have a protocol for this?
Most safety standards state that parts that can be touched (i.e. the heatsink) should remain below 65 to 75 degrees C. With approximately a 25 degree C ambient temperature, those numbers will also leave plenty of thermal margin for most electronic parts such that their lifetime is acceptable (in the range of years).

One would want to see the temperature stabilize for some reasonable period of time. Considering the small thermal mass of the heatsink on this controller, a 2-3 degree range over 5 minutes seems reasonable. It certainly should not still be showing an upward trend as in the data published by Mindsensors. In our lab at work, we stop the tests after there is less than 1 degree C of variation over an hour but that is not realistic here with a robot that is constantly in motion and a load that is not held constant.
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