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Unread 02-04-2010, 16:52
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Re: Will a 1/3 horse power sump pump motor burn up at half power?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Weid Al/ Toni View Post
I am building my own battle bot and I'm working on running it off of two 12V batteries. It will be driven by two heavy sump pump motors. I will only be able to obtain a possible half power off of the batteries and I need to know if that will ruin the engines. I have been told it will by a freind but I dont beleive her. So I need some help. I dont want to waste/ruin the motors after all!
OK, There's not quite enough info here but I'll give it a try.

By "only be able to obtain a possible half power off of the batteries" do you mean that the pump is 24V and you are running it at 12V? If so, then your friend is absolutely correct. The motor will try and do the same amount of work with only 1/2 the voltage thus requireing twice (roughly) the current. This will heat the motor more.

In addition, most sump pumps are designed to work submerged in water. They use the water to cool the motor, thus will need extra cooling if it is run using air to cool it.
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