Shooter burning motors...but why?

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by stinglikeabee

Another thing to watch out for is case shorts. Once the motors heat up too much, the enamel used for sealing the shaft melts off and then the current is allowed to flow from each terminal to the case of the motor (and then your robot). Make sure you consider mounting with nylon screws and washers or other non-conductive hardware. Please note that a case short does not indicate the motor is gone. We've run case short motors for a reasonably long duration before they finally failed.

Plastic mounting screws are only half the battle to having a fully electrically-isolated motor. You also have to isolate the motor output shaft via either plastic gears or timing belts.