CIM motor heatsink

[popo308]

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

another option is find a common heatsink and bend it to a 2.5"diameter.
On our robot we had a fp motor getting rather toasty so we took the stock heatsink from a students quadcore processor and easily modified it to slide over the motor with a fan mounted on it, it works quite nicely

i believe that was my heatsink

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Woody,
It sounds as if you have some weight to spare but heatsinks on the outside of motors are very inefficient for cooling. The majority of heat is built up inside the motor armature due to high current. That heat is only conducted to the outside of the motor by radiation, a little convection and conduction through the motor shaft via the bearings. If you are experiencing heat on the CIM motor, you have raised the temperature of not only the armature but the magnet and outside case structure as well. I would guess that if the case were above 100 degrees, the internal temp might even be twice that. The motor will simply not last long with that stress. You should really look at the motor curve as it applies to your design. When you get into the finals, you might not survive with the repetitive heating of the motor as matches get closer together and driving becomes more difficult.

[Scott Morgan]

The CIM motors are pretty rugged, I don't think they'll give you a problem.

[Woody1458]

Thank for the advice guys. One thing I forgot to mention is that due to our compact spacing we had to put the compressor right in between our four CIMs, so I think one way or another the out side will get hot no matter what I do. BTW I contested that placement but the team decided against me, so telling me to move the compressor would be mostly pointless.