HOT drill motors

(Every year we talk about the HOT drill motors so…)

So let’s talk able the hot drill motor- have anyone
notice that they seem to be hotter than previous years?

Previous years I was not too concerned but this
year I’m thinking of attaching heat sinks and/or
fans?

Please advise. Thanks.
:smiley:

Yes, with this year’s increase in power, the drill motors will become hotter then the previous years. One way to avoid this (and they mention it in the manual) is to not run the motors at low speeds. They are meant to run fast, so let them run fast.

Otherwise, heatsinks are a great idea. You can actually buy heatsinks and bend them around your motor or you can have them machined.

I found that the Heatsinks from Team Associated along with thermal grease worked fantastic last year (Th FP were heaters last year).

The can be purchased at Tower Hobbies and they are extruded aluminum. Small muffin fans also work well when the motors are turning slowly (I think DigiKey sells them)

Everyone should remember that both motors have internal fans.(drill and FP), Those fans efficiencies were chosen with the motors running at a designed RPM. Designers should keep that in the back of their minds when designing operating RPM on the robot.

Don’t forget about muffin fans from the kit. We’re using two of the larger ones to keep our drill motors cool.