Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[MetroMPG]

That's about what the guy told me when we bought ours. He said the drive motor had just been reconditioned and it alone "would cost thousands" to replace.

That shaft is a little troublesome. Our pump motor had internal splines - plural. has one spline. I know that Jim is going to suggest pressing out the shaft and pressing in a replacement with a proper external end on it.

However... if you're doing a low power conversion, you might be able to get away with using the male shaft stub from your pump and mounting it in a bearing plate.

[MetroMPG]

So admit it: the thought has crossed your mind to go into the forklift salvage business as a hobby :P

[Daox]

Whats wrong with using the hollow shaft configuration? You just need a shaft made to go into it.

[bennelson]

Selling this motor for Two Grand wouldn't sound too bad. No idea who is using them any more.

I am trying to find information on this motor, such as what the rated horsepower on it is.

I asked the parts guy on the phone and he said he would take my e-mail and pass the inquiry to their technical people.

It's my understanding that motors, like many other things, are made by a few larger companies like Prestolite, and then get different name plates slapped on them at the end of the conveyer belt.

If I knew this motor by some other name, I might be able to find specs on it.

[bennelson]

I got the end off the back of the motor.

The commutator is on the opposite end of the drive non-shaft.

It has 6 pairs of brushes. The area the brushes touch the commutator is about an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half.

All the brushes are on a little bit of an angle.

The shiney bit on the end is a bearing.





Any comments on this motor?

[MetroMPG]

Jim's going to be your man in the motor comments department.

But I can say:

1 - the angled brushes mean the motor was designed to run in one direction only. Fortunately, it appears they're set up to run it clockwise looking at the commutator end - that happens to be the way most (I believe) transmissions' input shafts turn, which is important if you were to try using this motor.

Otherwise, you'd be stuck looking for a Honda host car, whose transmissions turn counter clockwise @ the input shaft.

2 - the brushes look healthy (plenty of meat left)

And now let me reveal (further reveal!) the depth of my ignorance on things motor-ish: I thought they all had 4 brush sets, not 6.

[bennelson]

Hey Darin,

You just answered my question before I got a chance to ask it.

I too noticed the angled brushes.
Also, I asked about 2 terminals vs 4 terminals over on the DIY Electric Car Forum. The answer to that made me realize that I need to make sure the car I put this thing in wants an engine that spins the same direction as this motor.

I guess the more brushes the better!

[bennelson]

So I guess this means that the Civic and CRX are OFF my list of possible donor cars?

This is the sort of reason that I wanted to get the motor and some controls before getting the car.

[WaxyChicken]

If i recall correctly, you haven't yet been able to get the
main drive motor out. that motor may be a CW & CCW motor.
It might still allow you more host possibilities (but limit your
space-available) should you choose it over the pump motor.

[bennelson]

That's right WaxyChicken,

I am still trying to get that other motor out. It looks like the large pump motor is larger, but the drive motor has 4 power terminals on it.

It would make sense that the pump only has to spin one way but the drive needs to electrically switch from forwards to reverse.

That way, the forklift doesn't need a transmission. It just uses contactors that change the polarity to the drive motor.

Here is the drive motor:


Notice the octopus of cables above it, including 4 cables going to the motor.
I would imagine that when I open it up, the brushes should be at a right angle to the commutator, so that it runs equally well in forward or reverse.

I have a real old golf cart motor in the garage, that had 4 power connectors on it. I know that just spun the motor backwards to go in reverse. In the golf cart, there was a fwd/nuetral/rev lever. You can see the four power leads to the motor in the below photo, but you can't see the forward/rev lever too well.