1 Topic by Sungod3000

  • Sungod3000
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  • Registered: 2014-05-02
  • Posts: 53

Topic: My beta motor expercience

Hey,

i have the beta motor now running for a 2 weeks and I can say it works.

Now for some details:
First of all I separated the heat and the motor circuit to avoid the speed-down every time the sestos heats up.

Following the advise I got myself a fuse (4 amps) and a dimmer (simple resistance based LED dimmer) and put it in the motor circuit. I was worried about the LED dimmer taking away from the max speed, but I compared the output speeds with and without dimmer at 3 different temps and it came out the same. That said the dimmer is not necessary, since you most likely wont top speed all the time anyway.
I also carefully tested the fuse and managed to blow one, but my powesupply is only 5 amp, so I wasnt worried about it reaching its 10 amp destructive maximum.

I also tested the amp use and found out it was very similar to the original motor. After 20 min warm up time there is no amp spike when I turn on the motor and the amp drain is around 0.5-0.9 amp. Its a bit lower than the 2.3 amps suggested in the description and Im not completely sure why that is.

In the end its definitely worth buying and Im already on the lookout for an even stronger motor but that search ill post in another topic.

2 Reply by tonycstech

  • tonycstech
  • tonycstech
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  • Registered: 2014-08-02
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Re: My beta motor expercience

1st thing i did was exactly that, to separate the motor from the heater by buying another PS.
Didnt see any difference in extrusion but the original PS was overheating and now its now.
I upgraded the PS to 8Amps and now its 1 PS and still does change its speed when heater kicks in. No effect on extrusion from what i can see.

The biggest change i want is adjustable motor speed. I wonder what would require for that using current setup. More volts ?
I my self would really like to see stepper motor in place instead of this $60 junk. I understand stepper motors are not that strong (as this beast) but then it could have an overload protection. After all, if its not running smooth, it should not run at all right ?

My kit came with new motor so i dont know any better smile

What do you do with the fuse ?

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3 Reply by elmoret

  • elmoret
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  • Registered: 2012-10-11
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Re: My beta motor expercience

The kits ship with the standard motor, not the beta motor.

If you want higher speed on the standard motor, you would need more volts - but the motors are rated for 12 volts, so overvolting will increase motor heat and brush wear.

Stepper motors that are strong enough will still require a gearbox. The geared NEMA23 that Lyman uses is $74, and then you need a stepper driver and Arduino to drive it ($20). I thought long and hard about a stepper based design, the pros don't outweigh the cons in my opinion. You need about the same amount of torque as a lawnmower engine, though at a much lower RPM.

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E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

4 Reply by elmoret

  • elmoret
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Re: My beta motor expercience

Sungod3000 wrote:

I also tested the amp use and found out it was very similar to the original motor. After 20 min warm up time there is no amp spike when I turn on the motor and the amp drain is around 0.5-0.9 amp. Its a bit lower than the 2.3 amps suggested in the description and Im not completely sure why that is.

In the end its definitely worth buying and Im already on the lookout for an even stronger motor but that search ill post in another topic.

The 2.3 amps is a sort of a worst case estimate, current draw will increase with motor load. I think I tested it with cooler temperatures.

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend