Motor Query

[Tim CooperParticipant @timcooper90034]

I have 2 small motors, I think I took them out of an electric salt and pepper mill.

They have printed on them 6v 3545, they are 30 mm long, 24 mm dia with a 2 mm shaft.

Are they to be of any use in a Model boat or just recycle them?

Thanks

Tim

[Tim CooperParticipant @timcooper90034]

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Tim
They sound like 380 motors. Can you look through the vent slots in the front face and count the number of wire-wound poles there are on the armature? It will be either three or five.
Dave M

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

There are a host of small industrial motors available for domestic items. Does it have a gearbox, like these?

**LINK**

It will be (I assume!) a good motor for its original design purpose – intermittent high-torque operation, probably via a gearbox.

If you have a similar requirement – sail winch or crane hoist, for instance, it will probably be a good fit.

If you want a small motor for a kid's toy, or a boat where the design requirements are not very critical, it will probably do.

If you want an optimised motor for racing, or a low-drain motor for endurance, it's probably not ideal. But you would need to measure the power output and current drain to get a better idea. Without knowing more about the motor no one can say! But, given its original purpose, I would guess that it has a fair bit of torque…

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 30/03/2017 12:39:43

[Tim CooperParticipant @timcooper90034]

Thanks

I think they have 3 poles but trying to count them has made me realise that they have only small holes for vents. So I guess that they are suitable for intermittent use only. Not sure why I didn't notice lack of ventilation before.

Thanks anyway

Tim

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Tim

Unless you are going to run the boat at high speed for long periods then ventilation / cooling shouldn't be much of a problem.

If you sail models like most people then your boat will most likley spend most of its time bobbing up and down going nowhere.

The motors sound ideal for a smaller boat that needs twin props.

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Odd small motors like this always seem handy and stashable. but…..

​I have loads, and should probably bin them. New "known" motors are so cheap.

​I am (I think) participating in a boat workshop soon , and will GIVE away the motors and push-on air props, as they will never be used (by me anyway). A bunch of, probably only 3v, 280 or 160`s…don't know.

I have some bigger ones out of drills and so on which always look good, but again am unlikely to use them.

​really these odd motors need connecting to a prop/shaft and some current and "ear" measurements taken…ie how fast do they go compared to something you know of. THEN you can tentatively label them up. As DM says, 380`s sound likely, a useful fast motor for a small boat, that is, if that's what you are building.

​Ashley

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Looking at the MFA range of Mabuchi motors and clones and this seems to fit the description closest **LINK**

As Ashley's reply infers, they could be useful if you found the right model boat to fit them. It would be no more than about 12" long.

Dave M

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

As I suspect I said earlier, they are probably ideal for intermittent hi-torque.

They will probably 'do' for all sorts of general purposes, so long as you do not want to run them to limits.

They are probably not 'ideal' main power motors for anything more than 'toy' size.

You will know more if you test their power and current drain.

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