Author Topic: Window motor power  (Read 1741 times)

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Offline usmcphysicistTopic starter

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Window motor power
« on: January 11, 2014, 06:52:10 PM »
As you will probably notice in a sentence or two I am new to robotics. I am trying to make a "James Bond" (or Barney Stinson) end table that will use a car window motor to lift a middle portion of the table and a box underneath. This box will be on rails and will hold some LED's, a bottle of scotch, and a couple glasses.

So I have two motor assemblies as well as the window mount but I do not know what to power this with. I have read forums all over and have seen something about H-bridges, and how to modify the motors and such but no real beginner's guide to power. I read one forum that said not to use a computer power source and that a car battery is best for these things but I was hoping there is something AC powered other than a car battery and a battery tender.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Offline waltr

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Re: Window motor power
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2014, 07:16:53 PM »
The motor surely runs on 12VDC (or up to 14.4VDC). Now, your first task is to determine how much current the motor draws (Amps). Then you can start looking at how to power and drive the motor.
There are many AC to DC power supplies available from 2A to over 50A. You just need one that is about double the motor's peak current draw.

You may not need any H-bridge on other speed controller. If the motor assembly has a gear speed reduction then you may just need two switches, forward/off/reverse.

Offline usmcphysicistTopic starter

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Re: Window motor power
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2014, 08:23:15 PM »
From things I've seen, 10 A is the peak draw from motors of this type, so 20 A should be fine. So would any generic >= 240 W power supply that can handle that?

Offline waltr

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Re: Window motor power
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2014, 07:19:57 AM »
240W / 12 = 20A
Should work.

 


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