Bilge pump amps and Arduino motor shields

[zoomzky]

Hi,

Planning my first build and have some questions about bilge pumps and amps etc

Found these bilge pumps:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1100GPH- ... 03544.html
Specification says 3A with a 5A fuse? Read in forum posts about people measured up to 8A
The onboard 5A fuse makes this i a bad choice i guess?

I want to control pumps with an motor shield on a Arduino Uno using PWM
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Monster- ... 80141.html
havent seen a ROV-project so far using a motor shield for this kind of motor
Am i out in the "blue" using a motor shield for a bilge pump? =)

As for now i want to use 3 thrusters. 2 for forward/backward and 1 for up/down. Will use on board Power using LI-Ion batteries harvested from old laptops creating my own packs.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an ... tery-Pack/
Interested in tips calculating needed amps.
Are there any one out there using Li-ions?

Cheers!
/Z

[a_shorething]

I can answer this with some authority (having let the smoke out of not one but two motor shields).

I can tell you that they really do only handle a couple of amps. There is no real heat sink to speak of on the boards and they get HOT really quick. Then they cool down because they're toasted.


I tested using 1100 gph bilge pumps and when it got to about 3amps of draw, it hesitated and then gave up the ghost, never to work again.

I think your best bet if you're going with the bilge pump motors (as I still am) is to go with a dual H bridge configuration that can accept the PWM output from the arduino board but can also handle something like 30 amps. There is one I think that's called the IBT-2 that you can get for under $15. I've tested it and it can handle 100% of what the bilge pump needs, at least in my configuration without even getting warm.

I think many of the batteries in use are li-ion batteries, although they're usually hobby motor batteries. If you observe the rules about LI-ion batteries you should be fine.

[zoomzky]

I can answer this with some authority (having let the smoke out of not one but two motor shields).

I can tell you that they really do only handle a couple of amps. There is no real heat sink to speak of on the boards and they get HOT really quick. Then they cool down because they're toasted.


I tested using 1100 gph bilge pumps and when it got to about 3amps of draw, it hesitated and then gave up the ghost, never to work again.

I think your best bet if you're going with the bilge pump motors (as I still am) is to go with a dual H bridge configuration that can accept the PWM output from the arduino board but can also handle something like 30 amps. There is one I think that's called the IBT-2 that you can get for under $15. I've tested it and it can handle 100% of what the bilge pump needs, at least in my configuration without even getting warm.

I think many of the batteries in use are li-ion batteries, although they're usually hobby motor batteries. If you observe the rules about LI-ion batteries you should be fine.

Ty for answer!

Im suprised that Moto monster drive shield cannot handle more then a couple of amps?
Specs for VNH2SP30 says peak 30A. I have some of them laying around...i will try and hope i wont fry

/Z

[a_shorething]

I can answer this with some authority (having let the smoke out of not one but two motor shields).

I can tell you that they really do only handle a couple of amps. There is no real heat sink to speak of on the boards and they get HOT really quick. Then they cool down because they're toasted.


I tested using 1100 gph bilge pumps and when it got to about 3amps of draw, it hesitated and then gave up the ghost, never to work again.

I think your best bet if you're going with the bilge pump motors (as I still am) is to go with a dual H bridge configuration that can accept the PWM output from the arduino board but can also handle something like 30 amps. There is one I think that's called the IBT-2 that you can get for under $15. I've tested it and it can handle 100% of what the bilge pump needs, at least in my configuration without even getting warm.

I think many of the batteries in use are li-ion batteries, although they're usually hobby motor batteries. If you observe the rules about LI-ion batteries you should be fine.

Ty for answer!

Im suprised that Moto monster drive shield cannot handle more then a couple of amps?
Specs for VNH2SP30 says peak 30A. I have some of them laying around...i will try and hope i wont fry

/Z

Sorry about that, I thought you were talking about the adafruit motor shield.
You're right, this one does say 30amps, but I don't see any heat sinks on it, so I would question that.

Let us know how it goes!

[KR2_Diving]

Just a quick question... if for no other reason than to start a discussion...

The Shield you listed... is a "Stepper Motor" shield... is that the same / will it work on a brushed motor such as the Bilge Pump?

[derelicte]

I'm using those sparkfun monster motor clone shields with bilge pumps and they can handle a them no problem.

They aren't the best designed motor shields out there but they do work, especially for $11 each.

I like this one more but it is considerably more expensive:



https://www.pololu.com/product/2507

[a_shorething]

Just a quick question... if for no other reason than to start a discussion...

The Shield you listed... is a "Stepper Motor" shield... is that the same / will it work on a brushed motor such as the Bilge Pump?

+1, good question.

How do they handle all that power without a heat sink?

I would think they'd burn up with continuous use. I'm using the IBT-2 boards for mine and they have a huge heat sink on them (which to me makes more sense, intuitively.

I know polulu is a great manufacturer, I just don't get the physics of it.

[perfo]

Did you have the bilge pump / h bridge set up for forward and reverse ? It looks like that may need a few outputs to control especially if using the IBT-2 and thus two pwm outputs.
Are these bilge pumps a lot better than using out runner (or in runner) brushless motors and esc ?

[a_shorething]

Did you have the bilge pump / h bridge set up for forward and reverse ?

If this question is for me, yes. The IBT-2 does have forward/reverse options using PWM input in each direction. I read that someone figured out a way to use one PWM output for each IBT-2, but I just used two of them for it, one for forward, and then disable that one and switch a different one for reverse.

It looks like that may need a few outputs to control especially if using the IBT-2 and thus two pwm outputs.

I am planning to use an Adafruit I2C shield on my Netduino with 16 PWM outputs so there will be no shortage of PWM/Servo controls.

Are these bilge pumps a lot better than using out runner (or in runner) brushless motors and esc ?

This I doubt. When I first started this endeavor I was trying to do it on the cheap/simple side with a PWM control and bilge pump motors so I got a bunch of the 1100 GPM motors for like $12 each on eBay and I've been using them for all of my testing. My design also calls for a new type of magnetic coupler which is still in the design/testing phase. I plan to test it out with an ESC/brushless motor design too, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Everything I've read though says that the ESC/Brushless motors of comparable size/weight are MUCH more powerful than bilge pump motors.

[perfo]

Thanks for the reply.

Do you think there is a lack of power form the bilge pumps then ? or it just a nice to havve with more power for same size weight ?

A simple mag coupled prop I did a few years ago for another project was a simple as it gets but still worked.

A shaft inside a plastic pipe with magnets (super cheap rare earth from ebay something like 100 magnets for £5) glued around the shaft with no particular accuracy in placement. Take the fan of a PC fan set up and drill the center to clear the pipe.
I actually had an end cap on my pipe so the fan would run 20mm ish away from the end and the cap would stop it coming of if need be. Put a bit of paper around the plastic pipe and stick magnets to the pipe (mags inside the pipe) place the fan over the pipe getting ti as central as possible then fill up the void with more glue . This worked no probs.. I don' t know how long it would work for with no bearings but it seemed to run pretty true and not much wear on the pipe...

opps sorry I've waffled again.. I bet you didn't want to knwo bout my mag coupled fan....