Re: How to deal with Stepper Motor heat - 150 degrees F

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "lcdpublishing"
<lcdpublishing@...> wrote:

>
> Hi guys,
>
> I ran a test the other day to see how hot the stepper motors are
> getting on my machine. After 30 minutes, they (3 of them) were all
> at 150 degrees F.
>
> The motors are 5 volt motors rated at 1.4 Amps, nema 17. I am
> driving them at 30 volts and 1.4 amps. The driver chip is the
> SLA7062M chip. This heat test was performed with the motors holding
> their position as that is the best way I know to "push them" for
> heat build up.
>
> I know I could get another transformer and drop the voltage, but
> would prefer to keep it at 30 volts for performance. I have a bit
> of room where I could add some chunks of aluminum for heat sinking,
> but not sure if that would get the temp down enough. I have no room
> for fans so I am sort of pondering what directions I can go to deal
> with this.
>
> As always, I am open to any and all suggestions or ideas.
>
> One interesting thing I heard from a very reliable source is that if
> I switch from the SLA7062M based driver to a Gecko driver, the motor
> heat would drop down significantly. However, I don't have the
> budget for 3 Geckos on this little machine.
>
> Chris

You should be able to drop the current when the motor has nor received
a step signal in some seconds. You can use a micro to monitor the
steps and toggle the motor current setting.

Dave