BFM, Maybe Gen.

Any brushed DC motor can be used as a generator. If you want a DC generator, this motor will do the job. I would recommend checking the condition of the brushes and commutator.

BRW

Easy variable-speed control of AC motors has only come recently, and there are still a lot of brushed DC motors sold because of their ease of use.

Well, yes, but some are easier than others. A series wound motor could be used as a generator but driving the field could be interesting.

How may terminals does it have? (and if more than 2 are the the same size?)

Given the description I doubt that it's series wound but it might be shunt wound.

Robert

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It has two heavy (16ga?) wires, a red and a black.

What? Series? Shunt? A permanent magnet motor has only one winding!

Well, you didn't mention that you already knew it was a PM motor :). A two terminal motor could be either PM or series wound. Given the voltage and current rating, and the fact that the leads are different colours I would strongly suspect PM.

A series wound motor with 2 terminals is commonly used for pump motors (the field is wired to the armature internally eliminating 2 of the usual terminals from what would atherwise be a four terminal motor, brushed DC motors come in variations from two terminals to six terminals at least). They have the advantage of not needed extra jumper wiring and they cannot be hooked up backwards. No matter which polarity you hook the 2 terminals up in the motor always rotates in the same direction.

And to be picky a PM motor has multiple windings, that's what the commutator and brushes are for, to switch between windings. But you already knew that ;)

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Yeah, but a shunt wound motor could be connected internally with only two leads externally. I forget which kind a vacuum motor is but I remember that one kind isn't used for some things because it can rev up excessively if there's no load, so it's usually used for something like a vacuum that has impellers permanently attached. Been a long time, tho, so I'm not sure. Generally tho the vacuums have only two wires.

Anyway, I'll have to investigate further to see what this beasty really is. It's heavy, so it's gonna stay in my garage. Maybe I'll put a light bulb on the leads and give it a spin to see what happens. Thanks.

Haven't run across that configuration (that would run in the same direction regardless of polarity as well), all the shunt wound motors I've seen were done that way for speed and/or torque control so the fiels and armature sections were separately controllable. The universal appliance motors i've seen (only a few) have all been series wound. The larger series wound motors I've dealt with have had enough physical (as opposed to electrical) resistance that runaway was not a practical problem, not that I was tempted to rely on that often.

Or short it and see if you get a braking effect.

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Yeah, I believe series wound is the one that can rev up real high. My dad knew a guy who had more muscle than brains, who took an old vacuum cleaner motor and put an old saw blade on the end of the shaft. Made himself a great edger, back before the days of the weed whackers. Thing made a nasty hissing sound. Threw some nasty sparks, too.

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Thanks.

Yeah, I took a 327 (28V) lamp and some alli clips out to the garage and connected them to the wires and gave it a spin. The lamp lit up amber, probably 10 or 12V at .04 A or so. That's pretty decent for the hundred or two RPMs I can spin the flywheel.

Here's what the nameplate said on it.

Pacific Scientific Automation Technology Group Motor Products Div.

Model Number PWM3636-5250-7-1 Volts 124VDC Amps 16.8 H.P. 2.3 RPM 3590 Duty CONT

And here's the dead giveaway: Field Class: PM

I had suspected that it was PM - permanent magnet, because I could feel the poles of the armature pulling on the magnets as I spun it.

I took some pics, I'll have to post some of them on ABSE after I get them out of my digi-cam.

That's a winner. I have one of somewhat smaller size. Name plate says McMILLAN Electric Company Model S3348B2716 DP FITNESS P/N 37073300 120 VDC 6.0AMP Insulation Class 130-2(B) WOODVILLE, WI 54028

I haven't done curves on it yet, but like you I put a lamp (#47) and spun it by hand. Lit up nicely! So I get over 6VDC at only a couple hundred RPM. Should make a fine wind charger.

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I doubt if I'll ever get a chance to use it unless I put it on an exercise bike. The amount of power needed to spin it means it'll have to have a substantial set of blades. And it needs to be geared up (or more appropriately, pulleyed up) so that it'll spin several times as fas t as the blades. The flywheel probably doesn't serve any purpose and isn't needed, and could be left off. Maybe I'll sell it. Your motor seems like it might be from some exercize bike??

It was from a Tread mill. Bought it for a wind genny. Only need a 12/1 pulley up to get about 4 amps at 12 volts. Just have to put the front end regulator on it for current limiting. I'm guessing about a 6 foot rotator will drive it. Of course in a real blow it can produce much more power. The rating is for 720 watts so it is about the same as a car alternator, but at lower RPM. Use in town is unlikely. I have a cabin in the desert.

Yours will do well to, if you pulley it up and use a larger rotator (prop) for it. Problem is where to put it. Although I would see it as more useful for marine battery charging with a 16 inch prop towed on a torque line to charge batteries on a crusing sail boat. Might be able to sell it to someone who has a good sized boat.

In article , Watson A.Name wrote: [...]

It sounds like the motor a friend of mine used in a wind powered battery charger. He built a wind mill that doesn't get anything like 3600 RPM on the motor, but does make more than 24V in weak winds. I designed and build a charger/regulator for it so his battery pack could be kept topped up.

It works quite well. In his location it is either sunny or windy or both but never neither. As a result a combined wind, solar system keeps the battery charged.

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Well, at least half the day it's not sunny - it'c called night.

As for wind, it's likely that at night there are periods of no wind. See, when you think about it, if what you said was true, then there would be no need for the battery. :-0

With no field winding, I'm not sure how easy it is to regulate the charging. I'd just disconnect it from the battery and switch a load on the output.