New member motor questions
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New member motor questions
I am setting up a small vase as a shrimp tank and I am going to light it with LEDs and aerate the water with an electric motor. I figured you guys would be the best people to ask, is there a low power motor I could hook up to a battery like a AA or something that I could leave on 24/7, and if it cant stay on 24/7 what about 12 hours a day? I will have the motor mounted in a foam casing to muffle any noise and vibration, this will be siliconed to the lid I'm making for the vase, I will attach a paddle wheel or small propeller to the motor to churn the surface of the water a little make a small current. What do you guys think would be a good motor for this purpose? Thanks guys.
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RE: New member motor questions
Think in terms of a motor from a dead CD player. These are nominally 6-12 volts but will turn rather more gently off 1.5-3 volts. They are generally very well built and should have a long continuous run service life as well as having a modest current draw. However, even a low current device will not give long battery life - the more work it has to do, the shorter the battery life.
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RE: New member motor questions
Thanks for the idea, I'll see if I can find and old CD player. I have rechargeable AA batteries so as long as the battery lasts at least a day that would be good. The paddle wheel/fan blade will only be 1/2 to 1/4 of the way submerged in the water. How long do you think a AA would last or what size battery do you think would be best? I would have never thought of a CD player, thanks again.
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RE: New member motor questions
How long? No idea, it all depends on the capacity of the AA, the motor itself and the load imposed on it. My original AAs from when I started were 500mAH, the latest were 2500mAH, the newer will last about 6 times as long as the old originals (if they were still around, of course).
On 6 volts, under a reasonable load, a guess would be 250mA, possibly less. With 2500mAH batteries, getting on for 10 hours. At a lower voltage, proportionately less current, a longer run time. This is guesswork about uncharted territory.
You get three motors in a typical CD drive - the spindle motor, the tray drive motor and the head positioning motor. In the ones I have looked at, all have been ordinary brushed DC motors, as times move on, newer ones may have brushless motors, which need a controller.
On 6 volts, under a reasonable load, a guess would be 250mA, possibly less. With 2500mAH batteries, getting on for 10 hours. At a lower voltage, proportionately less current, a longer run time. This is guesswork about uncharted territory.
You get three motors in a typical CD drive - the spindle motor, the tray drive motor and the head positioning motor. In the ones I have looked at, all have been ordinary brushed DC motors, as times move on, newer ones may have brushless motors, which need a controller.