I noticed on Amazon that you can purchase a touchless laser tachometer at very reasonable cost $20 USD. I have a box of motors that I have accumulated over the years that I would like to test and compare and I could see other applications for this so I thought I would give it try. For example you could test how fast a motor was with different battery voltages, or you could see how many rpms are lost when a motor is attached to a prop shaft in a stuffing box with prop.
I know this only tells you the unloaded rpm, not the torque or current draw under load. Still a nice piece of data to have.
Frankly, the gadget looked cheap and the reviews were not all positive, but for $20 I thought I'd try it anyhow. To make it work you attach a piece of reflective tape (included) to the object you want to determine the rpm of. If you do purchase one of these, note that you need some distance, around 1 foot from the rotating disk or it doesn't work too well .
To test the uninstalled motors I made up a brass disk about 2" in diameter, then soldered a collar with a grub screw to the center to secure it to the motor shaft. I painted it with just gray primer so I would be sure just the tape was the reflected part. It's easy to cut thin brass if you secure to a piece of wood with a little CA or double stick tape first then cut and separate it later.
Then I made up a little fixture where I could mount the motor. I added a switch, alligator clips and a battery connector.
The test was a success, the little tachometer consistently showed the rpm of the motors tested and I played around with it a little and worked OK in every case. I am sure it will be useful in the future
▲
โฉโฉ
No likes yet
This member will receive 1 point
for every like received