Due to the supply difficulties with Pittman motors being compounded several times over by distance (I am in New Zealand) I have been experimenting with can motors taken from Canon and Hewlett Packard desktop printers. There is often three smaller and one larger motor in each printer. Sizes run from 36dia x 57 long to 28dia x 37 long. They run quite smooth, but their operating voltage could be as high as 32VDC, and at 12 volts the largest motors are only turning at 2000rpm - I checked with tachometer to make sure. The smaller motors are more like 3600rpm. This would make any steam loco with a 25:1 gearbox WAYYYY too slow. Fortunately I haven't completed the loco I decided to try one of these motors in, and I'm using screw-assembly drivers made by Slaters in the U.K. so it's not a major chore to substitute a 12:1 or 10:1 gearbox, but this should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of remotoring a loco - check the RPM and do some sums before cutting metal!
|
|
