[drphoto]

Ok electrical wizards, how do I reverse the rotation on a simple electric motor? I know motors for things like furnace blowers have wires inside that can be switched.

This is not an audio project. It is the motor on an air hockey table. Now why would I want to do this you might wonder? Well I need to make a vacuum platen to hold fabric samples flat while being photographed. I thought a cheap kids air hockey table would be a good starting point.

Thanks for any help. I couldn't find anything w/ a google search.

[*Scotty*]

It may be a lot easier to fabricate an adapter to the hose on your vacuum cleaner than reversing the rotation of the motor. If you dismounted the motor assembly maybe you could take duck tape and connect the vacuum cleaner hose to the table.
Scotty

[drphoto]

Hey Scotty. Thanks for the quick reply. You know, that was my first thought, but vacuum cleaners make a lot of noise, and I think it would drive me crazy after awhile. I suppose it could be put in another room, and run a long hose.

DC motors can be reversed just by changing polarity, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe I could get something I could run off a rechargable motorcycle battery.

Oh, wait a minute! If the thing has a squirrel cage type blower (haven't bought it yet) then I should be able to just pull the fan and reverse it's direction.....right??

 

[Occam]

If the motor can actually be made to run in reverse (suction) by reversing the dc connections, then this should work, with a simple switch allowing you to both have a functioning air hockey table as well as a 'hold down' table -