Need a power supply for a motor

LordCloud · « **on:** 5 Dec 2009, 03:08 pm »

I have a large standalone motor for a turntable, but no way to power it. I have no info on the motor, as it was given to me and the owner knows nothing about it. I want to get the turntable up and running, I just need to get a power supply(wall wart) for the motor. I'm told I need to know the voltage in order to do this. Is it possible to just try some out and see which one works? Or will I hurt the motor by using the wrong one?

Wayner · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Dec 2009, 04:43 pm »

Well, yeah, you need to know some stuff before you start putting voltage to the bad boy or you'll end up with a burnt out motor. How do you know it needs a power supply? That means it may be a DC motor, not the usual 120 AC type. Do you have a picture of it or is there any writing on the motor giving us a clue to what it's all about?

If we know the voltage and the wattage consumption and it is a low voltage (like 12 volt) motor, I can certainly advise a power supply capacity requirement.

Wayner

LordCloud · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 Dec 2009, 09:19 am »

Thanks for the help Wayner. I'll get a pic of it tomorrow. When I say power supply, I mean I can't plug it into the wall. It has a wire coming from the motor that needs to be plugged into a power supply to be plugged into the wall. The connector is a barrel type as far as I can tell.

LordCloud · « **Reply #3 on:** 8 Dec 2009, 07:11 am »

You can actually see the motor in this picture on the top left, albeit not very well. I'll take a better one when I get home.

Wayner · « **Reply #4 on:** 8 Dec 2009, 04:49 pm »

Who makes the TT?

Wayner

LordCloud · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 10:10 am »

I'm not exactly sure who makes the TT. I got it from Jim Fosgate, and he says he's not sure since he's had it for a long while. It looks as though it's a SOTA that he made some changes to, including removing the motor that's usually on the left hand side, but as you can see, is just a hole in the table here.

woodsyi · « **Reply #6 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 12:51 pm »

If you have nothing on the outside, you may have to open the box and see if you can see any spec on the motor. I suspect it's a DC motor and you need to know the voltage for sure and minimum current requirement if possible. Then you can pick up something like this to power the motor.

Good luck.

Wayner · « **Reply #7 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 01:54 pm »

Yes, it could be a 12volt or even a 24 volt motor (which is what I suspect as well). We really need a close-up picture of the motor and any info on it. I also agree that you may have to venture inside the motor housing (if possible) and look for some tell-tale signs. Id also like to see a picture of the power input jack.

Wayner

LordCloud · « **Reply #8 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 05:06 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 9 Dec 2009, 12:51 pm

If you have nothing on the outside, you may have to open the box and see if you can see any spec on the motor. I suspect it's a DC motor and you need to know the voltage for sure and minimum current requirement if possible. Then you can pick up something like this to power the motor.

Good luck.

Wow, I was thinking something more like this.

woodsyi · « **Reply #9 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 05:24 pm »

Wow is right.

DC motor with unstable voltage means wow and flutter -- good for special effects if you are looking for that. I wouldn't trust a cheap switching PS for turntables.

LordCloud · « **Reply #10 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 05:44 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 9 Dec 2009, 05:24 pm

Wow is right. DC motor with unstable voltage means wow and flutter -- good for special effects if you are looking for that. I wouldn't trust a cheap switching PS for turntables.

To get the motor "running", would I be able to use a wall wart though, and then get a motor controller afterward? Right now, I just want to know if I'll be able to use this motor, or if I'm looking at getting an entirely new motor altogether.

doug s. · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Dec 2009, 02:48 am »

Quote from: LordCloud on 9 Dec 2009, 05:44 pm

To get the motor "running", would I be able to use a wall wart though, and then get a motor controller afterward? Right now, I just want to know if I'll be able to use this motor, or if I'm looking at getting an entirely new motor altogether.

i suspect you could get it running w/a simple small 9v battery, if you were yust wanting to see if the motor works. i would suspect that motor is dc not ac, and i don't see this hurting the motor regardless of its woltage. then, yes, you could get a p/s like what rim suggested, (i use a similar p/s on my oracle's origin-live dc motor. you wouldn't even need to know the exact woltage on the motor, w/adjustability of 0-40v like that p/s has, you could simply set the proper woltage w/the aid of a strobe disc & light. by simple wirtue of getting the platter to spin at the proper speed, you will be getting wery close to the proper woltage of the motor, if not dead-on.

these lab-grade dc p/s's are fantastic. a great cheap upgrade to most any application calling for dc woltage, imo. i got rim his first one in exchange for him giving me cabinets and helping me to ship them w/an vmps rm40 kit i was selling. (if the motor turned out to be ac, i would attempt to start it only w/a wariac, and starting at wery low woltage -from 0v and working your way slowly up. but, certainly test w/dcv first, if you don't know what it is.)

doug s.

LordCloud · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Dec 2009, 01:37 am »

Quote from: doug s. on 10 Dec 2009, 02:48 am

Quote from: LordCloud on 9 Dec 2009, 05:44 pm
To get the motor "running", would I be able to use a wall wart though, and then get a motor controller afterward? Right now, I just want to know if I'll be able to use this motor, or if I'm looking at getting an entirely new motor altogether.
i suspect you could get it running w/a simple small 9v battery, if you were yust wanting to see if the motor works. i would suspect that motor is dc not ac, and i don't see this hurting the motor regardless of its woltage. then, yes, you could get a p/s like what rim suggested, (i use a similar p/s on my oracle's origin-live dc motor. you wouldn't even need to know the exact woltage on the motor, w/adjustability of 0-40v like that p/s has, you could simply set the proper woltage w/the aid of a strobe disc & light. by simple wirtue of getting the platter to spin at the proper speed, you will be getting wery close to the proper woltage of the motor, if not dead-on.

these lab-grade dc p/s's are fantastic. a great cheap upgrade to most any application calling for dc woltage, imo. i got rim his first one in exchange for him giving me cabinets and helping me to ship them w/an vmps rm40 kit i was selling. (if the motor turned out to be ac, i would attempt to start it only w/a wariac, and starting at wery low woltage -from 0v and working your way slowly up. but, certainly test w/dcv first, if you don't know what it is.)

doug s.

Holy crap, definitely an eye opener. I never see any power supplies like that on turntables, so I wasn't prepared for it.

doug s. · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Dec 2009, 01:48 am »

yup, these are nice power supplies. shown next to my turntable is an hp/harrison labs 6201b, 0-1.5a/0-20v unit, powering my oracle; it cost me all of ~$100, on ebay:

doug s.

LordCloud · « **Reply #14 on:** 11 Dec 2009, 02:17 pm »

Pics of the motor and the table

crappy pic showing connector

doug s. · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 Dec 2009, 08:56 pm »

if that motor came from that deck, it is a sota, for sure; and you can query them about its woltage.

doug s.

LordCloud · « **Reply #16 on:** 11 Dec 2009, 09:14 pm »

Quote from: doug s. on 11 Dec 2009, 08:56 pm

if that motor came from that deck, it is a sota, for sure; and you can query them about its woltage.

doug s.

I wish it were that easy my friend. It didn't. The SOTA motor seems to have been removed and I know not where it is. This motor is a totally freestanding unit that has no markings on it what so ever.

LordCloud · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 10:02 am »

More reading has produced more questions. Since the motor has trimpot adjustments for speed already, does that mean I don't require a "power supply" but simply a means of power delivery? Do the trimpots already vary the voltage?

Another question. Would I be able to use something like this? http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02871486000P?vName=Automotive&cName=Batteries+%26+Chargers&sName=Battery+Chargers+%26+Boosters#reviewsWrap

Galibier turntable motors are similar to mine in that they have trim pots to adjust the two speeds and the battery power supply is one that they recommend. If that would work, that would be even better as it's inexpensive and easy to obtain.

http://www.galibierdesign.com/prd_motor.html

doug s. · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 06:44 pm »

Quote from: LordCloud on 12 Dec 2009, 10:02 am

More reading has produced more questions. Since the motor has trimpot adjustments for speed already, does that mean I don't require a "power supply" but simply a means of power delivery? Do the trimpots already vary the voltage?

Another question. Would I be able to use something like this? http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02871486000P?vName=Automotive&cName=Batteries+%26+Chargers&sName=Battery+Chargers+%26+Boosters#reviewsWrap

Galibier turntable motors are similar to mine in that they have trim pots to adjust the two speeds and the battery power supply is one that they recommend. If that would work, that would be even better as it's inexpensive and easy to obtain.

http://www.galibierdesign.com/prd_motor.html

the trimpots should adjust the woltage, the question is how much adjustability is there, and how close to 12v the motor is, re: whether the sears p/s would work. also, if that motor is designed to work w/a platter whose belt goes on the perimeter of the platter, or on a smaller sub-platter - this would affect proper speed.

doug s.

Wayner · « **Reply #19 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 06:58 pm »

The trimpots are to fine-tune the speed, like using a strobe-disc to get the speed dead on. The probable answer to the motor voltage is 12 or 24 volt,,,,,or somewhere in-between. Doug's suggestion of a variable power supply sounds good. I see a low voltage plug in one of the photos. Is that plug part of the motor assembly,,,,,,is there a cord coming out of the motor with that plug on it?

This is kind of like going to the doctor's office and telling him you don't feel good, without any real hint of the situation, and he is suppose to figure out the problem. The photo's of the table are nice, but don't help the motor problem at all. Is there no way to go into the motor assembly, in search of some other clues?

Otherwise, take the tuff hop and get a variable output regulated power supply and start the motor up. Otherwise we'll be at this for ever. I'd start at 9 volts and see if it grinds, and if so, up the voltage. You will need a strobe disc and a fluorescent lamp (driven by a magnetic ballast, like a PL13 trouble light) to see and get the strobe effect. Then fiddling around with the voltage should produce a 33 1//3 rpm at steady speed. This should be done with the belt on the platter, ready to go. With the variable voltage power supply, you may not need to adjust the trimpots, tho they may offer an easier level of fine tuning.

Wayner