Hi, I'm trying to get an AC motor going but have been unable to do so. Here's the setup: it is the force feedback motor from an arcade machine and I'm trying to retask it. There isn't any good info on the motor case and I've been unable to find any more detailed specs about it. After looking at a schematic of the game, I can see that the motor drive board takes in 100VAC / 6.5A and after receiving instructions from the game, sends it out to the motor. The motor itself has 3 power wires coming out of it and one has a white blank label wrapped around it, so I'm assuming there's no AC->DC conversion happening on the board. The motor casing itself is sealed so I don't know if there's a start/run cap inside but there are 2 large capacitors on the drive board (680uF/250V).
Here's what I've tried and the results. Without power being applied, the shaft spins freely and since it's a force feedback motor, it should be able to spin in reverse. From the transformer I connect both AC lines into 2 of the leads on the motor, leaving one empty. The motor hums and jerks a bit, but doesn't start. The shaft doesn't spin freely anymore and turning it doesn't get it started. Moving the wires to different positions on the motor connector doesn't change anything.
Then I found something that says I should put a capacitor in series between two of the windings to introduce a phase difference. So, one AC wire goes to a motor wire and then the other is switched between two wires connected to the motor with a capacitor connected to both lines. Applying the other AC wire to either wire does the same thing as before, no spin and it resists turning.
Finally I tried hooking up the AC wires directly to the wires with the capacitor in series to two of the motor leads. The shaft slowly and briefly starts to spin before the fuse (10A fast blow) between the wall and transformer blows. I noticed the capacitor was also very hot to the touch after this and not with the other tests.
So...how can I get this motor started and how do I get it to change direction?
Thanks,
Scott
Here's what I've tried and the results. Without power being applied, the shaft spins freely and since it's a force feedback motor, it should be able to spin in reverse. From the transformer I connect both AC lines into 2 of the leads on the motor, leaving one empty. The motor hums and jerks a bit, but doesn't start. The shaft doesn't spin freely anymore and turning it doesn't get it started. Moving the wires to different positions on the motor connector doesn't change anything.
Then I found something that says I should put a capacitor in series between two of the windings to introduce a phase difference. So, one AC wire goes to a motor wire and then the other is switched between two wires connected to the motor with a capacitor connected to both lines. Applying the other AC wire to either wire does the same thing as before, no spin and it resists turning.
Finally I tried hooking up the AC wires directly to the wires with the capacitor in series to two of the motor leads. The shaft slowly and briefly starts to spin before the fuse (10A fast blow) between the wall and transformer blows. I noticed the capacitor was also very hot to the touch after this and not with the other tests.
So...how can I get this motor started and how do I get it to change direction?
Thanks,
Scott