I ran my modified x2 mill at top speed (7,000 RPM) for 30 minutes to see how warm everything would get. The spindle was slightly warmed up, as was the cast iron head. The motor was very warm, but not hot. I could put my palm on it for 15 seconds without any discomfort.

I wonder how warm the motors become on other machines: Tormach, Industrial Hobbies, standard X3, X2, X1, treadmill motor conversions, and others.

Please post your results.

My Taig motor gets hot but I run it for like 20 + Minutes taking decent cuts about 3mm deep. It's also in an enclosure.

-Jason

My tormach does great but I do run it in cold AC and have a spindle cooling system.

I was going to asked that question.
is that bad when the motors get pretty warm or is that normal. or what can you do to cool them down

No matter what, the motor is going too get hot. But you can fan cool it, with a pc fan or try too water cool it.

-Jason

Put a heatsink on it.

Does wonders.

is that bad when the motors get pretty warm or is that normal

My (very) uneducated response would be it's normal to get pretty warm to the touch.

Is the concern here reliability/service-life or performance/efficiency? My X2 motor gets warm but not warm enough to cause harm. Certainly not nearly as warm as most of the electrical items underneath the hood of a car. The alternator on my Neon sits very near the exhaust manifold but still held together for 160,000 km. The stock X2 motor does have a good size fan at the front end.

At what point does heat start reducing performance? Thinking of the car example, a hot starter is less efficient. Of course a starter isn't in continuous duty, so maybe a bad example.

How did you put a heatsink on? Please show us a photo.

Put a heatsink on it.

Does wonders.

Bill,

I have been thinking about the same thing lately now that the summer heat here in Florida has rolled in. I was thinking about doing something simular to this set up. http://www.harrisson.biz/fan.htm Only I was going to use a little bit bigger fan from here http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2008071010012152&item=16-1331&catname=electric

With the Fusion kit we have about 3.5" from center of the motor the z axis mount. So in theory we should be able to fit a 7" fan with housing on the top of the motor. The disc on top of the x2 motor is 85mm or 3.34 inches and the fan blade size is 5.625 so I will have about a 1.125 overhand that would blow down the sides of the motor. I guess we will see if there is any benefit to all of it.

Regnar,

What if you put the fan at the end of a large diameter tube and the placed tube over the motor so that the airflow was pulled up the sides of the motor case and out the top? Might improve the cooling further.

Bill

Bill,

I have been thinking about the same thing lately now that the summer heat here in Florida has rolled in. I was thinking about doing something simular to this set up. http://www.harrisson.biz/fan.htm Only I was going to use a little bit bigger fan from here http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2008071010012152&item=16-1331&catname=electric

With the Fusion kit we have about 3.5" from center of the motor the z axis mount. So in theory we should be able to fit a 7" fan with housing on the top of the motor. The disc on top of the x2 motor is 85mm or 3.34 inches and the fan blade size is 5.625 so I will have about a 1.125 overhand that would blow down the sides of the motor. I guess we will see if there is any benefit to all of it.

My setup has a nice fan on the top. Neither the motor nor the spindle even get more than luke warm. Maybe 120 degrees F at most. This is running @ 6600 RPM on the spindle.
I have used two spindles on this, but only one at this speed. I would expect the same results from the other.
I will also say that the location of that fan really pulls any heat off and does so quickly. The motor itself runs @ 4000 RPM, so that 4" fan is moving some air. :)

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58115&d=1208791493

Leeway, Is it pushing or pulling air threw the motor? And do you remember how many CFM the fan pushed.

I have no clue what the CFM is. It is pulling air through the motor and exhausting out the top in clockwise rotation, which is all my mill will ever do.
I a lathe app, it would push and pull.
I have another similar motor that is only 130 VDC. I will use it on my new lathe project. It didn't come with a fan installed on it. I will find something similar to mount on it or just make one with my mill.

I check the temps this afternoon after running the mill most of the day. The motor was 90 degrees F and the spindle was 91F. Not bad at all for 6600 RPM on a stock X2 head.

CFM = Cubic Feet per minute

Thanks. :) I actually knew what CFM means, just not what this is rated. Let's see. We have a 4" fan with 5 or 6 blades turning @ 4000 RPM. Say 3/4's of the surface is blade with the other 1/4 open.
I did have a formula once that I used for my 19" impellered home brew dust collector that got close. I had to use a pitot tube I think it's called and a home made manometer. Been about 6 years ago since I did that though. My system figured to be pulling about 1360 CFM with a 1 HP motor. Not too shabby for home made either.
http://www.leestyron.com/dustcollector.php

If I were to take a stab at a guess, I would say just under 100 CFM. Likely about 90. This is just from the average 12 volt fan about this size.

oops... lol

And I thought I could help. :)