How hot should steppers be getting?

[CarbonKevin]

(See above for question)

Mine are too hot to touch comfortably, they won't burn skin, but they are bloody hot just the same.

Is this normal? Good? Have I got them tuned all wrong? Thanks!

kevin

[neilw20]

Some drivers have an option to reduce holding current some time after motion is stopped. This can reduce power consumption and heat to a bearable limit.
This also reduces holding torque so if high loads are coming from cutting loads while other axis are doing their work, current reduction may not be appropriate.
A special circuit to sense all axis not moving does not appear to be supported by the drivers I have seen.
Just add a HOT sticker, like some old printers often had.

[macb6497]

Wow I have the same thing happening with my steppers. It could be alot of things, mainly the amps going through them.

If you have 3A or higher they could get a little hot.

Lots of machining/repetition = heat

Also make sure you are using a heat sink for your controller, the motor can take the heat but processors cannot for long.

Regards,

Marc

[tumutbound]

From Gecko FAQ:

Q.) How hot is too hot for a step motor?

A.) The maximum heat for most steppers is around 100ºC (212ºF), but it is generally never good to have the motor heat go above 85ºC (185ºF).

[macb6497]

Originally Posted by tumutbound From Gecko FAQ: Q.) How hot is too hot for a step motor? A.) The maximum heat for most steppers is around 100ºC (212ºF), but it is generally never good to have the motor heat go above 85ºC (185ºF).

Well that is sort of easy yet at the same time hard..

In order to really know the limits of your stepper you would have to get the specs such as wire diameter (AWG) what materials are used to make the stepper (aluminum is better at losing heat than iron).

That was the hard part becuase the people you buy the steppers from for the most part only know the basics, you might have to call the main wholesaler.

But once you know this it is easy to gauge the limits.

Also look at the size of each wire coming out of the stepper, use this as a basis for how thick the winding are inside the motor, divide that diameter by 2to be safe.

Regards,

Marc

[Tsooko]

My brand new steppers got very hot when testing on the work bench. They were not hooked up to anything so I thought the same thing, that something was wrong. Hot steppers are normal I found but they can get too hot. Arround 80 c is ok.

Ted

[fatham]

I believe Heat reduces life time of motors. My steppers were to hot to hold comfortably.
I installed a 2" 12 volt dc computer "Heatsink" fan on each motor. There is know no problem holding the steppers after operating for 4 hours continuously.
The fans were salvaged off the CPU from old computer motherboards.

Try it you'll like it, if for only peace of mind.

Cheers fatham

[eloid]

Originally Posted by fatham I believe Heat reduces life time of motors. My steppers were to hot to hold comfortably. I installed a 2" 12 volt dc computer "Heatsink" fan on each motor. There is know no problem holding the steppers after operating for 4 hours continuously. The fans were salvaged off the CPU from old computer motherboards. Try it you'll like it, if for only peace of mind. Cheers fatham

im planning on making a 4 side heat sink to encase the the stepper it will be a snug fitting bolt together design, planing on using some thermo compound on the heat sink also... currently I have a small heat sink clamped to stepper ... Its much cooler now and takes only few min to completly cool them off...

[bearwen]

Steppers get hot its just how it is unless you have the drivers that reduce holding current but they still get HOT.
If your concerned about it put heatsinks and fans on them that works pretty well I did just for safety reasons as i have small children who love to watch the machine cut and those motors stay hot for a while and little fingers like to touch stuff.