Quick Question On Cooling Stepper Motors

[willheg]

Hi People,

Just wondering if there would be any advantage of Water or Air Cooling My Stepper Motors??

I have yet to finish my machine but was thinking the other day that people say that stepper motors get a little warm so i thought of these 2 ideas and wondered on what other people think.

Idea 1. is to make like a open ended box type thing to incase the stepper motor and have water pass thought it, kinda like a water jacket, as i will have water running thought my spindle motor and the pump i'm using has to much flow for it so could be good to use the extra water for this if people think it is a good idea.

Idea 2. is to make a cover and use a fan on the end to blow air over the stepper to keep it cooler, easyer but just putting these ideas out there for peoples opitions.

Thanks for reading and replying if you do
Will.

[H500]

I don't use either. The motors don't get too hot when mounted solidly to a metal frame that acts as a big heat sink. The cooler the better, but I think the fan idea is more than enough.

[RomanLini]

They are designed to run well even when "hot". I like to keep them under 55'C which is about the point where it is painful to hold your hand on it (if you don't have a thermometer).

As H500 has said they are designed to sink heat through the metal mounting plate, which for size23 motors should ideally be about 10mm thick metal (3/8" thick).

[willheg]

Thanks for the info guys i will just see how they go first then work out if i need to cool them or not.