Advice needed re BCDC gearmotor

Greetings to all - new here and only basic knowledge of electronics so please excuse naive questions

I need advice re which BLDC gearmotor plus driver to get.

To power a sculptural display in a restaurant:
I need a shaft that turns at variable 20 to 80 rpm.
RPM to be varied by turning a knob.
Light load. 500mA motor would be ample?
Must be very durable. 3000 hours per year x multiple years.
IOW, should run forever worry-free.
Reasonably quiet.
Shaft runs CW for a minute then toggles to CCW for a minute by flipping a switch.
No problem with instantaneous toggle from CCW to CW.

I’m thinking of a 3-phase brushless motor with sensors coupled to a gearbox?
I’d appreciate please recommendations for specific products

thanks for any help :slight_smile:
Jon

Hi Jon!

For something like this, you will likely want a brushed gearmotor. I find that brushless make quite a bit of noise. I don’t know that I can promise 3000 hours of working time for multiple years. My advice would be to get an overpowered motor and use it at below its maximum output to extend the life. We have a whole selection of small gearmotors.

Here is a chart that details some of our motors:

As far as controlling, I would recommend controlling it with an Arduino Uno and a Motor Driver Shield.

I hope that helps! Good luck on your project!

Hello Steven -
Thanks very much for your helpful reply.

I didn’t realise that BLDC motors made more noise. Where does this noise come from given that the only mechanical contact is via the bearings that hold the rotor?
Ball bearings don’t make noise, do they ?
In any case, noise is the factor I can compromise on. I can blimp the motor.

I’ve heard that the best brushed motors last 1000 - 5000 hours. In this application that would mean a life of a bit more than a year at best.
So far I’ve been using Buhler brushed motors that I understood to be of good quality but they only lasted months.

The motivation for my question was the need for a longer life than a year.
Can you suggest a brushless motor + gearbox + control board combination that would give me multiple years service at 3000 hours per year?
I want a robust BLDC motor that I’ll never have to replace.
I’m sure with all the advances in BLDC technology there is a combo suitable for me?

If I can’t find a BLDC + gearbox combination then I guess I could try to cannibalise a brushless electric drill. Do you think this would work ?
Jon

Hey Jon,
Unfortunately I don’t know enough about the motors to speak to the number of hours they can last, this info might be listed on the datasheet of the specific motors, but it is highly variable. It would be dependent on load applied to each motor and the percentage of the maximum load that the motor is capable of. Sorry!

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