Hello all,
Few things give me as much joy as tearing apart a printer that has given my office staff grief for a year or two. I keep the little motors inside that turns all the gizmos thinking that one day they will be put to use on a layout. How would one figure out how much electricity to run it or use a battery.
I tried a few batteries, no luck.
Thanks for any advice.
steve
The safest way to know for sure would be to go to the web site of the copy machine manufacturer, if you know who that is, and see if you can find a technical manual that would show in inner workings of the machine. This might show whether the motors are AC or DC powered.
An alternative is to closely examine the motor(s), looking for a manufacturer identity or model number. Then type that data into Google and see if details about it show up.
If you can’t find documentation, then perform the following tests.
Connect a motor to the DC variable output track terminals of a model railroad power pack, and slowly turn up the throttle. Even if the motor is for AC power, it may run, albeit slowly, on DC power. If it runs well on low voltage DC, then adjust the throttle to the desired speed and measure the applied voltage. You can determine for sure if it is truly a DC motor by changing the “direction” switch on the power pack. If the motor reverses direction, it is made for DC operation. If the motor doesn’t run on DC, then go to the next step.
Try the 16 Volt constant AC Accessory terminals of the power pack by fastening one wire to the power pack and just briefly touching the other wire to the other AC terminal. If the motor doesn’t run on 16VAC, chances are it is designed for DC operation only or a higher voltage AC; perhaps 110VAC.
CHeck for magnets, if it has magnets, it’s a DC motor. If it has a wound field instead of field magnets, it could be either. Most motors in printers and so forth are DC and very well could be useful for model railroad applications. Also gears and power supplies.
–Randy
I just took apart our old Fax and copy machine and got 5 small DC motors out of it. Also there are all kinds of plastic gears tha would make great gondola loads. Also a few years ago I took a printer apart and found a small solonoid that was used to push paper. I used that solonoid to build my Gravel Loader that loads beach sand into Tyco operating hoppers. http://lariverrailroads.com/gravel_loader.html
Some old VCR players are good sources as well. Many items you can salvage actually. I’ve been wanting to take the remote control circuit out of those and use them too. Need some time.
Richard
This is the most recent take apart project. There are 5 motors, least one should be good for something.