Apr 29
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
I think I will start a new replication because I don’t like the way my current replication runs. With the toroids placed as they are the rotor jumps up and down on a small spring in the fan when running. Also, where I currently stay, I have access to a small milling machine (Colinbus Profiler) and must try to take advantage of it. It was much fun and quite fulfilling to do the first replication and I think it was important for me to see something running without a lot of work, but really, the work has hardly started….
Apr 25
admineOrbo replication Compressed core, Orbo, Steorn
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Apr 24
admineOrbo replication Compressed core, Orbo, Steorn
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Apr 21
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
I have successfully removed the case from two Nanoperm cores. Inside each there is a roll of shiny, extremely thin and brittle metal. It was necessary to create a strict procedure for the removal because I actually damaged a couple of cores. Send a request if you need to know how to do it. Now I have coated the two with three layers of polyurethane varnish also following a strict procedure. They are now in a warm place to cure faster before I can put on the magnet wire. The experience so far indicates that the number of turns and size of wire is critical to achieve high RPM. Do it wrong and it will hardly run at all. Unfortunately I cannot tell what the right way is, but will resort to guessing.
Apr 20
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
I have fired up the motor with all coils connected in series. It does run and it is able to turn the generator at 4275 RPM generating 7 Volts with no load. With load the RPM and voltage rapidly decreases and when the output is shorted the motor stops. I was running the motor from a 0-30 V 2A lab power supply and found it liked 4 Volts and the hall switch as close to the magnets as possible. I believe the current pulses are shorter when the hall switch is close to the magnets because the current went down and the MOSFET cooled down. The task now is to learn as much as I can from this first replication before I build my next. I made many mistakes and there is a lot of room for improvements. They were not really mistakes, but mostly shortcuts to get something up and running and also learning by doing.
Apr 17
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
I have finished a rotor using a my old drill with chuck wobble in a drill stand, metal drill bits and two hole saws. One thing to remember when you buy hole saws is that they are measured by the size of the hole they make, not the size of the circular disc you get. Everything considered I am very satisfied. I will experiment to see if I can make better holes with wood drill bits or a step drill, but I really need a new drill without wobble to get good results.
Mockup of my eOrbo replication
Apr 16
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
I have now wound two Nanoperm M-017 cores. Each with two separate layers of 0.4 mm enameled copper wire or magnet wire. The layers will be connected together either in series or in parallel. I don’t believe the difference will be large, but you never know. I will also wind two Nanoperm cores without the plastic casing, but I need to coat them with something first – probably epoxy. Otherwise the sharp edges will cut through the enamel and short circuit the coil. Then I will compare the pairs in an actual motor. I also have some Ferroxcube TN16/9.6/6.3-3E25 cores I may or may not use as a third pair of coils.
I have bought some plexiglass or acrylic glass to make a rotor. Now the task is to learn to work with that material. Hopefully, it is not too difficult. My first rotor will be a 90 mm round disc with a magnet every 45 degrees – 8 in all. The magnets will be 10 mm diameter, 2.5 mm thick Neodymium magnets, but unfortunately with unknown strength.
Apr 15
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
I tried to pull off the PC fan stator, but did it the wrong way so it broke off. I superglued it and that was a success. Then I started to wriggle it around the axis and at the same time pulling on it. It took some time, but in the end it loosened and came off. Unsoldered three points and the small circuit board (PCB) came off. I don’t need that any more and into the garbage it went. Then I soldered wires to two of the three stator terminals. The third was not connected to the winding and is there only to give extra support for the PCB. In the end I just pushed the stator back on. Now I have a generator and the oscilloscope confirmed it. However, the output is AC so I need to rectify it.
Apr 14
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
Yesterday I was very impatient and found an old PC fan I could play with. According to the label it had a ball bearing, but when I removed the rotor I was not able to verify that. Removing the magnet from the rotor was easy and because it was just a press fitted rubbery band it was also easy to reinstall. I started to break off the fan blades, but found it necessary to use a knife to cut into the plastic at the base of the blades first. When done correctly the blade easily broke off at the base.
I just got a new idea. I need my Orbo replication to drive a generator. If I can rewire the brushless fan motor I have one and it may be quite efficient too. I don’t know how to do the modification yet, but will find a way. Good thing I didn’t throw away the rotor magnet.
Apr 12
admineOrbo replication Orbo, Steorn
Still waiting for my PC fans. In the mean time I have tried to find out how to open one, remove the magnets and assemble it again. It seems to be a very easy thing to do. See Take apart that PC Box Fan – see what’s inside brushless DC motor. In addition I need to cut off those fan blades. When all this is done there should be no cogging and very little air drag.
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