Is there a way to step up a power source?

[jason1976]

Ok, so I have a 4.5 Volt power source, and a 6 volt motor. I was hopping that the motor would turn, just slower then it would with a proper power source, witch would be perfect for what I need it for. However, it doesn't turn at all. I Can't find another motor this size, with a lower power requirement, and I don't have room for more power. (batters are just as they need to be for everything else in the circuit.)

So, I through it out there to the electronics experts, and fellow amateurs, among us, for a solution.

 

[exoray]

Well just a suspicion but I suspect it might have more to do with the available amps not the voltage in this case..

Motors draw higher amps when starting up, so regardless of the correct voltage if the batteries can't provide the initial high current draw at startup then the motor won't go...

In short, yes you can step up the voltage, but you can't create energy, so when you step up the voltage you are lowering the amps and I suspect you will only find yourself right back at square one...

Some more information on the batteries and motor specifications would probably help, but I suspect you probably need to simply get more power in the device...

 

[madrobot]

Ok, so I have a 4.5 Volt power source, and a 6 volt motor. I was hopping that the motor would turn, just slower then it would with a proper power source, witch would be perfect for what I need it for. However, it doesn't turn at all. I Can't find another motor this size, with a lower power requirement, and I don't have room for more power. (batters are just as they need to be for everything else in the circuit.)

So, I through it out there to the electronics experts, and fellow amateurs, among us, for a solution.

You could get a 9volt battery, and step DOWN the voltage a lot easier.

 

[exoray]

You could get a 9volt battery, and step DOWN the voltage a lot easier.

Yep, that would be my suggestion as well...

 

[jason1976]

Ok, I don't want to say what the final project is. (it's a surprise. )

But, I will say this much. The insides of it are very small. A 5/8" tube, to be exact. I need the batteries, and the motor to fight inside (with some other things) just loosely enough that they can easily slide in, and out. I took this little plastic, clip on, flashlight I got at the $1. store, and cut it down to just it's nifty little battery compartment, that holds 3 of those little 1.5 valt batterys. (I call them watch batteries, but they are a little bigger then that, the kind you put in some cameras, and toys, and gadgets. The little button looking ones.) Anyways, after rounding off the edges of the battery holder it's perfect. It fights just right, it slides great, it has a plate at one end with the spring for the negative end of the batteries, and a springy plate at the other end for the positive end of the batteries. It holds the batteries very well, and firmly. I tested it out, and it works with the tiny little switch I'm using, and light LED's quite well. (For $1. I get the holder, the batteries, a micro switch, and a bright wight LED. beat that. )

The Moto is from Radio shack. it's small enough to fight my tube. They had this size in 9v 7.5v and 6v They have them in 3v but one was way to big, and the other one was a "Vibrator" motor that was too mall,and had some weird thing on it to make it vibrate. I'veseen other's on ebay, but you just don't know what your getting there. So I got the 6v. Typical for radioshack it doesn't say much on the packaging, and nothing on the motor. Mostly all it says is 6VDC, 100mV max. That's about it.

 

[exoray]

Mostly all it says is 6VDC, 100mV max. That's about it.

I'm going to assume that its 100mA not mV, and that would be the start up requirements as it will only draw what it needs...

There lies your problem, the button cells just can't provide the juice, you are probably maxing their available current just running the LED, there simply isn't anything left to power a motor...

Button cells can only provide a few mA of juice at best, they have huge internal limiting, if you are getting 1mA of available drain out of those batteries you are lucky it's almost certainly less, and as I said the LED is almost certainly gobbling it all up...

The motor probably needs close to that 100mA to start and then it levels off to a much lower drain once running...

Sorry to say but you simply don't have enough power to do what you want with the batteries you have, it's like trying to start your car with a 9 volt...

 

[jason1976]

Um, so does that mean that even if I get say a 3v motor, it wouldn't work with these batteries? (I hear what your saying about the amps, but a lot of the auctions I've seen for motors requiring less voltage, don't say how many amps they take.)

This set up, lights the LED very well. It's extremely bright, and from using the lights the set up came from, in the past, I can say that the batteries last quite a wile.

 

[madrobot]

I personally would have gone a different route. If I'm not mistaken, there are about 50 different kinds of watch batteries and they come in some pretty big voltage choices. I'm surprised you weren't able to find something with enough amps to drive the motor.

I still would have gone with a 9V and step it down, but if you're going to stay with the watch batteries, then get a motor out of a Sony Playstation controller, as they are small, and powered minimally.

 

[jason1976]

I don't know much about this stuff, so using a higher voltage, and stepping it down for the LED is way beyond me. I'm just looking to do a very simple, basic, circuit. I took a look at the fancy stuff for another project, and it was like another language to me. (a language I don't speak. :lol)

 

[exoray]

Um, so does that mean that even if I get say a 3v motor, it wouldn't work with these batteries? (I hear what your saying about the amps, but a lot of the auctions I've seen for motors requiring less voltage, don't say how many amps they take.)

Amps and voltage are married to each other, fully connected... Would a 3 volt motor work, maybe but that is the best answer I could give, but I have high doubts with the use of button cells...

This set up, lights the LED very well. It's extremely bright, and from using the lights the set up came from, in the past, I can say that the batteries last quite a wile.

Yeah, but that is an LED, they don't take much to light up... And in truth they are probably being over driven, chances are good they are 3 or 3.5 volt(ish) LEDs, but they are getting 4.5 volts tossed at them, but then comes into play the internal resistance of the batteries and the available amps... The reason the LEDs don't pop from over voltage, even though they are getting too much, is because the batteries simply don't have enough amps to finish the job of popping them...

I hate to be the party pooper but IMO you need to consider another battery option if you want to accomplish this...

then get a motor out of a Sony Playstation controller, as they are small, and powered minimally.

PS motors are in the right voltage range, but I have never measured the PS motors draw, similar sized vibration motors that I have measured run at about 30-50mA, probably still too much for 3 common button cells...

 

[jason1976]

Ok back to what you were saying about the LED's. I kind of figured as much, but I was always told that it was ok to be a little over, because LED's are forgiving. And, I've used the clip on lights that they's came out of, for a long time, and I haven't had a LED die on me yet.

So, if I let the motor go, and just do LED's, then will I be ok, or am I just doomed.

I've looked at other batteries, but there are few that will fit this configuration, and even if I can find one, these already have a vary nice holder, that will allow the person I'm making this for, to change them easily. I have no idea what I would use to hold, most of the other oddly sized, higher voltage, batteries.

 

[exoray]

You should be fine with the LEDs in general button cells simply don't have enough power to pop LEDs...

 

[jason1976]

Ok, just for fun, I took a 3v "vibrator" motor I had laying around, and hooked it up to the circuit, and it worked great. This motor is all wrong for what I'm doing, so I'll have to get a different one, but at least not all hope is lost. (this motor wont work do to the wated dodad on the haft, that makes it vibrate, and the fact that it's too round, and small, for me to install in the prop.)

I had another idea last night, instead of ordering motors online that may not work, and paying shipping on them, or paying radioshack for parts that always brake anyway's, I think I'm off to the threft store this week. They always have little tiny cars, and stuff that have little motors in them, that run on very few batteries. And, even if they don't seem to work in the store, that is more then likely do to things like corrosion in the battery compartment, or loose wires, all of witch I wouldn't be using anyway's. Well at least it's worth a shot. (plus these may already come with a bit of a gear set up, witch was my next problem, because I have no idea of were to get a gear for these radioshack motors, or how to put them on since the shaft is so small.)