Identifying an Unknown Motor

Send a picture, then there's a 50-50 chance someone may help.

I would guess that you have a three phase motor but I have no idea if it is any variety of induction or stepper motor. Come to think of it it could also be a unipolar two phase stepping motor. You could even have a universal motor with some tachometer or temperature signal wires. You might not even have a motor. It might be a resolver or encoder.

Far too often we never get any follow up feedback information with these "what is it" questions. I'll try this time with a simple question. Is it blue?

it's an AC motor but i don't have an idead of what voltage should i apply for.

If it can't be identified, then 'weigh it in' for recycling. All the worries go away, then.

Best idea so far

Will recyling accept a blue motor?

6 wire? its Ac voltage, you can count the poles to get the speed...

Stator windings, rotor windings, thermocouple and a chassis wire. This could easily be a DC motor, too.

I am still curious if the case is blue?

true, it could be many things as well as an OEM specialty with no markings as JRaef points out. @ this point I'm assuming most of our advice wont help the guy. he'll probally only get scrap value and require a new motor for the application he desires. Hopefully he doesn't experiment...the next post might be about smoke and shock!

thank you! your ryt.. its an AC motor but i dont know if what voltage should I apply for it?

Blue! It's a blue vice but I see blue! Sometimes a WAG can be right.

To discover what voltage should be applied. I would start with a high potential tester to safely discover at what voltage the insulation breaks down. Well its a safe test for the wires. Be careful. If I didn't have a high pot tester then I'd have to some how determine the insulation thickness and material.

take the end bell off and take a few pics..post them here

Take it apart. If there are brushes and a commutator, it is DC, if not, look at the rotor. If the rotor is a stack of thin steel plates laminating to form a solid block, then has an aluminum or copper set of slanted bars embedded in it, it is AC. If the rotor is a permanent magnet, it is a PMDC servo or maybe a stepper. If from that there is an encoder or resolver attached to the end, it is a servo, if not, it's a stepper. But determining the power rating can never be much better than an educated guess. Once you determine the type, you can get a more narrow range by comparing its physical size to others that are similarly sized. Then you start a hunt-and-peck process of energizing it at very low energy levels and watching it on a scope, looking for saturation knee curves.

If none of this makes any sense to you, as I suspect because if it did you would not have asked, then give it up and scrap it as previously stated. Often times motors like this are custom made by OEMs and purposely not marked with any information other than the OEM part number, because the OEM does not want anyone reverse engineering it. They know that the process I just described is time consuming and not reliably exact enough to be of much use, so nobody would bother. My guess is that you likely got this for free, that's why...

thank you for your help! it really helps me.

If it looks like this:don't touch it. It's a landmine.

You mean that is not the lid off of a fondue pot?

Maybe a Synchro

Alpha

Please post pictures

Redfred

Yes recyclers will accept motors of any color and particularly engineering mistakes because they tend to be larger and wanted of site quick and usley cart away and no payment for prompt service.

Peter

without a picture I was thinking 3 phase dual voltage, but then I ran them through my head and they have 9 wires that are connected in different ways for the 2 voltage ratings. So without a picture I am guessing you are going to have limited responses.

liked the land mine pic though, had a holy carp moment there.

A "Y" connected synchro has 6 wires, an ohm meter could verify if it fits this connectivity.

If it's a little motor, it could be a stepper motor maybe.

AC vs. DC If it doesn't have brushes and a commutator then it's AC.