forklift motor for electric car

[Mosfet510]

Good size motor but it sounds like the bearings have seen better days!? Hope I'm wrong but that's what comes to mind. Cool video.

[BenjaminNelson]

@Mosfet510

There was a bearing retaining clip that was loose when this video was shot.

The bearings were actually in perfect condition. Once I tightened the clip back down, everything was perfect.

[ElectricAvenuesIRE]

Hi there, nice vid, could I please ask just a few questions:

1. How much did you pay for that motor, how much should one expect to pay for a motor?

2. Did you figure out why it was running so many AMPS from a no-load start? Maybe it wasn't too high at all, the very good Agni motors run around 6 amps or more from no-load speed.

[BenjaminNelson]

@ElectricAvenuesIRE

I paid $50 for the motor. Motors from just yards are often just sold by weight of scrap value. I've seen similar motors at junk yards for $100 or less.

As for amps, I think it just wasn't a super-accurate ammeter. The armature of this motor weighs enough that one should expect it to pull a few amps with no load otherwise.

[Downfacingdog]

The motor is shot.

[BenjaminNelson]

@Downfacingdog Been running my car on it for about three years now. Seems to be doing fine.

[elave16]

are you going to control it using pwm ?? ... I have a similar project, with 2 motors from an old komatsu forklift 2.2kw each ..

thanks!

[BenjaminNelson]

@elave16

I am driving this car with PWM. Originally, I used a 72V Curtis motor controller, and then later I upgraded to an open source Open ReVolt controller.

[wdowa94]

Maybe use Train motor, but you will need 3KV...

[BenjaminNelson]

@wdowa94

All jokes aside, a friend of mine has an electric car that uses a motor controller out of a subway car. It runs about 300 volts. I think he has 27 12V batteries in his car.

[The1234cadillac]

What are the specs of the electric motor size weight etc

[cleric022684]

why do you need transmission on el motor?

[BenjaminNelson]

@cleric022684

You don't actually need a transmission. You DO need a way to connect the motor to the wheels. You will also need gear reduction. Even the Tesla Roadster uses a a simple gear reduction.

On a front-wheel-drive vehicle, the transmission has the gears (gear reduction) AND also the differential, which splits the power, sending it to both the front wheels. WITHOUT the transmission, you would need a from scratch/custom replacement to do all this. Seems easier just to use the tranny.

[8osiris]

do me a favor and put a 2kw generator head with a set of planetary gears run to the battery. I'm sick of this we gotta recharge shit.

[sooperdude1992]

where can i source something similar to this?

im making a go-kart, and i sortve want to make an electric one instead of the shitty 125cc ive got, ive already half built the frame :D

[BenjaminNelson]

@sooperdude1992

Snoop around junk yards, call around, talk to people. It's amazing what's just sitting in junkyards or on a sheft somewhere!

[sooperdude1992]

@BenjaminNelson thanks bro, ill start making some calls haha..

bro, subscribe if you want to see it, ill probly make up a video of the thing when im done and upload it..

6months tops i reckon, either that or i just go petrol

[saeidmomtahan]

12 V X 25 A= 300 W. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, with no load of course. With load, I'd imagine you'd go up to 1500W. Does that sound about right?

[BenjaminNelson]

@saeidmomtahan

Yeah, that does sound about right.

I have put up to 500 amps at 144v through this motor, which equals 72 Kilowatts or about 96 HP. Now that's only a MOMENTARY number, but it is good enough to burn rubber!

[skunkape49]

SOUNDS LIKE A LOUSE BEARING 

[MrTpengineer]

That forklift motor will move a truck pretty quickly and your gunna put it in that tiny car??? Ok i'm in lol.

[BenjaminNelson]

@MrTpengineer

Works great in the car!

I've burned rubber before.....

[MrTpengineer]

@BenjaminNelson lol

[BenjaminNelson]

If you want to learn how I built my own electric car, please visit 300MPG.org . I'm now offering an instructional video on electric car construction.

Begining June 2011, there will also be an instructional DVD for Electric Motorcycle Design.

[MegaFrankie1991]

bearings buddy thats the noise. Warfield Electric Co. Conyers, GA (Mechanic)

[BenjaminNelson]

@MegaFrankie1991

It turned out that the problem was there was a small metal plate in the one end that ended up getting loose. Sort of an anti-rattle clip sort of a thing. I hadn't realized that I ended up loosening it. Once I figured out to to tighten it back up, it was fine. The bearings were in good condition, and didn't need any replacement. I got new brushes at Warfield Electric in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The guys there were great!

[ryanathan2]

Hey how many miles can you go on a single charge and how long does it take to charge all your batteries?

[alexandukr]

idle current 25A? isn't it too much? and what current it is when the motor is on full load?

[505hayes505]

WHERE DID YOU FIND OR BUY THE MOTOR? WHAT KIND OF SPEED ARE YOU GOING TO REACH AS WELL POWER ? I WONT TO GO GREEN IN MY SUPER SPORT NOVA .

[BenjaminNelson]

@505hayes505

Bought it out of a guy's garage for $50.

I have had the car up to 70 mph running at 144V. I typically run the car at 72V for a 45 mph top speed. I use it as a town car.

[505hayes505]

bearing!! 

[BenjaminNelson]

@505hayes505

No, the bearings were fine. I found out later that there was a loose part in the end of the motor. I properly set the screws on it, and it has been great ever since.

[Perfectasthis]

hello Ben, i just bought a GE forklift motor its a 36/48v weighs about 150 lbs and has 2300 rpm. and special advice? its going in a 1991 CRX fully gutted (1500lbs). i want to build it like a golf cart. i heard its cheaper. thank you

[BenjaminNelson]

@Perfectasthis Sounds like a great project! You can message me directly with more info. I also have an instructional DVD now for building electric cars you might be interested in. You can see that at 300mpg.org

[BlackLightStar]

Nice! This was very informative! :) I'm planning to rebuild my Subaru Domingo van into a electric vehicle. I'm gonna keep the transmission, since it provides the 4WD. I have a question however: what's your solution to providing vacuum for the brakebooster? Are you gonna add a vacuumpump?

[BenjaminNelson]

Yes, this car now has a 12V vacuum pump which runs the power brakes. It also has a vacuum resevoir which can hold enough for 10 full pumps of the brake pedal. (Gas cars can usually do 3 without the engine.)

[380Banshee]

counterclockwise...

[hboyce4]

Change the bearings, but its normal for a motor to drawn many amps with no load, since the efficiency of the motor is very bad with no load, this means that when you will load it, the consumption wont increase so much

[AccuracyMarked]

Yep, I'd go with 8 HP, D.C, 72 to 96 amp motor to reduce the current draw....I'd also use a gearbox with clutch feature....are you trying to go directly to the gear box without clutch??? If you are then you will have more of a headache controlling the speed....and won't have a disconnecting means as good as a clutch feature.

[tommyrgood]

Hey, great work. I'm looking to use a dc electric motor potentially from a forklift to power a boat. any ideas? how should do you think I should go about sealing it? How much does your motor weigh? (capacity issues; motors and batteries weigh massive amounts).

[peckiledorf]

good job bro

[UNDERGROUNDMAFIA]

your drawing more amps- cause of the bearing makig that grinding noise replace the bearings and use the controller if you have one it will reduce your amps dramaticly..

[BenjaminNelson]

The noise wasn't the bearings. Turns out there was a "bearing cover plate" inside that was loose. The bearings themselves were just fine. Once the cover plate was tightened down, the noise went away.

This motor has run very well on a 400amp 72V Curtis controller

[Jacob1986]

Nice work on this!!! How many horsepower is this motor?

[BenjaminNelson]

I don't know the HP rating. The motor was unmarked when I got it. The car currently runs at 72V and uses a 400 amp peak Curtis controller. So that would make it 48 HP peak I think!?

[Jacob1986]

nice work, how much horsepower does this motor have?

[1100tech]

A drive motor free amps of 25 ain't too bad BUT if you need a spec then i would call "Fontella's in chicago with the motor numbers and they could give you a spec ...the color of yellow it is looks like a clark motor but calling them with the motor numbers would get an answer right away !

[OneCupOfCoffee204]

You are using a 12 volt motor that is going to heat up pretty good. Try a 36 or 48 volt motor. Or better yet AC motor technology has come a long way. With AC motors you don't have brushes. By the way the noise is most likely comming from one of the bearings or the cooling fan.

[BenjaminNelson]

This is 36/48 volt motor. It's in my car and I have ZERO problems with overheating.

AC is fantastic. It's also very expensive, and you need lots of batteries to get to the high voltages needed for the AC motors.

The noise was later nailed down. It was a weird disc on the front end of the motor, which is sort of a bearing cover.

[khanastenabulat]

Thanks for the great video. Did you ever figure out what was causing the high current draw while free running? Maybe this is normal?

Today I managed to get a free series forklift motor from a repair shop. It draws 35 amps when free running off 12 volts! I tried running it in both directions too. It's only a small one (7" dia x 9" long) destined for an electric motorcycle.

[jvmalum]

got any idea how much a motor like that goes for brand new, and where to get one.

[BenjaminNelson]

I don't know what it costs new, but there are a suprising number of places around that rebuild forklift and other motors. Try finding a "motor repair" "motor rewinding" or "electrical rebuilder" through your local yellow pages.

I am sure they could give you a good price on a rebuild.

[BenjaminNelson]

I bought the motor from a guy who had a stripped down forklift in his garage. You could get one from a junkyard or a place that specializes in rebuilding motors.

[randycarter2001]

Reconnect the motor to run backwards, measure the current. If it is lower you have phase problem or what is known as advance, with your brushes. The motor was built to run only 1 direction so the angle between the brushes and the field windings of the motor was set to improve efficiency. You have to set it to the opposite direction. Again this is the problem if you see a big current difference between the 2 directions.

[BenjaminNelson]

I was able to figure how to reverse it.

The brushes are square on - same amperage both directions. It was originally a drive motor for a forklift, so it had reverse, so the forklift could backup.

[jmoyet]

it would be cool to see that metro driving down the road and electricity.

hopefully more videos than forkenswift when driving it.