In my circuit my motor terminals are connected to the output of a VNH5019A motor driver https://www.pololu.com/product/1451. When the circuit is no longer powered I want to allow the user to freely rotate the motor (a dc motor) output shaft (which in my application has a load attached to it that I want the user to be able to move if power has disappeared). Currently if I rotate the motor fast in one direction and then suddenly change direction I can feel a "resistance" to the movement in the new direction. I assume this is because the motor is generating a voltage which opposes the movement in the new direction. Can anyone explain to me what is happening and suggest a modification to my circuit that would prevent this from happening?
Electrical – How to allow a motor to free spin
back-emfdc motordrivermotor
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I haven't even bothered watching after "only DC motors can be used as a generator".
As far as I am aware, a motor can be of the following families:
- Permanent magnet DC brushed. DC back emf.
- Coiled stator DC brushed (as a separate winding, or internally wound as series or parallel). DC back emf IF the stator is powered. Single phase universal motors are a subset of series connection types for which, regardless of the polarity of the voltage, torque is always generated (needs moveable brushes or a different wiring to change direction though).
- Permanent magnet AC synchronous (three phases). Three phase AC back emf.
- Coiled rotor AC synchronous. I think those generally are not brushed but rather rectify the current induced by the stator. If brushed, no back emf unless the rotor is powered.
- DC brushless. This one is basically a permanent magnet AC synchronous with hall sensors built in, to be able to electronically switch the phases. The back emf is however square or trapezoidal to maximise flux linkage.
- Stepper motor (2, 3, 5 phases). Close to the PM AC synchronous in its construction, except that the motor is made to maximise the number of stable equilibrium positions of the rotor (many alternating magnetic poles at the rotor or variable reluctance). Back emf depends on how it's driven.
- AC asynchronous (3 phases). The rotor is a closed loop (a coil, or a squirrel cage made of bars) which creates its field from currents induced by the stator. Can only be used as a generator beyond the synchronous rpm (+voltage at stator). AC back emf (TBC).
- AC asynchronous (single phase). The motor cannot be self-started unless an out-of-phase auxiliary supply is created via a reacting capacitor, and fed to windings 90° from the main windings. Can only be used as a generator beyond the synchronous rpm (+voltage at stator). AC back emf (TBC).
There are many more (e.g. hybrids), but I think those represent 95% of the production. I'm sure I've missed a few important ones, please feel free to comment and I'll update the list.
The biggest clue to the type of a motor is the number of wires, but as you can see this is not enough. Some motors cannot generate power without an excitation, some not at all, and even if they do, the back emf is funny sometimes (trapezoidal for example) depending on its construction.
You could plan to try the various types of supplies on the motor, ramping up the voltage, and see if it does anything, but what's your "OK that's not it, better cut the power before I smoke it" point? If you don't know what type of motor it is, I assume you don't know anything about it. Including the voltage and current ratings, Max rpm. You could get that from eyeballing it, but there is no guarantee then.
For your specific problem though, if you are certain your motor is a DC bruhless but you don't know if the inverter+control circuit are integrated, look at the number of wires. Generally the motor does not have a circuit built in, and an ESC must be connected to it. You will have to identify which wires are the hall sensors.
ESC might or might not be used for current generation, it depends on how they are made. I don't think there can be any harm in hooking up a resistive load compatible with its current range at the input and test it.
You blew a fuse somewhere ahead of this pump and are now giving it single phase power. A 3 phase motor will not start with single phase power, but it will run if started some other way. Your pump likely does not have a check valve to prevent water from flowing backward, so when it is off, there is a slight back-flow spinning it backward, even if only slightly and when you energize it with the single phase power, it is already turning the wrong direction, so it continues to do so.
Find and replace the blown fuse.
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The reason you are noticing it is worse at higher speeds will be because of the fly-wheel effect. The energy stored in the rotating core if proportional to the square of the angular velocity... So twice as fast = four times the energy.