Servo Super Cold

Patfu! · May 15, 2014

Hi all, I am planning to put a AB servo in a freezer environment -20f or worse. My hope is some of you have experienced this and have ideas on how to keep the motor from stalling or just plain braking. It will be a VPL motor used with a kinetix 5500 drive.

bkottaras · May 15, 2014

We tried it with the new Kinetix IP drives (6200? 6500??).
No go!!
AB had to write some kind of custom firmware for the motors (flashed the drives with it) in order to allow us to use in the enviroment.
Most of the issues with the faults popping up like crazy were related to internal temp sensors (motors) and such.
I'd contact AB prior to quoting such a project.

Patfu! · May 16, 2014

Thanks for the advice. Did the motor still perform? or were you just plagued with faults? The thought of putting these motors in a freezer that goes down to -30f is crazy to me. I will contact my local rep and see if he has any avenues to get custom firmware.

boneless · May 17, 2014

Not sure if this would work, but could you use trace heating?

Ken Roach · May 17, 2014

I was hoping that this was the application:

http://douraku.co.jp.e.at.hp.transer.com/kanto/news/2013/06/130605-extra-.html

OkiePC · May 17, 2014

I am not sure what effect that temp will have on the motor mechanically other than perhaps needing special bearing lubrication and I would definitely look closely at the specs of any gear reducer if any is being used. Those temps almost always call for special lubes, sometimes seals, sometimes different clearances for bearings and spool type valves.

shooter · May 18, 2014

I would only put the motor inside and all electronics outside the coldbox.
a normal electric motor can handle this without problems.

Patfu! · May 19, 2014

That's What I plan to do. I will put a series of Kinetix 5500's in a heated cabinet and only have the motor exposed to the elements. I am also thinking of a Polyurethane heater underneath the motor.

I don't know if its possible but I was thinking I could keep the motor Torqued up against a physical stop.

Patfu! · Oct 21, 2014

I just wanted to give an update.

I have 8 VPL servo motors installed and working perfectly fine without any heat applied to them whatsoever. The motors seem to work perfectly well. There are even a few that sit and don't move for hours at a time. When it is time for them to function they do so with out error. One thing that had to be considered is the servo cables. I switched over to a lapp cable that was flex rated to -40F. Thanks for the help.

just the cowboy · Oct 21, 2014

thank for the update

Thanks for keeping us up to date, wish everyone would so more learning could be done that way.

Servo Super Cold

Patfu!

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bkottaras

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Patfu!

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boneless

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Ken Roach

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OkiePC

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shooter

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Patfu!

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Patfu!

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just the cowboy

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