# Salvage motors from industrial equipment?



## Olaf-Lampe (Feb 24, 2010)

loach1 said:


> I work in a large plant that manufactures automatic transmissions, and we are about to dispose of a lot of equipment. What are the chances that any of it would be suitable for an EV conversion? There are large machining centers and lathes, all with AC motors and VFD's. Everything is designed to run on 208V 3 phase, all built in Japan about 10 years ago.
> 
> Any help would be very welcome - I would like to convert my Fiero if I can do it on a shoestring budget.
> 
> David


I'd grab anything that could be useful and resell it with a small margin. Maybe there is enough money left for your own conversion. Batteries and other parts ( contactors, DCDC, vacuum pump, etc...) will be a lot more expensive than a shoestring 

Good luck
Olaf


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

The motors and VFD's might be good for an EV, etischer modded a VFD to run his Siemens motor.


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## peggus (Feb 18, 2008)

I've been looking at CNC spindle motors for use in EVs. I believe they could be very usable, the question is can you get the inverter to work of DC and can you interface it. 

It's not a small task if you're not very familiar with the inverters.


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## Salty9 (Jul 13, 2009)

Another consideration for vehicle use would be weight. Most older industrial motors tend to be heavy.


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## loach1 (Apr 29, 2010)

I think I get it - the inverters are unlikely to be able to run on DC since it would be very unusual to have a DC power source in an industrial setting. The motors look quite different to the ones I am finding on the EV sites, possibly because the application is quite different? I must admit I'm a bit shocked by how much an EV conversion can cost even if you are thrifty. I badly want to commute without burning gas though.....


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## 9852 (Jan 17, 2010)

you can build a budget ev for around $2500, but if money is an issue, then buy a little at a time, but first you need a real plan on what you want your ev to do and how to build it, the sources for cheap parts are there though.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

loach1 said:


> I must admit I'm a bit shocked by how much an EV conversion can cost even if you are thrifty. I badly want to commute without burning gas though.....


I was thinking that myself when I started.

However, a few lucky finds and helpful forum members has got me further forward.

Jozzer gave me a golf buggy motor.
Simon Rafferty gave me 9" motor and four Optima red top batteries.
I found a large pile of 70sqmm and 95sqmm cable at the scrap yard and got it for scrap prices.
I found an unused Curtis 1214 48v controller on Ebay for £65.
I found a 12" milk float motor on Ebay for £100.
The engineering guys at college have agreed to do most of the machining I can't manage, Simon Rafferty has offered to help me out with the rest.

I had to turn down a 195v Controller as I just didn't have the money even though it was really cheap so bargains can be found.

As the old saying goes:
"There is Quick, Good and Cheap. You can have any two but never all three."

I am going for Good and Cheap. I'm hoping to be running and commuting to work before I retire!


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## 9852 (Jan 17, 2010)

I agree, I went with good and cheap, and am very happy with it.


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## samborambo (Aug 27, 2008)

loach1 said:


> I think I get it - the inverters are unlikely to be able to run on DC since it would be very unusual to have a DC power source in an industrial setting. The motors look quite different to the ones I am finding on the EV sites, possibly because the application is quite different? I must admit I'm a bit shocked by how much an EV conversion can cost even if you are thrifty. I badly want to commute without burning gas though.....


Not so. All inverters that are not thyristor based (say, pre 1990) run on DC. The VSDs you find in industrial environments have a rectifier frontend to convert the source AC into DC. A lot of industrial inverters have a DC bus coupling intended for ganging multiple inverters on to a common DC bus. Otherwise you can bring out some DC terminals by tapping straight on to the reservoir capacitors.

The main difference with inverters designed for traction is that they operate in a regulated torque mode rather than regulated speed. Many industrial inverters can operate in torque mode as well. You would only want a regulated speed mode for implementing cruise control.

I'm still hunting for a 208-230V, 1750 RPM, 15hp, flanged < 256T aluminium frame motor. If you've got any available, I'd be interested.

Cheers,

Sam.


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