# What happens if you use a starter as your motor?



## AmpEater (Mar 10, 2008)

It overheats and melts after about a minute or so, and isn't very effecient before that point anyway. 

Starters aren't designed to put out power continously, only in very short bursts. They have very cheap bearings, and often only operate for maybe a few hundred minutes total over their entire designed lifetime. Plus they are only designed for 12v. 

Now, an aircraft starter is a different beast entirely......


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## xrotaryguy (Jul 26, 2007)

disable the ignition on your car and see for your self  I have driven for 1/4 mile or so on starter power alone. It does work, but you can't go very fast. Maybe 2mph or so.


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## Dennis (Feb 25, 2008)

Series wound starter motors for cars require lots of current to make any torque. Just look at how small they are compared to the series wound motor of that picture. There is very little surface area on the armature and field pole shoes for magnetic field lines, so it saturates very quickly and therefore any additional current results in no torque gain. The mass as well is less so it heats up real fast versus a larger motor.


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## xrotaryguy (Jul 26, 2007)

I've heard that starters make good go-kart motors.


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## KDas (Sep 27, 2007)

the slashmaster said:


> It brings me to the question, what happens if you try to use a starter as the motor for your ev?


Hi,

IMHO, the more practical idea is to use some types of alternators for this purpose. For example, from aircrafts e.t.c. But it will be an AC system.

Regards.


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## the slashmaster (Feb 24, 2008)

KDas said:


> Hi,
> 
> IMHO, the more practical idea is to use some types of alternators for this purpose. For example, from aircrafts e.t.c. But it will be an AC system.
> 
> Regards.


Sound like an idea to keep in mind for when ac controllers become cheaper.


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## elevatorguy (Jul 26, 2007)

xrotaryguy said:


> I've heard that starters make good go-kart motors.


I used to know a guy that made electric bar stool carts from starter motors,
they were cheap and disposable.


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## 3dplane (Feb 27, 2008)

I have made a scrach built gokart for my then four year old daughter to be powered by a modyfied car starter motor.Chopped the nose off,made a retainer for the bushing so end up with a 1/2" shaft sticking out,got set screw tipe pulley from tractor supply(small) and the other pulley on the wheel was almost as big as the wheel but it was still not enough reduction.I could only run about half as fast as she would zoom by me.(Scary with her driving skills at the time)There was slippage on take off(good thing)but as far as the starter, worked pretty darn good for that.Simple on-off switch thru a napa solenoid.We also made some bycicles powered by modyfied reduction starters.(22 MPH.) They would only last though if you kept an eye(hand) on their tempreture


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