125 replies to this topic

[0reo]

Just for my own entertainment I've probably spent $200 on trying different motors in the Stryfe. Some were so inadequate they weren't even worth installing for a trial. Some performed well but at four times the price of the Stryfe itself not including the cost of exotic LiPo batteries, relays, rewiring with heavy gage wire, modifying the battery compartment, etc. One unlikely pair of motors gave me 90ft PTG, 100fps+ muzzle velocity, operate wonderfully on both the original wiring and regular old rechargeable AA batteries, and cost a whopping $2.25ea. Given the performance per dollar and minute spent of these motors it's a fools errand to look any further. (Not that I judge anyone for going on fools errands. This entire project was one for me.)

Here's the link:

http://www.pololu.co...log/product/611

For the record I am not affiliated in any way with either the motor manufacturer or the linked vendor.

Install and be merry. Happy Nerfing folks!
-Oreo

EDIT TO ADD: By "original wiring" I was mainly speaking of the wire gage and the switches. I did remove the thermistors or whatever those things are called on the OE motors.

Edited by 0reo, 01 February 2013 - 01:19 PM.

[andtheherois]

Does this fit as a simple drop in or does the shell have to be modified?

[Coop]

How do these motor handle rapid fire shooting? Do they have enough torque to handle multiple shots without decreasing in RPM too much?

[0reo]

These are 130 size motors so no modification is necessary. They drop right in.

They handle rapid fire very well. You can of course get a little bit more performance from other motors but the cost both in terms of dollars, time, and effort goes up dramatically. Not worth it IMHO. These motors give you 90%+ of the performance of the strongest motors made in this size at 1% of the cost.

[HasreadCoC]

Very cool; this is what we love to see from new members.

Any chance we could get a video of your finalized Stryfe in action?

[0reo]

'HasreadCoC', on 01 Feb 2013 - 5:56 PM, said:

Very cool; this is what we love to see from new members.

Any chance we could get a video of your finalized Stryfe in action?

Yea, I've been meaning to do a vid but haven't gotten around to it. It's been a real busy week for me. I also took the Solarbotics motors (linked above) out to try some super-ultra-hot AtomicMods motors (which perform nice but ask too much of AA batteries) so I don't have a Stryfe with the Solarbotics motors installed right now. Either way, take my word for it. It's probably <$10 delivered to your door for a pair of these. You won't be disappointed.

Keep in mind... I ran the Solarbotics motors on Eneloop AAs. I didn't even try Trustfires. These Solarbotics motors are rated for up to 9v. If the Trustfires can deliver the current these motors ask at that voltage there might be even more performance on tap. Disposeable Lithium AAs might give an extra volt for a little more performance too. These motors do so well on good NiMH AAs that you have to question whether it's worth the price of the fancy batteries. I think it's probably not.

Edited by 0reo, 01 February 2013 - 01:26 PM.

[Ivan S]

Wow, those are amazing!

Would you say these are the best motors for all flywheel nerf blasters? To my knowledge they all use 130 size motors.

[0reo]

IMHO, these are the best motors for any flywheel nerf gun that runs on 4 AAs.

There are much faster stronger 130 motors but its the fact that these run so well on AAs that really make them exceptional. That and the fact that the darts really do seem to crap out beyond a certain muzzle velocity. (Too much fishtailing / aerodynamic instability makes them not travel as far even in spite of a higher MV) The darts work real well at the 100fps these motors fling them. I'm not sure how much faster they can go and remain stable but I think this is pretty close to the limit. Had tons of that problem with the AtomicMods motors.

[HasreadCoC]

'0reo', on 01 Feb 2013 - 7:55 PM, said:

That and the fact that the darts really do seem to crap out beyond a certain muzzle velocity. (Too much fishtailing / aerodynamic instability makes them not travel as far even in spite of a higher MV)

This is where stefans (or other homemade darts) come into play.

I'd love to see someone design a 120ft-130ft flat firing compact fly-wheel blaster that uses hopper clips and easily-obtainable long-lasting rechargeable batteries, something like a drill battery, or such. Then, due to the fact that there would be no effective "deadspace" in the clips (as you wouldn't be using air power) we could have 10, 15, heck even 20 foot long clips. I could see some crazy base-defense gametypes coming out of that. Like a vulcan with super-extended chains, but better range, more accurate, and more ammo potentially.

[BlackBoarderV]

Hang on a second, You got those ranges with stock voltage? I fear what Coop people are going to achieve with these. Great find.

[Draconis]

Ordered six, $17ish to my door. I'll be happy to verify these stats in about a week.

[0reo]

Ok, so I had a few hours to screw around with this today. Got some interesting results with the ballistic chronograph. On NiMH AAs I clocked one dart at 130fps!! On the other hand, I connected up 2 A123 systems LiFePO4 batteries which can deliver 6-7v and plenty of amperage. I started getting really inconsistent muzzle velocity, but mostly less then with the lower voltage. Looks like I might have to concede that the flywheels may in fact be slipping on the darts.

My AtomicMods motors blaster started having other serious problems. Haven't had a chance to trouble shoot it yet.

[azrael]

Neat. Might get a second Stryfe just to compare it.

[Mully]

'0reo', on 01 Feb 2013 - 10:48 PM, said:

flywheels slipping on the darts.

Plastidip maybe?

Edited by Mully, 01 February 2013 - 06:52 PM.

[Modded Brain 115]

Is the link for the left or right motor?

[0reo]

'Modded Brain 115', on 01 Feb 2013 - 11:53 PM, said:

Is the link for the left or right motor?

Same motor.

As for the plastidip, I'm still not a fan. I think the flywheels need to be balanced as it is and the plastidip will only make it worse. I'd consider plastidipping the darts but I think I need to look at doing something completely different with the darts anyway.

Edited by 0reo, 01 February 2013 - 07:06 PM.

[azrael]

What kind of torque does it have? Any numbers?

[Modded Brain 115]

'0reo', on 02 Feb 2013 - 12:03 AM, said:

Same motor.

What is that supposed to mean?

[0reo]

'Modded Brain 115', on 02 Feb 2013 - 12:05 AM, said:

What is that supposed to mean?

It means there is no left / right motor. There is one motor. If you want it to spin the other direction you reverse the polarity. The way these motors sit in the plastic flywheel housing you just wire them up the same way the OE motors were wired, sans thermistors. Don't over-think it.

[Modded Brain 115]

'0reo', on 02 Feb 2013 - 12:08 AM, said:

It means there is no left / right motor. There is one motor. If you want it to spin the other direction you reverse the polarity. The way these motors sit in the plastic flywheel housing you just wire them up the same way the OE motors were wired, sans thermistors. Don't over-think it.

Thanks, I just know that there are some motors that come with stock resisters and go only one way.

[Exo]

Those aren't resistors, those would be Zener diodes or polarized capacitors.

[0reo]

'azrael', on 02 Feb 2013 - 12:04 AM, said:

What kind of torque does it have? Any numbers?

I haven't been able to find any published data on the motor other then the chart you see at the link in the OP, which of course has no torque data other then a brief mention that its got twice as much torque as some other motor which also has no published data available. I bought this motor as a complete shot in the dark gamble because it was cheap. What I have been able to piece together is that at 6v its got a no-load rpm of 26000, and a current draw of 280ma. That tells me this motor is maybe around 20g-cm at max efficiency.

Keep in mind, a single torque number tells you very little. What you really want to see is a torque / rpm graph for a specific voltage like this:

Edited by 0reo, 01 February 2013 - 11:34 PM.

[Crater]

The same motor is available directly from Solarbotics, which might be more convenient for those who live in Canada. (No affiliation other than that I'm from the same city as they are.)

'Draconis', on 01 Feb 2013 - 9:48 PM, said:

Ordered six, $17ish to my door. I'll be happy to verify these stats in about a week.

You have a PS48, right? Would you be able to compare these with its stock motors?

'Exo', on 02 Feb 2013 - 12:35 AM, said:

Those aren't resistors, those would be Zener diodes or polarized capacitors.

No, what makes brushed DC motors directional is phase offset of the commutator, which makes them run more efficiently in the designed-for direction. I have no idea why a motor would have a Zener diode on it, and it shouldn't have a polarized capacitor because it will induct and attempt to charge the capacitor in reverse when power is cut.

'0reo', on 02 Feb 2013 - 04:29 AM, said:

20g-cm [of torque]

Let's not start this again.

[Kyhan]

I remember coop's writeup worked well with 4 UltraFire batteries. Will these motors take the same beating, or will the motors burn out like stock ones?

[0reo]

Well these motors are rated for up to 9v so they'll definitely handle the increased voltage better then the stock motors. But these motors are designed to draw a lot more current then the stock motors so a better question is whether the batteries can deliver the amperage at the higher voltage. It might be the case that if you want to over-volt these motors properly you'll have to use the flat LiPo batteries.