Wheelchair Motors

Michael,

Maybe they wire the brakes in series?

Jeff.

Can you give an example or link we can look at? Others on here probably already know the answer but I for one would like to see exactly what you are talking about - to satisfy my own curiosity.

Thanks ! JCD

Well that's what I thought but surely you would want to ensure that both brakes have the correct voltages dropped across them?

Michael

Well I'd rather not since I saw it in a currently active eBay listing and I don't think it would be fair on any prospective bidders. That said every set of motors that come up on eBay I find have the exact same thing - and even the pair I have are the same.

I was wondering if it was something to do with power consumption...lower voltage = lower heat dissipation and thus longer running life.....

Michael

The brakes on the electric wheelchair motors I took apart were deadman brakes. Applying power dis-engaged them. When the drive is turned off, the brake power gets turned off too, so an un-energised chair doen't roll. The poster that suggested that the brakes were in series got it. There is no fine control to balance, so exact voltage drop doesn't matter.

If you remove the brakes from the motors, it's a great place to put optical encoders for odometry or closed loop motion control. there is even a nice little cover!

Bob