So I was putting my latest rod build on the Drying motor set up and I left for work. I often put a coat on a rod, put it on the dryer set up, and go to bed or work etc.. On the way to work I thought “what is the life expectancy of a dryer motor” “what if the motor quit”?
Anyone have a guess how long one should last? Yes the obvious question is how often do you use it? I build several rods a year….. Should they last 5 years? 10 years?

Gabe
Neal’s Custom Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2013 02:40PM by Gabe Neal.

I think you have to look at it in terms of hours used, not years. And, of course, it varies. These are not expensive, high quality motors. I've some that last for what I would guess is hundreds of hours, and others of the same make and model go out after 10 hours.

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Boy Tom you know how to make a guy nervous. LOL We put allot of faith in these motors to help in the curing of $300 – $600 rods. I know you are correct; but, it makes me wonder how can I ensure this motor will get me through the critical drying time short of watching it…..

As Arsenio Hall would say…things that make you go HUM….

I have 2 Pac Bay wrappers with integrated dryers - I keep spare motors on hand, but during the "early stages" of curing, I make a point of checking the rods at least every half hour - there have been a few occasions where I have had some issue - a broken drive band, a chuck that wans't tight enough. Haven't had a dryer motor fail during drying yet - but I'm sure it will happen....

I'd be more worried about a power outage than a motor failure.

I wouldn't worry too much, but I wouldn't turn it on and then leave the house. I'd want to at least be nearby just in case I was to hear silence, where previously there had been some minor motor noise.

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There are motors out there designed for running long periods that can take the heat that builds up.
My current motor is from a rotissery oven its built like a tank and can handle the heat and I can use it to apply thread wrap finish and use it for drying .And my speed control works with it.
I am not saying this is the best way.But its more robust than the other ones,and I know from experience with electronics that heat will kill a motor.I have used the other motors and they did burn up.
Have a great weekend!

Cheap motors ... not that long. Flexcoat motors ... a very long time. I went through a handful of the imports before buying a Flexcoat quad dryer. What a great investment. They do offer single tabletop dryers as well. On a side note, I have my wall mount quad dryer plugged into a battery backup, just in case the power company hates rod builders.

Jim

You took the words right out of my mouth. Thanks for that. And a thank you to Gabe for bringing up this topic.


Click the link below for more info on our gear motors.

[www.flexcoat.com]

[www.flexcoat.com]

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

I have had a cheap rotisserie motor that I got 37-38 years ago and one from Dale Clemens about 35 years ago, and both are still going strong after several thousand rods. Since I worked a 24 hour shift, I didn't let them run all that time.

The noisy motor that came with my Angler's Workshop hand wrapper from close to 35 years ago is still going and still pretty loud. The oak handwrapper still looks nice also, very similar to the one they still sell, the RBK I think they call it. I modified it with a electric timer which also still works.

I have used a noisy rotisserie motor for ten years and several hundreds of hours. I support the blank with a pair of wheels with ball bearings so the load on the motor is close to nothing. I figure the motor should work for about the same number of hours as the motor in a cheap plug-in electric clock will work; somewhere around 5 years X 365 days X 24 hours. A long time.

Common theme. Good ones last and others don't. Good ones are typically sold for entirely different purpose. Look to salvage from something intended to run for a long period. Clocks are an example but then you need to be sure of adequate torque rating.

I seem to have more problems with chucks. I miss my old home made one with a crutch tip...LOL!

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Gabe,
I think that it is always a good idea to remain in the general area of a drying rod, for at least the first two hours of drying and check on the progress now and then.

After two hours, the finish is not likely to sag and if the dryer happens to stop, there will generally be no harm done to the final rod finish.

If you can't stay in the area for the first couple of hours of rod drying, then don't apply the finish until you can.

Be safe

I'd like to see someone invent a small scale STEPPER MOTOR. They rotate a partial revolution, then stop for a determined amount of time and then re-energize to rotate another partial revolution. If set up with a prolonged "off" cycle and proper pulley ratio on our winding lathes, they could conceivably energize once every couple of minutes, rotating the rod exactly180 degrees for each "on" cycle. This would result in automation that could produce a superior level finish that, as of yet, to the best of my knowledge, can only be achieved by human hand. If a stepper motor could be employed, you would only have to run the motor for a few hours, and it would generate so little heat that it should last for years.

Torin,
They are readily available.
Just buy the stepper motor, buy the controller, and program the controller to what ever you need.

You can likely do it for under $200 and a few weeks of study.

The cost and time is the real reason that stepper motors have not been employed for this taks previously.

Small AC timing motors, or small DC gear motors can be purchased for under $20 and will last for years. So, the economic reason is not there to implement such a motor.

Having said that, nearly all of the modern computer controlled sewing machines use stepping motors to control stitch width, stitch patterns, as well as stitch length. They work wonderfully well, are very reliable and generally last for years.
But, when it comes time for replacement, the motors run about $100 each and the control boards that are programmed run $200 and up.

Great idea and plenty of motors and controllers on the market if you want to adapt them to the task.

I have a couple of controllers and stepper motors in my parts box, and was going to use one for both a wrapper motor as well as a dryer motor. But, I have just never taken the time to implement the necessary design and additional parts to make it all work correctly.



Be safe

By the way Torin,
The small DC gear motors that run on 6-24 volts dc, can be virtually dead quiet and run with little to no heat for very long periods of time.

For example:

[www.sourcingmap.com]

I would listen to Roger, he knows what he is talking about!!!

i have been using the same motor since 2009 before that it was in my moms mircowave for 6 or so years. Still works good!