Motor power usage tests...

[BabyKiller]

isnt mAH=millamps?

[BenCloned]

Thanks for the correction. You know how it is - at work, mind on other things...

[BenCloned]

Originally posted by BabyKiller
isnt mAH=millamps?

mAH = thousanths of an amp / hour

Correct me again if I'm wrong, Namua. Highschool was a long time ago.

[Namuna]

No, you're right on that BenCloned.

But I think you'll confuse the heck out of BabyKiller with that answer!

[BenCloned]

How about -

mAH = thousandths of an amp run through the circuit in an hour.

[BabyKiller]

ok thanks

[Namuna]

Update: I've updated the information on the ZipZaps and Clone motors...I had some of them mixed up.

[BenCloned]

Namuna -

Which ZZ board are you using in your tests? is it the new one with higher output, or the old one?

The new boards are included in the new ZZ's with the raised buttons on the TX. They seem to have about 30% higher output through the motor circuit: 125mA vs. 87mA.

I've heard reports that the new boards will run all the Bit motors.

[Namuna]

I bought my ZipZaps the day they were released...Which means it's the first PCB version.

[Spanky]

what clone is that from?? shen?

[Namuna]

The clone is a 'MegaToys' car...Whether that means it's the same as a Shen? I don't know.

[nghts]

haha this is crazy...all this mA stuff is excacly what im' learning about in school right now.

[BenCloned]

I ran the same no-load test last night just to compare, and got:

In a shen clone,
2.2 Tomy : 80 mA
3.8 TiRC : 80 mA
Shen Motor : 87 mA

The Shen motor looks just like the #4 in Namuna's test, but must have a different wind on the armature.

I didn't have time, or enough free hands to do an accurate load and stall test. Hopefully Namuna had time to do that last night.

[Namuna]

Didn't get the chance to do the stall current tests last night, I'll try to get to it tonight or this weekend.

[Namuna]

As promised, here are my findings of 'Stall Current'...

Stock Bit Char-G:
1.0 = 86mA
2.2 = 195mA
2.6 = 200mA
R-Spec = 230mA
3.8 = 225mA
ZZ Green (Performance) = 104mA
ZZ Red (Turbo) = 185mA
ZZ Yellow (NOS) = 152mA
Clone Pink = 171mA

Stock ZipZaps
1.0 = 64mA
2.2 = 80mA
2.6 = 98mA
R-Spec = 119mA *(see notes below)
3.8 = 120mA *(see notes below)
ZZ Green (Performance) = 83mA
ZZ Red (Turbo) = 106mA
ZZ Yellow (NOS) = 102mA
Clone Pink = 103mA

Notes: The R-Spec and 3.8 motors had problems on the ZZ (this is a 1st generation ZZ, whether they've fixed the resistance issues in the new revisions I can't verify). For the most part the motors couldn't draw any juice (kept pulling up 0), every so often it would sputter up to the amount given...My theory is that since the max output the ZZ can do is ~115mA (based on my readings on THIS thread) it had a serious problem supplying the R-Spec and 3.8 with what it could.

Alright, let's do some number crunching and see what kind of HORSEPOWER these motors put out!

1 horsepower = 746 Watts
Watt = Voltage X Amperage

For the sake of simplicity (and since the real differences are nominal) we'll say the voltage was constant through all tests at 1.3v. Since the ZipZaps board is less than forthcoming with good results, i'm just going to figure things out from the Bit Char-G point of view.

Alright, here's the results (for easier reading, I've multiplied all numbers by 10,000...Since these motors are all in the range of 1/10,000th of a Horsepower...I'll call it MicroHP, since I don't know the term for 1/10,000th)

Tomy 1.0 = 1.50 MicroHP (30mA avg. draw)
Tomy 2.2 = 3.40 MicroHP (80mA avg. draw)
Tomy 2.6 = 3.49 MicroHP (30mA avg. draw) *efficient AND quick!*
TinyRC R-Spec = 4.01 MicroHP (105mA avg. draw)
TinyRC 3.8 = 3.92 MicroHP (80mA avg. draw)
ZipZaps Green (Performance) = 1.81 MicroHP (20mA avg. draw)
ZipZaps Red (Turbo) = 3.22 MicroHP (27mA avg. draw)
ZipZaps Yellow (NOS) = 2.65 MicroHP (33mA avg. draw)
Clone Pink (OEM ZipZaps) = 2.98 MicroHP 25mA avg draw)

I'll pretty this all up on Monday (when I get into work), I don't have access to my graphics programs right now at home.