Homebuilt handmade "3 phase" electric motor

[skimask]

This is something I've been wanting to build since I was a kid...(and I really wish I had some pictures to post)...need some help figuring out where I went wrong.

Tried a couple of things today...
-Painted a black stripe on one end of the pipe, glued a piece of foil for a reflector, added a light source and a phototransistor, wrote some code, tried to get rotor to sync up with the software/MOSFETs. The motor didn't work, but the code works, I get a good rpm reading on the LCD.
-Replaced the resistors on the regulators, upped the current limit to about 5 amps. I'm afraid if I go much higher, I'll fry up some wiring.

Any other ideas?

[mackrackit]

You need something magnetic between the copper on the rotor. Think of the rotor as a shorted transformer. The copper rings and bars are the short.

Wiki should have said the idea is to induce a magnetic field, not current.

Think of putting a nail on a magnet and the nail will then be able once the magnet is removed, to pick up a paper clip. The nail will also have a N and S pole. Rotate the magnet and the nail will try to move (compass). The rotating field of the stator is doing the same thing to the laminates on the rotor. All the copper is doing is causing a short.

There are several theories for the shorting, The one I feel is correct is to create an insulation between the magnetic parts of the rotor.

Having the electro/mechanical part of the rotor on a twist does help starting as the magnetic parts will cross phase ( in two fields at the same time ) .

Over lapping the stator coils will also make a difference but what you have should move. (spin start? maybe) The bare metal in the stator coils should be facing the rotor, like you had in the first place.

Look at this http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/e...tes/00887a.pdf

If this does not help, I have a friend who owns a re-wind shop. I will get his input.

[skimask]

You need something magnetic between the copper on the rotor. Think of the rotor as a shorted transformer. The copper rings and bars are the short.

So, you're saying, if I were to lay the rotor out flat, it would go: copper wire (shorted to every other piece of copper wire), insulator, slab of something magnetic-able, insulator, another copper wire, etc.etc. I'll give that a shot...

Wiki should have said the idea is to induce a magnetic field, not current.

It did...but it said inducing a current is basically a side effect of the magnetic field. Same thing but different...

Having the electro/mechanical part of the rotor on a twist does help starting as the magnetic parts will cross phase ( in two fields at the same time ) . Over lapping the stator coils will also make a difference but what you have should move. (spin start? maybe) The bare metal in the stator coils should be facing the rotor, like you had in the first place.

Overlap - I've tried a few different angles so far, even angling the stators the opposite way to the rotor angles...
Spin start - no joy...
Bare metal - that's what I thought...and I've put it back that way.

I just wanna see this thing spin so I can giggle like a little 12 year old...

[mackrackit]

So, you're saying, if I were to lay the rotor out flat, it would go: copper wire (shorted to every other piece of copper wire), insulator, slab of something magnetic-able, insulator, another copper wire, etc.etc. I'll give that a shot...

Yep, but you will not need the insulator. The current created and suppressed in the copper is the magnetic insulator.

It did...but it said inducing a current is basically a side effect of the magnetic field. Same thing but different...

OK, must have been a different article, looked it up on wiki to see where you were coming from. Chicken or egg, which came first?

Overlap - I've tried a few different angles so far, even angling the stators the opposite way to the rotor angles...
Spin start - no joy...
Bare metal - that's what I thought...and I've put it back that way.

Not sure about the spin start, never seen one with straight coils. You could add a start sequence to the code like a stepper if needed.
Attached is a bad drawing of what I mean.

I just wanna see this thing spin so I can giggle like a little 12 year old...

Always nice to do something for fun, and not have a dead line.

[mackrackit]

Might be able to use welding rod between the copper on the rotor. Flux not included

[skimask]

Yep, but you will not need the insulator. The current created and suppressed in the copper is the magnetic insulator.

I meant that in terms of electrical insulator, like a thin piece of plastic or something.

Attached is a bad drawing of what I mean.

Yep, that's what it looks like, roughly...same idea all around.

I wonder, if and when I get this thing going, how much power I'll be able to pull out of it.
Rebuild it, put a bigger shaft in it, beefier wiring, bigger copper, and so on and son on...
I wonder what the limit would be...on a beer budget anyways...

[mackrackit]

Well ,on a beer budget the aluminum could be used in place of the copper

Really, I do not think there is a limit. Time maybe. I have been working on a 1KW wind machine for awhile now. Permanent neo magnets, quad disk rotors 3 phase each, 6 foot turbine.

Get a little money, get a little time...

[skimask]

Do I even have my nomenclature correct for this type of motor?
Is what I'm trying to build really a 3 phase AC synchronous motor?
Or is it really an induction motor with 3 driving phases?
I did some more reading and it almost seems like an actual 3 phase AC synchronous motor has a powered rotor, with the 3 phases on the rotor and the 3 phases on the stator out of phase, and it's that out of phase that makes it turn.
And I'm still trying to get my head around how that 'shorted rotor' with all of its 'shorted' copper bars and wires actually generate that 'counter balancing magnetic force'... Got my left hand out with the 3 fingers pointing every which way...maybe I should use my right hand?