My Motor

Building An Electric Motor 

            Building an electric motor will take time, effort, money, and no shortage of luck when its all said and done but the payoff can be worth it. For me, I ran into man many problems in the course of building my motor but eventually I got it up and running even if it was not as fast as I would have liked.

What You Need to Start Building:

·      Strap iron 6” by 5/8” by 3/3n” (or 1/8” ).

·      100’ of #24 (must be 24) magnet wire

·      2 16-penny spikes

·      Tape 1” wide

·      Darning needle or piece of a coat hanger

·      Copper-stand lamp wire 2” long

·      Base board 7” by 6” by 3/4”

·      4 screws and set of nails

·      1’ hookup wire

·      6 volt-battery

Once you have gathered the necessary supplies budget for at least 3 more trips to Home Depot because you will need a lot more than that to get this baby going.

Steps To Building:

1.     Take two 6” L brackets and place them in a U shape, with the bottoms overlapping to create your coil

2.     Wrap them in single stranded wire for the best result with one end of the wire coming out on the right side and one on the left

3.     Tape the coil to your baseboard

4.     Next drill two L brackets to hold your metal rod in place

5.     Taking your separate metal rod, create your armature by first taping two smaller metal rods perpendicular to your larger one, and then wrap in magnet wire

6.     Next create terminal by drilling a hole in a cork and sliding it onto your metal rod

7.     Wrap the terminal in copper and connect magnet wire to the ends

8.     Next set up 2 L brackets to create the brushes

9.     Use any kind of wire as a brush and connect to the battery

10.  Take other brush and connect to one end of the coil

11.  Take other end of the coil and connect to the battery

Finished Product-

Problems: For me the first problem was drilling everything in place which took hours on hours. Please note that nails are sometimes impossible and I would definitely advise using a power drill and screwing in your brackets. Also get a larger baseboard then needed becuase the more space you have the better. The biggest problem though, was wrapping (and rewrapping) the magnet wire along with continuously remodeling the positioning of the metal rod. Finally you may also encounter problems as I did once everything is actually finished and see that the motor does not even work. My only advice for this would be to budget time for questions, research and more trial and error to get the motor up and running.



Here is my electric motor in action. 

The History of the Electric Motor

What is an electric motor?

An electric motor is is a device used to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. It takes an electric current and uses it to spin a rod therefore generating mechanical power to push, pull and do all sorts of everyday actions that we think are just second nature. For example electric motors are used in vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, computer printers, fax machines, video cassette recorders, machine tools, printing presses, automobiles, subway systems, sewage treatment plants, water pumping stations and more and are among the most important inventions of all time.

How Does It Work?

The principle on which motors operate is Ampere's law, named after "The link between electricity, magnetism, and movement was originally discovered in 1820 by French physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775–1867)." This law states that a wire carrying an electric current produces a magnetic field around itself. As shown below, when a wire carries a current therefore producing an magnetic field, you can use that magnetic field to generate mechanical energy through setting up a loop for rotation. One side will be attracted to the north pole and one to the south but when set opposite they will begin to constantly rotate creating power.

History:

The inventors that applied this principle were "Englishmen Michael Faraday (1791–1867) and William Sturgeon (1783–1850) and American Joseph Henry (1797–1878)" First in 1820, a Danish physicist, Orsted, confirmed the connection between electricity and magnetism, followed by the discoveries of Ampere. Faraday then progressed the foundation of the electric motor through his 1821 experiment followed by Barlow’s wheel using electromagnetism. Finally a german scientist, Jacobi, created the first electric motor. The first patent however went to Thomas Davenport in 1837.

Types of Current

alternating current (AC): An alternating current does exactly what you would expect, alternates or periodically switches direction. In an AC motor you add a communicator which is a metal ring divided into two separate halves and its job is to reverse the electric current in the coil each time the coil rotates through half a turn. At one instant, one part of the loop is attracted by the north pole of the magnet, and at the next instant, it is attracted by the south pole of the magnet. As the current changes directions, the loop is forced to spin on its axis therefore creating a motor.

direct current (DC):    Electric currents in DC motors move in one direction

For more information of electric motors this video will explain: