Thread: Heat syncs fo ice maker motors?

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I have a bunch of motors from ice makers, like the ones that are in the door of refrigerators. They are the motors that turn the spiral that pushes out the ice. The have tons of torque and have their own gear reduction built in. I would say they are very similar to windshield wiper motors. The only problem is that they only run for a like 10 minutes and then shut off. To solve this problem I took out the thermo regulator and soldered the copper wires back together. It worked all night long that way. But, I know this is not a great idea safety wise and I would never do it again. I have heard that by adding a heat sync and not removing the thermo regulator that this will be safe for use in a prop and will allow it to run longer.

My question is if anyone knows if this is true and if so how to go about adding a heat sync. I am very limited in my electrical knowledge so any help would be greatly appreciated.

can you post a picture of the motor?

heat sinks are generally made out of aluminum or copper, and have fins to dissipate the heat.

The more fins, and the larger the fins the more heat that is dissipated. You can also use a fan to blow across the heat sink and cause it to dissipate heat more rapidly.

without seeing a picture of the motor, it is hard to say how to attach the heat sink.

it may be enough just to have a small fan blowing on the motor.

The oscillating the fan props have the same problem with the motors over heating when the fan blades are removed.

I'm not condoning the use of any heavily modified electronics running on higher current...however!

You had mentioned it ran all night without a heat sink - I'm curious if the motor became exceptionally hot (could boil water), or if it just got nice and warm.

Reason I'm asking: you mentioned this motor came from an ice maker. I'm wondering if the 10 minute duty cycle was meant to keep the motor from producing ANY heat.
After all, heat in an ice maker would cause melt to some degree - melt water would then have to accumulate somewhere, re-freeze, and likely end up causing problems.

So, if it just got warm, you may be safe running it without a heat sink, especially if the enclosure allows decent air flow.

Originally Posted by Ugly Joe

I'm not condoning the use of any heavily modified electronics running on higher current...however!

You had mentioned it ran all night without a heat sink - I'm curious if the motor became exceptionally hot (could boil water), or if it just got nice and warm.

Reason I'm asking: you mentioned this motor came from an ice maker. I'm wondering if the 10 minute duty cycle was meant to keep the motor from producing ANY heat.
After all, heat in an ice maker would cause melt to some degree - melt water would then have to accumulate somewhere, re-freeze, and likely end up causing problems.

So, if it just got warm, you may be safe running it without a heat sink, especially if the enclosure allows decent air flow.

It just got warm. Similar to how worm it would get before it would shut off if the regulator was attached. I definitely am not going to run it again the way I did last year though. Even though it didn't get hot. I still don't want to risk it. I mean I didn't even use a fuse. This year I will experiment with a heat sync and definitely add a fuse.

Originally Posted by bradbaum

can you post a picture of the motor?

heat sinks are generally made out of aluminum or copper, and have fins to dissipate the heat.

The more fins, and the larger the fins the more heat that is dissipated. You can also use a fan to blow across the heat sink and cause it to dissipate heat more rapidly.

without seeing a picture of the motor, it is hard to say how to attach the heat sink.

it may be enough just to have a small fan blowing on the motor.

The oscillating the fan props have the same problem with the motors over heating when the fan blades are removed.

I am out of town for a week or so, I will post a pic when I get back.

I will also add some video of the motors in action. They are great motors for props due to their rpm, gear reduction and torque. Oh and they have a threaded shaft so attaching cranks is really easy.