Warco WM 16 motor

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

fans are cheap, so they shouldn't be a problem.

I agree entirely, but clearly too expensive for them to be supplied as original equipment.🙂

[Roger BestParticipant @rogerbest89007]

I think its down to warranty claims, not enough customers are burning their motors out.

Obviously a manufacturers fitment needs integrating, filters etc. I can see why they don't bother.

[John BaronParticipant @johnbaron31275]

Posted by mgnbuk on 09/11/2021 09:44:17:

There are no field coils to conduct the heat into the motor body !

Nigel B.

Hi Nigel, Guys,

My comment was aimed at conventional induction motors, having field coils wound on an iron former that directly conducts any heat into the motor body. Since the DC motors used on these mills use ferrite magnets to provide the field and don't generate any heat. Any heat from the armature can only escape via the bearings supporting the armature.

The rather puny fan inside barely moves any air to cool the armature, even at full speed.

[Iain HoggParticipant @iainhogg97147]

Posted by JasonB on 07/11/2021 18:27:09:

As you said in another post you had stripped 4 gears in 12months I wonder if you may also be taking too heavy a cut with a hobby machine.

By installing upgraded gears you have removed the weakest link from the train, now you don't have a sacrificial gear to protect the motor from overload.

No, it's just a fact that the soft plastic gears, as supplied with these Chinese machines, are too soft and don't like high temperature – and as most owners of these mills have found out strip readily.

When working with steel I generally don't take much more than 0.2mm with a milling cutter – and as this isn't generally for exytended periods, there are usually no problems with overheating (anlthough the motor does still get very hot).

The motor has obviously not failed due to overheating but it does start to smell and smoke is visible – this generally happens during fly cutting operations where there is a single point cut over a larger diameter – although I generally don't risk more than around a 0.05mm cut with steel.

I have not removed the "weakest link" from the system. The "upgraded" gears are still the weakest link in the system – although they are now made of engineering nylon PA2200 which has a higher melting point and is much stronger than the soft gray plastic version (which people think is delrin or similar).

The nylon gears have been installed by quite a few users and are definately an improvement – and are also more readily available (and actually cheaper) than trying to get replacements of the stock gears from any of the UK milling machine suppliers.

[Iain HoggParticipant @iainhogg97147]

Posted by Rik Shaw on 09/11/2021 10:44:20:

My WM 16 gets very hot as well, I give it a few hours (or the next day) to cool down and get on with something else. The motor on my budget WARCO bandsaw is even worse. Just one slice with a new blade from a bar of 3" dia. steel reduces the motor to a near meltdown state. Again, I just give it time to cool down before another cut.

Something to check is the fan in the motor – that was what actually caused my first motor to melt.

It's just a cheap aluminium blade fan pressed onto the motor shaft. The fan can come loose and slip down the shaft and jam at the bottom of the motor.

The motor will still run as the shaft will quickly wear the pilot hole in the aluminium. If the mill isn't used for extended periods it won't be noticeable (as the fan isn't very efficient in the first place).

I have noticed a big improvement in TBS (time before smoke) by just leaving the top cover off.

[Iain HoggParticipant @iainhogg97147]

Posted by Roger Best on 09/11/2021 13:54:16:

It sounds like a cooling problem, not an instantaneous power issue.

May I add my vote to cooling fans. It does no good to any part of the motor to cook it.

You may find that it only needs a few more slots, fans are cheap, so they shouldn't be a problem.

Definately a cooling problem.

As I said in another post, there is a marked improvement just by leaving the top cover off.

I've sourced some small fans today and I'm going to try two mounted at the front drawing in and two mounted at the top drawing out.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Iain Hogg on 09/11/2021 18:24:25:

Posted by Roger Best on 09/11/2021 13:54:16:

It sounds like a cooling problem, not an instantaneous power issue.

[…]

Definately a cooling problem.

As I said in another post, there is a marked improvement just by leaving the top cover off.

[…]

.

Just curious … does anyone have a specification for this motor ?

MichaelG.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Iain, I found I only needed two fans, mine are mounted at the front of the motor housing and draw air through the slots already in the housing, they pull a fair volume of air through, ample to keep my motor cool. Dave W

[Iain HoggParticipant @iainhogg97147]

Posted by Samsaranda on 09/11/2021 18:32:52:

Iain, I found I only needed two fans, mine are mounted at the front of the motor housing and draw air through the slots already in the housing, they pull a fair volume of air through, ample to keep my motor cool. Dave W

There seems to be a few different versions of the top cover for these machines.

Mine only has a small louvre at the back of the top cover.

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Same as my WM14 that I posted about earlier – just a small louvre at the back. Always seemed an odd design to me – I suppose it does keep the motor protected from those tiny very sharp shards that go flying about quite often, but still seemed to be ( & eventually proved to be so ) a recipe for overheating even under normal modest use.

[Peter BryceParticipant @peterbryce59229]

Posted by Iain Hogg on 09/11/2021 18:11:13:

I have not removed the "weakest link" from the system. The "upgraded" gears are still the weakest link in the system – although they are now made of engineering nylon PA2200 which has a higher melting point and is much stronger than the soft gray plastic version (which people think is delrin or similar).

The nylon gears have been installed by quite a few users and are definately an improvement – and are also more readily available (and actually cheaper) than trying to get replacements of the stock gears from any of the UK milling machine suppliers.

Can anyone tell me if the nylon gears are still available somewhere?

The only drive gear I see on ebay at the moment seems to be a very expensive Chinese version at £33.

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

Try using 'Milling Machine Sacrificial Drive Gear' as a search term – there seems to be a UK seller.

[Hugh Stewart-Smith 1Participant @hughstewart-smith1]

Amadeal – Milling Machines – Spares and replacement parts – gears – £20 for the hi/lo gear

Hugh

Amadeal Ltd

[Peter BryceParticipant @peterbryce59229]

Posted by Peter Bryce on 30/07/2022 12:37:29:

Can anyone tell me if the nylon gears are still available somewhere?

The only drive gear I see on ebay at the moment seems to be a very expensive Chinese version at £33.

Found them – still on eBay – searching "sacrificial gear" brings up the 3 variations immediately, don't know how that didn't work before?

eBay Item Nos:- 113999695630 (Hi/Lo + Drive), 114231114754 (Drive only) and 114224592712 (Hi/Lo only).

Edited By Peter Bryce on 31/07/2022 08:52:18

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