Low Current DC Spur Gear Motor for Paper Towel Dispenser
Case Study: Low Current DC Spur Gear Motor for Paper Towel Dispenser
Overview
A leading manufacturer of a battery operated paper towel dispenser was experiencing shorter than desired battery life during product use. The dispenser was using a 6V DC spur gear motor that was drawing too much current, creating a significant drain on the product’s power bank of batteries.
Challenge
The customer tasked us with developing a direct drop in replacement spur gear motor that would draw 25% – 50% less current than their existing motor. During our investigation of the incumbent gear motor, we found that the current draw was 800 – 850mA. Another issue we came across was that over time the excessive bush and commutator wear escalated the current draw even further. Additional investigation of similar motors, from several motor manufacturers, showed a range of current draw, under load, of 800mA – 1400mA. The customer requested that we find a way to reduce that current down to 600mA or less.
Solution
ISL Products International and our factory’s team of engineers tore down the incumbent motors and found a myriad of factors that contributed to the higher current draw issue that our customer was experiencing. Some factors included excessive brush and commutator wear and in some cases foreign conductive material floating within the motor itself creating unwanted spikes in the current draw.
The ISL engineers and our factory’s engineering department, agreed on a methodology for improving the motor and bringing the current draw in line with the customer’s expectations. Through the use of high quality raw materials, good manufacturing practices (GMP) and techniques of our factory, ISL was successful in developing a high efficiency, low current gear motor that reached the targeted current draw of 590mA.
The customer’s product is now getting the expected battery life that their product was designed for.
