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4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues?

Posted By: Andrewh

4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues? - 11/06/21 07:19 PM

so I have one of those hail protector bubbles for my dd.
it has 4 radial fans in it. 12 volt dc 1.5 amps per motor.
one of them failed.
I went to look for a replacement and cannot find that exact one.
The closest is a 1.8amp 1.5 amp run motor instead.
I contacted the company to buy a spare but they want 150 for all 4 again.

They said not to replace a single one with something different because
"The blower is built to our specs and it’s very important to match blowers due to imbalanced power consumption otherwise."

does this really matter?
It is a brick laptop style power supply.
Posted By: hooziewhatsit

Re: 4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues? - 11/06/21 08:00 PM

Today I learned what a hail protector bubble is laugh2 up

I assume the fans are wired in parallel? The new one may run a little faster and/or move more air, but it otherwise shouldn't hurt it, or the other ones.

It looks like all they're doing is pushing air into the bubble?

As long as the power brick is rated for enough amperage to power them all (unless it was super-duper optimized, adding 0.3A draw won't affect it).

I think they just want to sell more motors catfight
Posted By: jcc

Re: 4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues? - 11/06/21 08:03 PM

Do the fans supply individual air chambers, or is air supply shared?
Its a legit question, but my suspicion the OEM is giving the answer best for thier bottom line.
Is the power single or four separate supplies with any kind of load balancing circuitry, current or pressure wise?
for $150, it can't be very sophisticated.
Posted By: Andrewh

Re: 4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues? - 11/06/21 09:14 PM

so it is basically 2 layers of cloth. one soft the other silver covered with something.
All 4 fans are in parallel as I checked input voltage at 12 volts dc. give or take.
you are supposed to be able to run it off like 8 AA batteries they made a pack for, or your car itself in a pinch.
Unless there is something other than connectors in the wire bundles I went through it is just the 12 volt brick to a pack of wiring zip tied to a foam piece to hold all the fans in place.
I might cut some more of the tape away, but I doubt there is anything else in there.
it is a single giant air pocket. the ends are held to together and the outer section has some bungy material holding it into a giant bubble shape. like a caterpillar cocoon.

they even have a section that is left open so it won't pop I guess. so it constantly vents out some air.

Thanks, I might give the 15 dollar fan a try.
I reach out to the manufacture, since it and the part number are clearly printed on the fan, but they seem dumb founded on how to ship to me from china since I don't have a shipping contract or something like that.
Posted By: hooziewhatsit

Re: 4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues? - 11/06/21 10:24 PM

The only "power consumption balance" issue I can see now, is the batteries won't last as long with the slightly higher powered fan.

The batteries themselves should handle the extra load just fine too.

Though I guess if the wires are already (badly) undersized, running a lot of extra power through them could cause issues, but an extra 300mA isn't that much extra, if they do all draw 1.5A each.

I vote to go for it.
Posted By: Andrewh

Re: 4 dc motors in parallel, load balance issues? - 11/06/21 11:21 PM

yeah I only run it plugged into the brick.
they give you a battery pack just incase and a cable to hook it to the car battery.

Thanks again. If I find something in the wire pack I will post back, but it just feels like connectors.
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