Glenn Brooks via EV wrote:
Is there a best practice document, or “how to” out there somewhere
that describes adding a second bearing to a forklift drive motor?
I only have a little experience in this area, but maybe it will help.
The forklift traction motors I've seen all have two bearings. The ones
that only had one bearing were pump motors, which were meant to couple
directly to a hydraulic pump to run the lift. The pump provided the
second bearing.
A drawback of these pump motors is that they are intermittent duty.
Terrifically powerful; but only meant to run for a small fraction of the
time. I don't think you'd want to use a pump motor as a traction motor.
Golf cart motors also often have only one bearing. They get mounted to
the transaxle, which provides the second bearing. The best bet on these
is to replace the end plate with one that has the second bearing.
But I have used aircraft starter/generators. These often have only one
bearing, too. The front shaft is meant to go into a mating spline on the
engine, which provides the second bearing. To use these motors, I made
an aluminum adapter plate about 1/2" or 5/8" thick. I pressed a ball
bearing into a hole in the center.
I mated the resulting shaft directly to the transmission (no clutch or
pressure plate). I used a Lovejoy coupler between the two shafts
(Grainger sells these).
Most auto transmission shafts have a small necked-down portion that's
meant to go into a pilot bearing inside the engine crankshaft to center
it. You can bore this hole in the center of the electric motor shaft as
well.
Bolt the whole thing together, and run it on the bench with a 6v or 12v
battery with the bolts on the adapter plate slightly loose. Then you can
tap the adapter plate with a hammer to adjust its position very
slightly, until you maximize the motor rpm. Then tighten the bolts. Now
drill a couple holes and insert locating pins to "key" it in this position.
Lee Hart
--
A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is
nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
-- Antoine de Saint Exupery
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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