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Torque Talk
How to Cope with Gear Motor Heat

Most gearmotors are designed to operate in an ambient temperature range of 25º to 40ºC. Above 40ºC you risk damage to the motor and/or the gearbox. You can compute temperature rise if you know the operating load, motor efficiency and thermal rise coefficient.

Other factors besides ambient temperatures can overheat a gearmotor. Dust or lint in the operating environment, for example, can add layers of unwanted thermal insulation to the unit. Chemicals or mud may have the same effect, and frequent starts and stops can also over heat the gearmotor. A permanent split capacitor AC motor may be your best protection in these situations. If safety dictates a totally enclosed motor, it may be non-ventilated (TENV) or fan-cooled (TEFC).

Our application engineers allow for some heat sinking at the mounting, but if you expect operating temperatures higher than normal, talk to us before specifying. (For operation of PMDC motors in extremely low temperatures, look for a control with a ramping function.)

There's no reason to take any heat from specifying the wrong gearmotor. A call to an application engineer at 1-800-AT-BISON will guide you to the cool choice for your application.