MD10C Enhanced 10Amp DC Motor Driver Heating and Isolation

Autonomous Robot, Manual Robot, DC Motor Driver, Stepper Motor Driver, Servo, Multi PWM chip.....

MD10C Enhanced 10Amp DC Motor Driver Heating and Isolation

Postby Allan » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:03 pm

Hello all and pardon my ignorance in this subject matter because its my first time handling such projects.

I am thinking of getting a MD10C motor driver but I am very concerned over the heating and isolation issue and would wish to clarify these matters before purchasing the motor driver:

~I am planning on running this motor driver with a motor supply voltage of 15V. The PWM operation used will be the Lock Anti-Phase Drive PWM whose frequency will vary between 5kHz and 8kHz. The power supply will provide a maximum 4A to the motor.~

1. In the video posted by Cytron regarding the 13A continuous current flow, it shows that the temperature of the board is 117 degree Celcius after functioning for an hour. Is this regarded as the standard operating temperature? What is the maximum allowable operating temperature? Do I need to place a fan to cool the driver?

2. Is it necessary to place optoisolators in between the microcontroller and the motor driver to make sure there is no backflow of current into the microcontroller? Or is there another safety feature already found on the driver which can protect my microcontroller in the event of motor driver damage?

3. Are there Schottky catch diodes on the motor driver which handle the motors flyback current or must I include them externally?

4. The User Manual states that this motor driver has a maximum PWM frequency of 20kHz, but does not include the recommended operating PWM frequency. Is it then possible to run this motor driver at 100% duty cycle (0 Hz, just a HIGH logic level) without causing too much heating problem? Would this kind of signal damage the driver due to the heat generated?

5. Would there be a voltage drop across the NMOS that makes up the H-bridge? If so, how much of voltage drop will there be?

Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience =)
Allan
Fledgling
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:13 pm

Re: MD10C Enhanced 10Amp DC Motor Driver Heating and Isolati

Postby robosang » Sat Sep 07, 2013 5:49 pm

~I am planning on running this motor driver with a motor supply voltage of 15V. The PWM operation used will be the Lock Anti-Phase Drive PWM whose frequency will vary between 5kHz and 8kHz. The power supply will provide a maximum 4A to the motor.~

1. In the video posted by Cytron regarding the 13A continuous current flow, it shows that the temperature of the board is 117 degree Celcius after functioning for an hour. Is this regarded as the standard operating temperature? What is the maximum allowable operating temperature? Do I need to place a fan to cool the driver?

2. Is it necessary to place optoisolators in between the microcontroller and the motor driver to make sure there is no backflow of current into the microcontroller? Or is there another safety feature already found on the driver which can protect my microcontroller in the event of motor driver damage?

3. Are there Schottky catch diodes on the motor driver which handle the motors flyback current or must I include them externally?

4. The User Manual states that this motor driver has a maximum PWM frequency of 20kHz, but does not include the recommended operating PWM frequency. Is it then possible to run this motor driver at 100% duty cycle (0 Hz, just a HIGH logic level) without causing too much heating problem? Would this kind of signal damage the driver due to the heat generated?

5. Would there be a voltage drop across the NMOS that makes up the H-bridge? If so, how much of voltage drop will there be?

Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience =)


I am not expert in motor driver, but uses quite some motor driver from market. I have a MD10C too, uses it for simple pulling mechanism with a brush motor which according to the spec will draw 15A when it is stall. I do not have current sensor to sense how much it the motor consuming now, but the MD10C survive until now. I am using around 12KHz of PWM for speed control and no problem on isolation or flyback current for now. Also no any heatsink or fan to cool it down.

Well, for me, I will try it out because no one will do test for you except yourself. This motor driver is listed with spec of 13A continuous current, so I think your 4A is way within the capability of it.
robosang
Expert
 
Posts: 1239
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:37 pm


Return to Robot Controller

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests