ZFM Advanced Explorations

[Yaro1776]

Rotor and Coil Positioning

The first experiment with the modified YZFM was to move the motor body axially in both directions from the centerline of the Neo/coil interface. The purpose here is to observe the performance impact as the 1"D Neo's position is moved from one edge to the other of the 1.5" coil width. The data is as follows for 36v:

Left Edge 10,260 RPM @0.62A; 22.3 watts

Centered 10,366 RPM @0.62A; 22.3 watts

Right Edge 10,380 RPM @0.63A; 22.7 watts

The results in the above are obvious - moving the Neo/rotor axially within the boundaries of the coil width has no observable impact on the performance results. The limits can be pushed further when the motor mounting board is modified at a later date - intent here is to push the outer edge of the rotor Neo beyond the edge of the coil. As a note of interest, one end was capable of being pushed about an 1/8" beyond the edge of the coil without any observable impact on performance. A very excellent and informative experiment that demonstrates the interaction/influence of the induced magnetic fields!

The amperage data is now taken from the computer screen and the TET amperage sensor is located on the negative wire to the batteries. The RPM's are currently read with a handheld laser tachometer. At a later date an optical RPM instrument will be installed so that the real time values of both RPM and Amps can be viewed graphically.

As a performance note the edge readings experience a definite surge in amps around 9,600 RPM with a rapid corresponding increase in RPM. The amp readings then settle down to about the same value before the surge. There are other speed points with a minor surge/kick. The centered Neo position is a bit smoother

At a later date this will be documented via a short YouTube video. No time to do all the fancy editing required as of now and will wait until the torque assembly is completed.

The torque testing assembly is still in process of being finalized and then assembled. Lots to do with so little time - but still a great adventure.

Yaro

[Yaro1776]

Hello to All,

The ZFM, as conceived by the late John Bedini and subsequently built by Peter Lindemann, is a very intriguing motor as demonstrated in the ZFM Replication thread. That thread delineates the workings of this motor and provides the basic conceptual and design information necessary for replication. The ZFM Conference Presentation video is also helpful in fleshing out certain details.

The key elements of the ZFM as executed by Lindemann and demonstrated at the 2016 and 2017 Conferences are twin opposing coils, each of about 90 degree arc with an internal four pole iron rotor with four Neo magnets in a NSNS configuration. The motor is energized and controlled by the Bedini Cole Bipolar switch via a timing rotor and reed switches.

There are a number of possible design arrangements, however this thread will use the PL(Lindemann)ZFM configuration for the explorations since one replicated ZFM unit is at hand. This motor, the YZFM, has quite a few hours of operation under its belt and is easily modified which suits the purpose of this thread.

The explorations will use the same timing parameters for the YZFM that were demonstrated at the last conference. The parameters are as follows: 1) Firing Angle (FA) of 60-65 degrees (Degrees of Arc that coil is energized), 2) Advance (Adv) of ~45 degrees (Degrees of Arc where firing is initiated as measured from the center point between the coils) and 3) an operating voltage of 36v DC. This is a less aggressive tuning for this machine, but it still demonstrates very good performance and is a stable configuration for the YZFM and the purposes of this thread.

The first step taken was to modify the motor by removing all the stainless steel fasteners (Cap screws) and retaining straps, and replacing with nylon bolts and using EPDM bungee cords for motor positioning and retention. The pillow block bearings were remounted further away from the motor body as suggested by others. The major modification involved replacing the earlier 3/4"Dx3/8"T Neo's with 1"Dx3/8"T Neo's. The timing rotor Neo's were reconfigured to a NS arrangement from the initial NN arrangement. These several simple modifications stabilized the performance of the motor and produced a consistent behavior that yields well over 10,000 RPM at 0.62Amp and 36v.



The next post will explore varying the axial position of the Rotor Neo's with respect to the centerline of the coils. As always, questions relevant to the thread will be answered as time permits.

Yaro