Electronics FAQ – Your Multilingual Guide to Electronics

  Are BLDC Motors AC or DC | Brushless DC Motor Working, Difference Between Brushed and Brushless DC Motor, Advantages and Applications Are BLDC motors AC or DC? Learn about brushless DC motor working, differences, advantages, and uses of BLDC, AC, and DC motors. Are BLDC motors AC or DC? A BLDC motor runs on DC voltage. We also find BLDC motors in Ceiling fans and washing machines that run on AC, but in that case, AC is first converted to DC by an SMPS or switch-mode Power Supply.  Why BLDC Motor run exclusively on DC?  The BLDC motor brain is called an 'Electronic commutator', which is nothing but an electronic switching circuit that only runs on DC voltage .  Nowadays, we find BLDC motors in Electric Vehicles that run on a DC battery pack.  Difference between Brushed v/s Brushless DC Motor:  A BLDC motor is very similar to the DC motor, but there are some basic differences in the construction. Let's understand that.  Conventional brushed DC motor: I...

How Does a DC Motor Work? Working Principle, Types, Applications, and Key Components, like the commutator, are explained. Why is BLDC a replacement for a DC Motor? That magic is created by a thing called ‘commutator’.   Commutator principle:  Mutually attractive and repulsive forces:  As shown in the above animation, a simple arrangement of a commutator, when it rotates, sends forward and reverse current through the coil from the battery. A current-carrying conductor generates its own magnetic field. This arrangement creates alternating changing magnetic poles (north/south) in the coil. This magnetic field reacts with the permanent stator magnetic poles to create mutually attractive and repulsive forces to generate circular motion. A typical commercial commutator and DC motor. BLDC Motor:  DC motors are now replaced by BLDC motors, in which the rotor is a permanent magnet and alternating rotating magnetic poles are generated in the stator electronically by switching ...

Can Low Voltage Damage a Fan? Causes, Effects, and Protection Tips for Household and Industrial Fans. Role of Rotor Resistance explained. Do you know that a ‘Fan-Regulator’ supply a variable voltage to the fan to control its speed? At ‘1’, i.e., the lowest speed setting, the fan receives the lowest voltage. Still, the fan survives. In my native home, the Crompton fan is 60 years old, still serving fine. That said, a question arises: is a low voltage bad for the induction motors? Yes, it is, but not for all types. Rotor resistance:  The squirrel cage induction motor has low rotor resistance. Because the rotor is made from conductor bars embedded in the core. Ceiling Fan: A fan motor is an induction motor, but the rotor has a winding to deliberately create a high rotor resistance. Give a lower voltage to a squirrel cage motor, and it will draw a high current and burn. But a low voltage is not damaging to a Fan motor, because of high rotor resistance. This enables it to operate at var...

Do BLDC Ceiling Fans Use Less Electricity Compared to Traditional Fans? Energy Efficiency, Cost Savings, and Performance Explained The BLDC motor in the ceiling fan is a latest innovation. Still, the traditional wound rotor motor used in traditional ceiling fans is simple, highly reliable, economical, and suitable for variable speed applications. All these advantages of a traditional ceiling fan come with a cost: l ower efficiency . Wound rotor in a conventional Fan is a culprit: Lower efficiency is due to the wound rotor. Winding on the rotor is necessary to get higher starting torque, especially at lower speed settings, variable speed operation by inserting resistance into the rotor circuit, and lower inrush of starting/operating current. All at the cost of lower electrical efficiency, which translates to higher power consumption compared to the BLDC fan motor. Look at the following comparison chart. Power loss across the Fan Regulator:  Secondly, there is power lost (as heat) ac...

What Does an Electrical Motor Starter Do? Why Regular Switches Are Unsafe for Large Motors I will not go in for ‘Start Delta’ or Electronic soft starters, etc. In this answer, I will try to explain why a motor starter is used and not a simple regular switch. Suppose you used a simple switch for the water pump in your home to pump water from the ground storage to the overhead storage. While it was ON, the electricity failed, and you forgot to switch it OFF. What will happen? Ground storage water will finish. The overhead water tank will overflow, wasting precious water. The motor will run dry and get damaged. Electricity wasted. Motor starter prevents unintentional starting: Why all the above consequences? Because the motor started   unintentionally . In the industrial setup, no load is allowed to start unintentionally. It is also very important from a safety point of view. Imagine you are doing maintenance inside the machine, and it starts suddenly, unintentionally. Hence, we use a...