OK so yesterday I salvaged the pump motor from a vacuum cleaner (actually it looks like a jet engine, if you look inside it it has slanted fins). Now I'm not completely clueless with electrical stuff, but I believe I should power this with an AC supply, like the outlet. Is this true? I have a converted old PC power supply to take power from the outlet and use it into small electronics projects, but I guess I can't use it!The thing is, I might want to build something portable with it. So how can I power the motor without using the outlet?Thank you!
this is a powerful motor. You can get an auto battery and then connect an inverter to it that converts 12 VDC to 120 VAC. Lots of weight needed. PS, re other answer, most all AC motors will NOT operate on DC.
You could build a simple 120V DC battery pack with size D 1.2V 4AH rechargeable cell. It could power this high power motor for about 15 minutes. Carry this battery pack with a heavy duty back pack,then you can run around with this motor for fun.
Although most AC motors will not operate on DC, many motors in small household appliances are universal motors that will run on either AC or DC. Vacuum cleaners usually have universal motors. If you can see inside the motor and see a commutator and brushes, you will know for sure that it is a universal motor. Universal motors run a little better on DC than on AC and will run well at a reduced voltage. At 12 volts DC, a 120 volt universal motor may run, but will not be very powerful. I ran a 120 volt, 6 amp vacuum motor from a 12 volt DC computer power supply. It took 1 amp. If you run a universal motor at full voltage without a load, it may run fast enough to come apart.
