Slowing an electric motor under load

[shimshamshim]

Hello all,

I have a motor that runs off 110 volts DC. The switch we are using converts ac current to dc and has an on/off a fwd/rev and a speed knob. This motor is on a belt driven winch. I have to let line out while the winch is under load. When I do this the only way I have found to stop the winch is to throw it in reverse causing an abrupt stop (turning down the speed control to zero does nothing).

I was looking at solutions that involved mechanical breaking but I figured their must be a way to do this with the motor. Does anyone have any suggestions where I could slowly make this motor come to a complete stop?

Thank you

 

[jraef]

The issue is likely that you have a very low cost "2 quadrant" DC dive, which means it only functions to reverse the direction. There are 4 quadrants of operation; Fwd Motoring, Fwd Braking, Rev Motoring, Rev Braking. Your DC drive only provides for the direction change quadrants, no braking. That is a poor choice of drive for a winch application in particular. You could look to replace it with a more expensive 4 quadrant DC dive, but you would have to check compatibility with the type dof DC motor you have as well. It may not be possible. Often times very low cost winches are low cost because they use components not really suited for the task, but unsuspecting buyers don't realize it until they start to use it and discover the limitations. You would not be the first victim of this, nor will you be the last...

"Will work for (the memory of) salami"