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- Feb 8, 2014
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- 11,144
Very true. I can probably get a IR thermometer from maintenance but I'm still nervous. I don't think Chris would send me a third board so I need to make sure I don't fry this one too. At what sort of temperature should I start to get worried?
I just looked up specs for a motor controller mosfet, the absolute maximum junction temperature is 150 C, it looks like normal operating temperature might be in the 70 to 90 C range. Based on that, if the heatsink is getting close to 100 C I would start shedding some load. I'm surprised that the controller doesn't have a thermal shutdown, most of the controller IC's have that built in.
This advice is my best guess, and worth exactly what you paid for it.)
another thought
Run it a medium speed, unloaded, for a while to get a base line reading. Then try it under a light load. Take severial readings under different conditions to see what 'normal' is.