12 Volt DC Motors

A 12 volt motor is used in simple machines like electric razors, remote controlled cars, as well as electronic car windows. They are also great simple engines to tinker around with and to use for studying electromagnetism as well.

What is a DC motor? There is a more detailed explanation on the next page, but here we'll highlight that there are different kinds of 12v DC motors, which have different uses.

1.   Brushed 12V DC Motors

Brushed DC motors use stationary magnets and magnets that rotate. These are affordable and easy to find, and they work very well too. They are high maintenance though, and also don’t last very long if used on high intensity. You will need to replace the brushes and springs every so often, and clean the commutator. 

2.   Brushless 12VDC Motors

Brushless DC motors only require a rotating magnet and some stationary electric magnets as well. This runs on DC and converts it to AC. These last long and are very efficient, and you don’t even need to maintain them much. They are quite expensive though, and are sometimes complicated to use.

These are used in most computers because of their simplicity and low-maintenance, since there aren’t any brushes to worry about. They are quite small, which is also useful. 

12 Volt DC Motor - Buying Considerations

If you plan to buy a 12 VDC motor, no matter what you plan to use it on, then make sure you’re sure of exactly what kind you want to buy. You don’t want to buy something that you won’t end up using at all.

Once you’ve figured out what you want, then you should start your search online, rather than in your local electronics store. This is because firstly, it’s a lot easier to sit and type in the search bar than getting up and going out.