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Meccano Motor Mounts

Introduction

For many models, the standard Meccano motors aren't particularly suitable.  The earlier large E15 and E20 motors are powerful but very old in design, and they take an enormous current.  The interim E020 "cricket ball" and Emebo motors are simply rubbish, and can't be run for long periods of time.  In the late 60's and the 70's, the new motor with six-speed gearbox was introduced, which was vastly superior.

However, even this isn't perfect.  It can pull well over an amp under load (meaning it needs a beefy transformer], the gears can give out under load (particularly in the lower gears), and they are pretty bulky.

There are all sorts of modern motors now available.  Most of them are of course far more efficient than any genuine Meccano motor – more useful power for less current, in a smaller package.  All you need is an output shaft of 4mm diameter, which is reasonably common.  You can buy all sorts of these on the internet.

But it can be tricky to mount them.  Some companies, such as Meccparts in New Zealand, supply a standard motor with a custom-made panel designed to fit the motor which has Meccano-compatible holes, all for a reasonable price.  The photo above shows one such motor, alongside its adaptor plate.

The problem

Sadly, this isn't perfect.  The adaptor plate has to be bolted to the motor as shown, giving two problems.  One is that the motor shaft housing sticks out through the adaptor plate, and is substantially larger than a Meccano hole.  The other is that the size of the motor means that you can't get a nut behind the four holes immediately adjacent to the motor.  You can get a bolt in from the other side of two of them, but this is a pretty tricky operation and requires you to be on the 'wrong' side of the motor.

In addition, if you try to hide the motor behind a panel or in some corner of the model, you have a devil of a job getting to it.  It is particularly important to be able to get to these motors, as they are geared down and available in different speeds.  You might reasonably want to substitute a slower or faster motor once the model is built.

The solution

Fortunately, the tiny screws that hold the adaptor plate on are reasonably long.  So, we can solve the problem in the following way:

Take the adaptor plate and lay it down upside-down (i.e. with the countersunk holes for the motor mount face down).  Select six evenly thick Meccano nuts in good condition, and place them as shown in the photo to the left.  Four of the nuts are precisely over the Meccano holes in the plate, and the two extra ones are in between as shown.  Make sure that the nuts are rotated such that they don't block the small holes where the motor mount screws go through.

Now put tiny drops of thin superglue (CA adhesive) all around each nut, such that the glue seeps between the nuts and the adaptor plate.  It doesn't matter if the glue is visible, as this will all be hidden later.  Wait for this to dry or spray it with CA accelerator.

The photo on the right shows the finished result.  You can mount the motor either way around in order to fit whatever you need.  The motor mount screws are still long enough to attach the motor securely, and the shaft surround just fits into the adaptor plate hole (so the motor is secure).  However, this surround no longer projects from the adaptor plate and so the whole assembly can be bolted directly behind whatever part of your model you like, and the shaft sticks through the hole.  More importantly, though, there are four captive nuts that make it a breeze to mount and dismount the motor as often as you like.

Note that two of the captive nuts sit directly on the motor's gearbox.  This means that you have to use short bolts – either set screws or normal bolts padded with washers as required.  The other two nuts have clearance round the motor housing such that any bolt can be used.

With this quick and easy (and almost free!) change, these motors become even more useful and even better value.  Although I'm a bit of a genuine-Meccano junkie, I've started using these motors everywhere, and now I need a load more! Hope this is of use to someone...