What's the Difference Between Single and Double Shaft Motors?

Let’s start with a single shaft

Quite simply a single shaft motor (such as the ZDN2319 1.9Nm stepper motor) has one shaft which comes out of the face of the motor and a dual shaft motor has the shaft coming out of the face and rear of the motor. 

The single shaft is a straight forward concept which can be easily understood – namely that the motor is driven by a controller and the shaft is then connected to the required part of the application. 

What on earth would I want with two shafts?

It’s a very good question!

The dual shaft can be used in a number of ways. One example is to drive 2 applications on either side of the motor. A second (and by far the most common) is to use the rear shaft to mount an encoder, brake or hall sensor array in order to be able to set up a closed loop speed control system.

Depending on your specific requirements these add-ons can then be used without having an impact on the main drive shaft. For example an encoder can be used to turn an open loop stepper motor system into a closed loop system.

How do I choose the best option for my application?

The starting point is to think about the space that you have available to you and how important closed loop speed monitoring is for your project.

If closed loop speed monitoring is essential for your application then it is possible that a dual shaft motor could be a good option. However, there are other factors that need to be considered first – for example the overall torque and speed requirement of the motor. If this is quite high then a brushless DC motor might be the best option – in which case it is possible to run a basic closed loop system using a sensored brushless DC motor.

If in doubt, talk to a member of our team. We’re happy to help!

If you’re still not sure what the best option is for your particular project then we would invite you to talk directly to our team who are happy to advise. 

Click here to contact us directly or please talk to our UK sales team using the online chat facility.

Categories: Brushless Motor Controller FAQs, Stepper Motor Controller FAQs
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