DC Motor conversion questions

[gol4]

I have seen posts in the past on those who have done these conversions,
So hopefully those who have done this can give me advice on mine.

I picked up a good working treadmill that had presets and a nice display panel. My problem is this model used an optical reader that was on the belt roller. Now that it is disassembled the motor will start for a few seconds but stops with an error for no speed reading if I use original set up.

I currently have it running using just the speed control board and a potentiometer but would really love to control it using the original display panel so I can take advantage of the presets. Plus the digital display would look cool on the old Delta Double Duty!

Question 1:
How can I overcome the no speed reading error that is being caused by the optical reader no longer getting input? There is and will be no where for me to hook up the spinning disk that the sensor was originally on.

My other issue is the lathe I planning on installing this on has index pins in the headstock v-belt drive system that I plan on keeping so I will need to drive it using a v-belt.
Question 2 is:
Where have you been able to source v-belt pulleys that fit these treadmill motors?

 

[SLYDIT]

te original unit is obviously looking for the sensor pulse and is stopping as a safety feature both as a belt break sensor and speed control sensor.

1) you could buy a reflective encoder that bounces the light off a pulley that has a bit of reflective strip on it?
you may also be able to replace the optical encoder with a hall effect magnetic sensor and put some magnets on one of the pulleys? http://www.dx.com/p/hall-magnetic-sensor-module-for-arduino-dc-5v-135033#.VaycKLV391Q
you could figure out the optical sensor wiring(usually 5 volt/ground/signal and wire the hall effect sensor in the same, then count how many slots in the old encoder. then get some stick on magnets (really small ones) to a pulley and set up the hall effect board to pick up the signal.

obviously the number of magnets/cogs will effect what your speeds end up so you may have to experiment with how many you have on the pulley


why cant you reuse the encoder wheel?? do you have any pics of the encoder wheel or receiver unit? maybe you could mod something like a bicycle gear to act as the encoder wheel mounted in a different location

i'm just getting into using the arduino. its seems very technical when you first start but i just bought a few of the nanos on ebay for about $5 each and figured if i wreck them i'm only down a few bucks

whats your electrical skill like?

anyway the options are endless...POST PICS!!!

 

[gol4]

Thanks for the reply.
My electrical skill? I know they can package a lot of smoke in to very small parts and if I mess around with something too much I eventually let a lot of the smoke out.

I can rewire a house but my knowledge of electronics is limited.
I can follow instructions.

I attached an image of the PS, readers and wheels that I removed.
The readers are the same part number. The treadmill encoder wheel is 36 spokes.
The smaller black wheel was for the incline motor. I counted 26 holes

The to controller wires on the PS go to the HWL positions on the motor board so all it is doing is sending the signal that the board wants. (But I bet you already knew that)

I checked and there is room to mount the smaller wheel on the rear shaft of the DC motor. I would have to do same fabing for a mount and the shaft difference. Could this work or would the different count mess things up. I did try spinning both the wheels with a drill with no success before I gave up and went to a potentiometer.

 

[gol4]

I just had a thought. The head stock step pulley has recesses for the index pin. The holes don't go all the way through so don't really emit light. Is there a way these could be taken advantage of?

There are 2 sets of index holes the inner one has 60 index holes.
Here is a picture of the index.

 

[srmofo]

Use an 11 position rotary switch instead of the potentiometer. Wire 1k resistors between the lugs. Now you have preset speeds.

If you want to fine tune the speed add a 1k Pot in series .

If you want a cool look add an analog meter to the control box and calibrate it to the speeds. I shamelessly stole the meter idea from another member here.
*EDIT*here's the thread
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289922&page=3


I can post a wiring diagram if you want.

I also added a 120v on light that shows when the unit is powered up even if the motor is switched off.

I havent had the time to finish mine up yet, but I have built the circuit.

What number is your speed control board MC-60?

 

[SLYDIT]

as above you could use a rotary switch and resistors for manual control or if you really want the display then a hall effect sensor would probably work on those index holes if you got a small enough one. personally if its an old school lathe then the rotary switch method would be more period.

 

[gol4]

Thanks everyone for the posts.
I spent some time in the shop tonight and was actually able to make the small black disk work with out getting errors.
Turns out the presets are not that great of a thing and adjusting the speeds via a button is not all that great as well.
I decided that I am going to go with the pots set up. I may try the rotary switch before I do the actual install on the lathe.

SRMOFO thanks for that link it actually answered a few other questions I had like the pulley solution and a switch on the wiper to resume speeds.

My speed control board is mac mc-35