Treadmill motor
- Thread starter 69supercj
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Rookie2
Well-known member
12 volt battery, to start . dc motor red = pos. white = neg.
windmill generator !
windmill generator !
Tig Master
Well-known member
Good on a drill press if you use the board for them.
T
T
Super Mech
Well-known member
There is info all over the internet about those. Years ago I hacked one apart and used the motor and control board on my Craftsman lathe. Just remember that DC motors are noisy.
What "board" are you speaking of? So can I just use the plug off an old light fixture to wire this up to test?
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
It's a DC motor - don't try to run it on AC house current.
NO, treadmill motors are DC.
Your wall is AC, just take it out to your car battery and touch the leads to posts. Hold on tight most are pretty torquey, and if the flywheel is still on them its a lot of mass to overcome. You are at the lower end of its voltage though so its nothing to be worried about, just be prepared for it
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I didn't buy them. Gottem free. I think I also got the boards to go with them now that I think of it but not sure if they are any good. I'll hook em up to a car battery and see if they spin. They do still have the flywheels on them, I'll see if I can get them pulled off. If they work and I can't find a use for them they'll go to the swap meet probably.
They are not worthless without scrap. Controllers are easy to build or cheap to buy. Certainly less than the cost of any other variable motor.
Its a max 90 volt DC motor. Briefly testing them on a car battery wont do anything to them. Its how I test mine when I dig them out of the trash. The only one I scrapped was because it fell out of the vice and landed on the flywheel
Youve been an awfully big negative nancy here lately, you feeling alright?
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They aren't junk you need a bridge rectifier and a rheostat or potentiometer (I forget the difference but maybe 10 bucks worth of stuff from radioshack). You can find YouTube videos via google search with these in action. Its not as good of a solution as a pulse width modulator/ control board but the motor should work for a good while. My understanding is this is how plug in DC power tools work.
No, the other components of the treadmill transform your house voltage into DC voltage, then through the board (controller) and out to the motor
Yes, I'm ok.
I'm just a bit tired of when someone asks the most elementary possible question about something they cannot begin to fathom, someone suggests bridge rectifiers and such to the OP instead of asking why they need them, what's the plan, and then, without asking the plan suggests second year engineering as a cure.
He was told a battery, and he immediately countered with wanting to plug them in the wall. That's a red flag right there.
Not you specifically. You explained the 90 Volt max I decided not to.
Remember the guy who wanted to know how a spray gun worked?
No one asked why or what. Turns out he wanted to spot paint his 71 black monte carlo.
He could have done a thousand dollars damage in twenty seconds.
Sometimes we need to weigh who you're telling what.
I think we have to more often ask what they know before we tell them how to make thermite.(that's a cartoonish example, but you know someone here would tell, without asking g a single why type question)
I'm just a bit tired of when someone asks the most elementary possible question about something they cannot begin to fathom, someone suggests bridge rectifiers and such to the OP instead of asking why they need them, what's the plan, and then, without asking the plan suggests second year engineering as a cure.
He was told a battery, and he immediately countered with wanting to plug them in the wall. That's a red flag right there.
Not you specifically. You explained the 90 Volt max I decided not to.
Remember the guy who wanted to know how a spray gun worked?
No one asked why or what. Turns out he wanted to spot paint his 71 black monte carlo.
He could have done a thousand dollars damage in twenty seconds.
Sometimes we need to weigh who you're telling what.
I think we have to more often ask what they know before we tell them how to make thermite.(that's a cartoonish example, but you know someone here would tell, without asking g a single why type question)
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I understand where you are coming from but how are people supposed to learn how to do something without asking?
Some may take the advice, and then go educate themselves on the technique/subject once they know what they are supposed to be looking for. Some may decide its out of their league, and yet others may take the advice and go cause thousands in damage, but its not your stuff so why do you care? Warn them of the dangers, but don't dismiss them as ignorant fools incapable of learning simply because they asked a question. Im sure there's plenty of things you don't know about.
Some may take the advice, and then go educate themselves on the technique/subject once they know what they are supposed to be looking for. Some may decide its out of their league, and yet others may take the advice and go cause thousands in damage, but its not your stuff so why do you care? Warn them of the dangers, but don't dismiss them as ignorant fools incapable of learning simply because they asked a question. Im sure there's plenty of things you don't know about.
I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of electricty and its theory is very limited and I just assumed that if you plug the treadmill into the wall socket then that would be the logical way to test the motor. I'm glad I didn't. I'll test it tomorrow and find out if they work and I'll look at the box of electrical "stuff" that came with them and see what it is, if I'd even know what I was looking at. I'm 99 percent sure that the electircal stuff is in fact the control board because these motors came off of some treadmills at work and they stopped working so the techs came and replaced parts to get them to work. Both motors might be bad, both control boards might be bad or they might have just replaced both items for the hell of it, who knows. But I'll know tomorrow if the motors are good or bad.
OP
This wasn't a barb against you.
There are not three people in a thousand that know treadmills are DC.
I just believe in asking what you know, quiz a bit, and find the best solution based on the answers.
Too many here blindly say stuff without a clue as to the knowledge or intent of the asker.
Known parameters and known available base knowledge is the only way to answer a question.
On GJ if someone randomly asked how to make cyanide, someone here would answer, without a clue as to poisoning mom or concentrating ore.
It's not always a good thing.
If you really want to see that group and how they work:
Ask about a home use chainsaw.
This wasn't a barb against you.
There are not three people in a thousand that know treadmills are DC.
I just believe in asking what you know, quiz a bit, and find the best solution based on the answers.
Too many here blindly say stuff without a clue as to the knowledge or intent of the asker.
Known parameters and known available base knowledge is the only way to answer a question.
On GJ if someone randomly asked how to make cyanide, someone here would answer, without a clue as to poisoning mom or concentrating ore.
It's not always a good thing.
If you really want to see that group and how they work:
Ask about a home use chainsaw.
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Its really not hard to do a simple bridge rectifier setup. Just have to know how a circuit works and watch a video or two. Its about as hard as putting a light switch in a house ( yeah not the same but just for example) its not rocket science but you do have to know some basics
alwaysFlOoReD
Well-known member
This is something you could make from a treadmill;
Not the best pic but the "board" is like a motherboard. In this pic it's to the right;
And in this pic to the left;
I bought this sander already made but almost let the magic smoke out when I started grinding metal. The dust settled on the motherboard and shorted out. I was able to save it and these pics were taken as I was isolating the motor and board from the belts. Forwarned is forearmed.
Not the best pic but the "board" is like a motherboard. In this pic it's to the right;
And in this pic to the left;
I bought this sander already made but almost let the magic smoke out when I started grinding metal. The dust settled on the motherboard and shorted out. I was able to save it and these pics were taken as I was isolating the motor and board from the belts. Forwarned is forearmed.
Tig Master
Well-known member
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No wiring other then the three leads off the motor, a green, red and white and two small black wires coming off. I can see where the transformer or whatever that other piece is, plugs into the board but there are no other wires with the board. The first pic shows where the transformer plugs in. In the second pic it looks like the long pin connector is what controls the motor functions.
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There's usually a board for the controls. I have found those fail far more often than the pwm.
Also. I've pulled 2 out of the trash that worked perfectly. They tend to become clothes racks
When I get back to a computer I'll take a look at your pictures. They're to small to see on my phone.
You might need a 10k potentiometer to wire into the pwm. Most of the time the motors won't come on until about 2-3k so without it they won't run
You might need a 10k potentiometer to wire into the pwm. Most of the time the motors won't come on until about 2-3k so without it they won't run
The flywheels are usually threaded on with a left hand thread. They usually do not pull off straight.
A reasonable DC motor controller.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...0.H0.Xkbic.TRS0&_nkw=kbic&ghostText=&_sacat=0
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...0.H0.Xkbic.TRS0&_nkw=kbic&ghostText=&_sacat=0
Alright here is the manual for the tread mill that came out of.
http://spiritfitnesscanada.ca/servi...rviceManual/Spirit_Z700-A82_ServiceManual.pdf
Give me a little bit And Ill look the schematic over and tell you which pins on that connecter need the pot hooked up to it.
Its a too blurry. Ill have to print it out later and see if I can get a better look, but a hunch tells me its the pins marked VR1, VR2, VR3 ...for variable resistor pin 1,2,3
http://spiritfitnesscanada.ca/servi...rviceManual/Spirit_Z700-A82_ServiceManual.pdf
Give me a little bit And Ill look the schematic over and tell you which pins on that connecter need the pot hooked up to it.
Its a too blurry. Ill have to print it out later and see if I can get a better look, but a hunch tells me its the pins marked VR1, VR2, VR3 ...for variable resistor pin 1,2,3
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thank you
Kiwi Canuck
Well-known member
Well said.
Reminds me of this story which is on point.
Billy is home from school and he comes downstairs and asks his Dad "what's ***"?
As Billy was 11 years old his Dad decided it was time to take Billy into the garage and explain it in the best way he could without any BS, just the straight goods.
Once he was done with all the explanation, Billy had a puzzled look on his face, so his dad said, what's up Billy does that all gross you out? No Dad I just can't figure out how to fit all that in a little square box on the form I was filling out.
The VR notation is standard just as your hunch says. VR2 is the wiper on the pot.
.... unless you start out not knowing the difference between AC and DC
when it's written right on the motor that it's Direct Current. I know nobody's born knowing this stuff, but it's hard to tell someone gently that they don't know enough to ask the right questions.To the OP, there's lots of info online. Try searching Basic Electricity and read up. As a starting point, Battery = DC (direct current), House Current = AC (Alternating Current).
Sorry if that sounds harsh - not trying to be!
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Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Very common for the boards to go out. Check Ebay, lots of people rebuilding boards and exchanging them, or rebuilding yours. There are two or three standard boards that virtually all of the treadmills use. Usually the diodes go out (that is what makes the AC into DC).
Playwme
Well-known member
Don't know why you'd want to use a board designed for a treadmill unless you were building your own treadmill. Just get a DC speed controller. Plenty of different ones available. Check places that sell components for electric bikes or go karts. On that topic, it would be pretty good to use on an electric bike or go-kart. 90v 30amp is a pretty chunky motor.
Because a pwm is a pwm. What do you think a dc speed controller is?
They are choppers, not pwm from a steady DC buss like a servo pwm.
djb25
Well-known member
Someone should probably mention that DC motors (such as those that come from treadmills) are useful when you want variable speed. They're very popular upgrades for mini-mills and drill presses.