How to test Treadmill Motor

[RichR]

That's probably because the whole "buy equipment to get fit but never use it" craze never took off in Finland

an incredible marketing accomplishment.....like the cosmetics industry, what they are really selling is hope

I remember many years ago seeing a very funny scene on TV where some fellow giving a tour of his house points to his treadmill and says:

and this is my $5000 coat rack.

[MattiJ]

That's probably because the whole "buy equipment to get fit but never use it" craze never took off in Finland

Shipping would be a killer though!

Nah, What we have around here is ample of exercise bikes and cross trainers but those are useless for home shop machines
(Unless you want huge 60 pound cast iron flywheel for your hit-and-miss model engine)

[mattthemuppet]

The problem with leaving the flywheel on is if you require rapid accel/decel no industrial CNC spindle uses a flywheel as far as I have ever seen.
The reason it is used on a T.M. is to avoid any jerky motion and produce a smooth motion when a user is on the belt.
Max.

For sure, that's one of the downsides - threading to a shoulder without opening the half nuts (eg metric threads on an imperial lathe) or telling to a certain depth is really hard, but the upside is that the motor won't bog on interrupted cuts, which seems to affect Tm motors more than standard ac motors. I've done it both ways on my lathe ("1hp" motor) and the flywheel is definitely better. Each to their own though, not like there's a law about it

[Tundra Twin Track]

Here is more pics[IMG]http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/tundratwintrack/image_zpsajnjsk1t.jpg[/IMG]

[Mike Amick]

well .. the dust has settled and you should know where you stand now.

You can't use your controller, its digital control and just not worth the effort.

The motor is a good one though . And your flywheel is keyed on, so it won't spin off
by it self.

As others have said, they are generous when they rate these motors. I wouldn't sketch on
finding a controller that will handle 3hp. I wouldn't be afraid to use anything from 1hp up.

[J Tiers]

...

As others have said, they are generous when they rate these motors. I wouldn't sketch on
finding a controller that will handle 3hp. I wouldn't be afraid to use anything from 1hp up.

The "generosity" is not what you'd think. In this case it works out to 780 watts input for 746 watts output, which might be a little high, but not too unreasonable. DC PM motors are fairly efficient.

The real reason people squall about "tiny chinese horses" is that the folks totally fail to pay attention to the motor specs. Specifically the 4000 rpm.

The motor has a certain torque capability. at the slow as molasses speeds that everyone wants to run the motor at, NO it is not 3HP. The best quality motor is of low HP when used slow. You won't get 200HP out of your car engine either, if you run it on kerosene, and hold it at idle speed. You want 3HP, you gotta run the treadmill motor at 4000 rpm just like it says. DONE.

How you get the 4000 rpm down to your desired speed is your problem, YOU are the machine designer. You ignore the specs that are printed right on the label, and you can;t expect to get the results. Tough... sucks to be you, I guess.

The motor will do pretty much what it says.

[MaxHeadRoom]

Personally I like the Johnson T.M. motors, in spite of the name they are made in China.
Here is what they say about H.P.
https://www.johnsonfit.com/blog/trea..._of_horsepower
Like most DC motors, they have maximum torque at zero rpm and are fairly flat up to the max RPM.
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...orhEeg&cad=rja
Max.

[mattthemuppet]

ditto what Mike said, looks like an electronic controlled controller (!). They typically require an external timed signal (from the panel in front of the jogger) to change output to the motor. You can hash up a signal with a 555 circuit or an arduino (there are a couple of great articles out there if you're interested), but I'm not so sure for that controller. You'd need more electronics chops than I have!

Awesome looking motor, looks like a considerable step up from the "run" of the mill TM motor. As for HP ratings, alot of the TM motors I've seen have 2 ratings - the big number for peak load and a lower number (usually 60% or so of the big number) for continuous duty. Always stated for both at max speed, usually around 4000rpm. Using the smallest possible polyV pulley on the motor (1in for a J belt I think) and 3x-4x that on a countershaft can get that down to a usable number for a machine tool. Or leave it as is for a belt sander

[Tundra Twin Track]

Thanks for all the replies,I hooked it up to 12 volt battery ran slow and works both directions

[Mike Nash]

Does anyone else think it would be tough to find a 5x20 mm 250V fuse over 20A? The motor can only suck 26 amps until the weak link fails and most US outlets are 20 amp at best with some 25 amp ones occasionally.

The motor and controller wiring looks a little light for continuous duty at that rating too.