How to test Treadmill Motor

[Tundra Twin Track]

Was wanting advice on testing this tread mill motor,I do not have the key thing to hold yellow button down which I assume is a magnetic.I was curious if the wires could be cut and with the correct color connected if the motor would run at full speed.The motor looks stout and has a 22mm keyed shaft.Any ideas what devices would need for a rotary speed control switch and forward reversing switch.Electrical is a weak point for me so any advice would be appreciated.It has digital controls.

[sewingmachine]

A drill press, A lathe , A band saw , A milling machine. These are some of the machines that you might want to control speed and direction. On my South Bend drill press I have a DC motor and I can drill and tap forward and reverse plus I don't do very many belt changes. I like DC.

Dave

[mattthemuppet]

I'm no electronics expert, but I have done a couple of Tm builds. I don't recognize the control board - did the original panel have a knob/ slider or did it have buttons?

Easiest way to power it up is with an mc60 or kbic125 (110v in Canada?) Board and a 5 or 10k rheostat. They're pretty simple to wire up and you can write a switch for forward and reverse. You could probably cobble something together with some diodes and actually, but I've no idea about that.

If you have any Q's feel free to ask on here or by pm. Treadmill motors are the bomb, I love them to bits on my machines.

[MaxHeadRoom]

That appears to be a PWM controller as opposed to the SCR bridge versions. PWM offers a superior smoother control.
I have info on a few boards but that one does not look familiar, you would need to know the command type whether with simple pot or other means of control.
As mentioned, as a last resort a KB drive would be an option.
Max.

[danlb]

The yellow key appears to be a simple magnet. The idea is that you attach it to your wrist or clothes by a cord. If you fall it pulls off and shuts off power. Any magnet should work.

The control board is solid state.

[Tundra Twin Track]

The yellow key appears to be a simple magnet. The idea is that you attach it to your wrist or clothes by a cord. If you fall it pulls off and shuts off power. Any magnet should work.

The control board is solid state.

I put a magnet on it and got the motor to run very slow maybe 25 rpm,I checked with local electric supplier and said KBC did not have controllers to run that big of 90 volt DC motors,unless paid a huge price.Will connecting wires in the harness power up or is that not possible.Is keyed shafts common on treadmills I thought most were threaded on.

[Tundra Twin Track]

I looked up MC 60 controller looks like a slick setup and pretty reasonable priced.

[mattthemuppet]

They're neat, I have one on my Atlas with a 1hp motor. I don't think that they run up to 3hp though, 1 to 1 1/2hp from memory. The kb drives go higher with the appropriate resistor and sufficient cooling, but I haven't used one of those. The newer higher hp motors come with mc2100 drives which are a pain as you have to provide a timing signal for them, no simple pot.

Be best to start figuring out what drive you have and how it's controlled. You already know that it's matched to the motor, so that's a plus. More pics and info would be helpful.

BTW, just pulled a nice 2hp motor and mc2100 drive out of a treadmill that I hope to make a belt sander with.

[darryl]

Pretty easy to test. The motor will have the main wires, plus possibly some sensor wires or maybe a thermal cutout. With no wires connected to anything, give the shaft a spin. Then short the two heaviest wires and give the shaft a spin again. If you meet resistance the second time, the motor is capable of delivering power- and delivering power. Turn it by hand at least one full turn- the feel should be the same as you make the full turn or two. This is a proof that the brushes are at least making contact and the armature wiring is a consistent low resistance.

If nothing changes when you short the wires and turn the armature, then perhaps you have connected the thermal overload switch wires instead of the motor drive wires. Usually the thermal switch wires are both the same color, so ignore them and test using other heavy wires- a red, a black, a white are fairly common.

[Hal]

TTT

You might check on youtube and see if you can find someone using your motor to power something.

Hal

[MattiJ]

Well what can I see? Threadmill motor from Finnish "Tunturi" brand.

3 HP unit so I would imagine its from bit more serious unit. (Only gyms have threadmills around here, so its likely commercial-duty unit)

[lakeside53]

Like many treadmill motors take the 3hp as highly optimistic... 90v x 26 amps / 746 is just over 3hp ... so the continuous rating makes it a very efficient motor

[Glug]

This thread is timely. A week ago I posted a craigslist wanted for free treadmills. I didn't get any good responses. But when I posted the advert I emailed a seller of a $50 treadmill, stating I'd take it if they decided they just wanted it gone. The wife replied that she wanted it gone, but the husband wants to wait a week. She prompty emailed me at the one week point and asked if I still wanted it.. Right after I replied, she took the ad down. Guess she really wants it out of there.

And then, an hour later, I mentioned DC treadmill motors to a buddy who is recovering from knee replacement surgery. He said "you want a treadmill? Come and get it!" I'll report back what I get.

So I pick the first up sometime after tomorrow, and the second tomorrow morning. When it rains, it pours.

[mattthemuppet]

They're awesome, such a bounty of useful stuff - rollers are nice thick pipe, got the bearings out of them too, belt makes good snowshoes or way covers, the board makes a good work bench surface, plenty of steel tubing, double handful of nuts and bolts, plus the motor. The most recent one I took apart even had a stepper driven right angle gear box with an acme screw for the incline adjustment. Not sure what I'll do with that but it looks useful!

[MattiJ]

Matt, can you send me couple of units
Rare as hens teeth here