DC Tredmill motor HELP!

jumps4 said:
hi bill
I would have to know the amperage of your motor and voltage to say for sure.
this unit has to be powered by 6v to 90v dc it will not work on ac input (110) so you would have to have a dc power supply for it, then it controls the output speed. at 1000 watts it would control most 1hp dc motors
steve
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve.

The motor is not readily accessible, being at my sons house, about 50 miles away. I do know it is a quality 3/4 hp DC treadmill motor. I floated the 1hp as a safety factor.

When I saw the controller I was struck by the cost and simplicity of the unit. I think I now understand why. Requires DC input (not a huge negative and has no feedback circuitry, (big negative).

Correct me if I'm wrong, please!

Bill
 
3/4hp is about 550watts so that size controller would work fine
most dc speed controls dont have feedback, the original controller on the treadmill probably did though. i used the original treadmill control on a lathe once and it worked well. it had a magnetic pickup on a pulley and would adjust speed under a changing load. but instead of reading out rpm it read out mph and calories burned lol
steve
 
chucketn said:
The wiper of the pot goes to the terminal labled W, which on mine is the middle terminal. I will plug up my spare and take some measurements for you.
One thing to check is the solder connections and leads of the big white power resistor. It may have been overheated in it's previous life.

I have uploaded pictures of my MC-60's here"

http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss157/chucketn/MC-60 motor controller/

Chuck

edited to correct spelling
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Thank you so much Chuck! I think I have the pot hooked up wrong. I am out of town, but get home tomorrow (Monday). I see from your pic that my wiper in connected to to wrong spot. When I get home, I'll connected it to the right place and let you know. You have been a HUGE help. Thanks again......
 
CHUCK'S THE MAN! CHUCK'S THE MAN!!! Thank you so much Chuck! It was the pot hooked up wrong. This was my first time hooking one up, and I got it wrong in every combo that is possible. I got home early this morning and could not wait to try it. It still took me hooking it up twice before I got it right. Now I'm in business!

Thanks again Chuck, I couldn't have done it without you. When I get everything painted this spring, I'll post pix and a youtube vid.
 
Re: DC Treadmill motor HELP!

Good news, jster1963! I saw the connections in the picture you posted and thought that had to be it.
I have tried to defeat the 'soft start' feature of the MC-60 controller, that requires the pot be turned all the way to zero and back to about 30% before it starts to run, but have decided it's a good safety feature.
Keep us posted on your progress.

Chuck
 
hi chuck
i have 3 of these controllers and have been looking for just your fix thanks
can you post a wiring diagram of the connections so i can test them out?
steve
 
Re: DC Treadmill motor HELP!

Jumps4,
I don't have a bonifide schematic, per say. I found a reverse engineered hand drawn schematic on the web. I do have a couple of pictures, though,

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss157/chucketn/MC-60 motor controller/spare2.jpg

I just observed what went to where when I stripped out the treadmill.
The black and white wires are the AC input. On my mill, I used the power cord and circuit breaker from the donor treadmill, with some of the other wires to connect them. I mounted the circuit breaker in an aluminum panel to mount on my lathe. The red and black are to the motor via a double pole double throw toggle switch for reverse if needed (did not use on the mill). At the bottom of the picture are the 3 terminals for the 5k pot. H= high, W=wiper, L=low. Connect the wiper of the pot to W, One end of the pot resistance to H and the other to L. On a pot, the center lead of the 3 is the wiper. That is where jster1963 went wrong. He had the wiper connected to H IIRC. If the speed pot seems to work in reverse to convention, Clockwise slower, ccw faster, reverse the H and L connections.
I just took the spare controller back to the cold garage, but I can bring it back and take more pictures if necessary.
Some folks have even re-used the slider control from the donor treadmill console to control the speed.
Notice the white connector on the red and black wires. Same connector used in older computers for hard drives and CD-Rom power connectors. The motor from one treadmill just happened to have that connector on it.
What application are you going to ues your controller/motor for?
Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Chuck
 
thank you again chuck its clear now on the pot
i was thinking maybe my old sears drill press it is too fast for metal even with 1750 motor and 4 step pulleys, i didnt do it before because i'd have to have used the electronic display/control to set speeds and it would look bad.
steve
 
Re: DC Treadmill motor HELP!

chucketn said:
Good news, jster1963! I saw the connections in the picture you posted and thought that had to be it.
I have tried to defeat the 'soft start' feature of the MC-60 controller, that requires the pot be turned all the way to zero and back to about 30% before it starts to run, but have decided it's a good safety feature.
Keep us posted on your progress.

Chuck
Click to expand...

Chuck, I hate to bother you again, but I have 2 more questions for you. 1. Do you know how to hook up the blue thermal wires? 2. If I switch from a 5k to a 10k pot, what will that do? I'm just trying to get a finer adjustment.

Thanks in advance......jster
ps. I love the variable speed motor!!!
 
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