Treadmill Motor & it;s uses

Charley Davidson

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A guy gave me a tread mill the other day & since find it hard to turn anything down I took it, What uses are there for the motor & what all should I keep out of the tread mill ie: controllers and such?
 
the motor is a dc , keep the power supply maybe the speed sensors, the dc motor has a way of becoming a generator haven't had time to check in on it was going to make a wind generator for the fishhouse :thinking:
 
Charley,
Treadmill motors and controllers make great variable speed drives for small lathes, mills and other tools where variable speed is used. Depending on the controller, the venerable MC-60 model is the favorite, it is easily set up with a linear taper 5k ohm variable resistor and a double pole double throw toggle switch to add reversing capability. There has been some debate as to wether keeping the large choke in the circuit is necessary, but I left it out. I have a tradmill motor and controller running my X2 mill, and am very happy with it. I have a second identical setup used currently with an arbor and wire wheels, but keep it readily convertable to run other stuff.

Chuck
 
I had a 7x12 lathe that I used a treadmill motor and controller on.. I turned a pulley that fit the rear of the spindle for direct drive.. Works real good
I now have a treadmill motor running my 9x54 south bend lathe. It also works very good.
I also used them on grinders and polishers.

You need to keep the motor and all the electronics. When you look at the back of the control pad/board you will see the parts that control the motor. Those you need to keep, the rest you can toss.. The mag pickup on the roller you really dont need unless you want to see how many MPH your turning
The flywheel on the motor acts as the cooling fan.. I use them because Im lazy and dont want to make a new fan for it
My South Bend uses a V belt so I turned the serp pulley/cooling fan down and pressed the SBs V belt pulley onto it

On the rollers you will find 2 bearings and a round shaft per roller.. They are nice to have around.

Hope this helps
 
Will any brand of treadmill motor work ?? what are the brands/models of treadmills to be looking for ??
 
I'm still unpacking from my trip to Cabin Fever and several family functions in the North East (got home from N.Y. last night). Also have a foot high lawn to mow. When I get caught up I'll look for brand names of the ones I have collected. Basically, I'll take any treadmill I can get and see what it has when I tear it down. I've collected 5 or 6, I think. Best controller I've found is the MC-60, have 2 of those. Got one that had a ac motor like a clothes dryer that had an interesting variable pitch pulley and the speed was controlled by a flex shaft crank system.
I think most were high end Sears models.

Chuck
 
Re: Treadmill Motor & it;s uses

Will any brand of treadmill motor work ?? what are the brands/models of treadmills to be looking for ??

Any model will work but the newer it is the better and also the bigger the better. Most have a 2hp motor or bigger.
I found one thats got a 3.5hp motor but this treadmill had a built in TV, DVD player,fan and a radio.

Make sure you take the wiring out with out cutting them.. It makes for a cleaner install.

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What is the difference with the MC-60 controller?

The MC-60 is a commond controller but its built a little bit better then the low end controller... The ones Ive found were in the higher end treadmills
 
Got around to taking it apart & found all kinds of goodies. It's a permanent magnet 2-1/2hp dc motor, 7900 rpm , magnetic rpm setup, has a reostat type controller for speed and it does run. Now just need to figure out exactly what I'm gonna do with it. I would post pics but left my camera at the shop
 
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