Treadmill motor question

outsider347

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Just picked up a treadmill at a estate sale, & I want to use the motor to run the feed screw on my Atlas Lathe.
It is a permanent magnet 2.5 HP 120v DC motor

To reverse the rotation I assume i"ll simply reverse the wire connection to the brush terminals?
Correct?

thanks
 
Yes. I've never used a treadmill motor but I presume they work the same as any others. It may take a while for the brushes to re-seat themselves.
 
outsider347,
You are correct. The brush leads are usually red and black. I use a Double Pole Double Through toggle switch to reverse the motor in my applications. Google "reversing switch for dc motors" to get mor info and a wiring diagram.

Chuck
 
Be careful, most treadmill motors use the flywheel as a fan for cooling the motor. Reversing it will mess that up. Also, most flywheels are screwed on such that if reversed they will unscrew.
 
TigTorch:
yea. I have a treadmill mtr on my drill press without the flywheel/fan & of course it only turns CW. Its been in use for well over a yr now & so far so good

I think Ill remove the flywheel on this one as well. Then turn a .625 OD sleeve & press fit it on the motor shaft. Then attach a .625 ID V pulley with a set screw to the sleeve. Hopefully it will all stay together when I reverse the motor

I made the adapter for the end of the lead screw that I will mount a larger V belt pulley.

Seems that it will work

My goal here is to have a much slower carriage speed as Mr Pete suggests. & yes I know that I can t use this thread cutting, so the original set up will be in tact

If it works pics to follow
Cheers
 
TigTorch:
yea. I have a treadmill mtr on my drill press without the flywheel/fan & of course it only turns CW. Its been in use for well over a yr now & so far so good

I think Ill remove the flywheel on this one as well. Then turn a .625 OD sleeve & press fit it on the motor shaft. Then attach a .625 ID V pulley with a set screw to the sleeve. Hopefully it will all stay together when I reverse the motor

I made the adapter for the end of the lead screw that I will mount a larger V belt pulley.

Seems that it will work

My goal here is to have a much slower carriage speed as Mr Pete suggests. & yes I know that I can t use this thread cutting, so the original set up will be in tact

If it works pics to follow
Cheers
Whatever came of this @outsider347 ?
 
I've been using mine for quiet power feeding (ie: w/o gears engaged) with a 9" pulley on the leadscrew.

I used the SCR controller shown here:
no choke was needed
 
I've been using mine for quiet power feeding (ie: w/o gears engaged) with a 9" pulley on the leadscrew.

I used the SCR controller shown here:
no choke was needed
I want to replace the noisey, impossible to adjust tension, motor on my Griz G0602z. Needing to reverse direction and having the power for turning etc...are musts. This seems like such an obvious answer. Just like to know the things to look for in a motor before I hit buy now... (EBay of course) i have heard no less than 2.25hp...not sure why as the stock is only one...just what I've read.
 
A 3 phase with a VFD is a better solution - more torque and range. I got a couple of these for my lathe and mill:

No issues so far

3/4 - 1HP 3 phase motors are cheap on CL or ebay
 
I want to replace the noisey, impossible to adjust tension, motor on my Griz G0602z. Needing to reverse direction and having the power for turning etc...are musts. This seems like such an obvious answer. Just like to know the things to look for in a motor before I hit buy now... (EBay of course) i have heard no less than 2.25hp...not sure why as the stock is only one...just what I've read.
Two things to keep in mind ...
1. Most treadmill motors have the brushes rotationally offset from the "symmetrical" position. They're optimized for one direction of rotation. Yes, they'll run in reverse, but not as efficiently.
2. Threadmill motors power ratings are often based on Chinese horses, which are a lot smaller than American or British horses :) Seriously, though, there's all kinds of tricks you can do when rating a motor (such as stall current, instead of running current) that will up the (apparent) horsepower rating of a motor. Sorta like the power ratings of audio amplifiers from days gone by.
 
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