# Treadmill Motor & it;s uses



## Charley Davidson

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?_


----------



## Cowman56141

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:


----------



## Chucketn

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


----------



## wedge446

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


----------



## cbtrek

I added on to my Lewis Mill.


----------



## metalmole

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


----------



## Chucketn

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


----------



## cbtrek

What is the difference with the MC-60 controller?


----------



## wedge446

*Re: Treadmill Motor &amp; it;s uses*



metalmole said:


> 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.

- - - Updated - - -



cbtrek said:


> 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


----------



## Charley Davidson

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


----------



## Charley Davidson

Here's some pics of the goodies I got out of the tread mill, along with the things i listed in the previous post is a nice sized piece of mdf board clad on one side, it will come in handy I'm sure


----------



## Old Iron

Charley Davidson said:


> 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.




You could put it in the flat rate box I'll be sending you & Benny on Tuesday and send it to me.

Paul


----------



## Charley Davidson

So I get this thing all apart and ready for some kinda project but decide to put it in a one rate shipping box and send it to my good buddy Paul. The day after I send it out I discover I had a bad motor on a cheap band saw I had. Karma kicks in and I find another one at a garage sale for $5.00. I take it apart and mount everything to the band saw but it is wrong rotation, I know you usually just reverse 2 wires but not sure on this as it has a transformer & I don't want to screw it up. Which wires and where would I reverse them?

I'm gonna keep my eyes peeld for another one to power a big shop fan I have with a bad motor.


----------



## Chucketn

Charley,
Most DC treadmill motors I've seen have a red and a black wire going to the motor. (The blue wires, if any, go to a thermal switch.) Normally red is + and black is -. Reverse them to reverse the motor.

Chuck


----------



## Old Iron

chucketn said:


> Charley,
> Most DC treadmill motors I've seen have a red and a black wire going to the motor. (The blue wires, if any, go to a thermal switch.) Normally red is + and black is -. Reverse them to reverse the motor.
> 
> Chuck



I check out the one I got from Charley this morning wired like the the one on Surplus Center worked great.

Then I reversed the wires and it did reverse but the armature start coming out. There seems to be some thing missing on the brush end.

Any body know what that mite be, I don't see where there mite have been a set screw or any other markings.

Paul


----------



## Chucketn

Paul, did the whole end plate start comming out? or just the armature shaft? Can you post a picture?
The  Treadmill motors I have have 2 long thin bolts holding the end  plates together.

Chuck


----------



## iron man

The flywheel has a lefthand thread I have seen these unscrew themselfs before I usually elliminate the flywheel and add on to the shaft then machine it down. If the brushed end is coming off then the two bolts that hold it on that go through the motor must be loose or gone.. Ray


----------



## Chucketn

In the picture Charlie posted of the controller, it looks to me like  the MC-60. Good controller. I have one of those with a 2.5 HP motor running my X2 mill. Works great!

Chuck


----------



## Old Iron

The motor is a 2 1/2 hp and the controller is easy to wire up. Its the armature shaft that is walking out.

 I tried it again and it didn't try to walk out this time but there was a lot of sparks coming from one of the brushes.

Know sparks if it is running forward.

Paul


----------



## Charley Davidson

I thought that was a permanent magnet motor:thinking:


----------



## iron man

The sparks are normal when it is run in reverse the brushes get seated one way and when you reverse it they dont make as good of contact if you take them out and file them flat they will not spark as much for a while anyway.. Ray


----------



## Chucketn

The board on the left is the motor speed controller, the board on the right is the controller for the incline. You would need both for what you want to do.
If I understand, you want the treadmill motor to run the drill and the incline to lift the table, right?
build a control pannel for a 5k ohm linear pot to replace the slider for motor speed, subsiytute switches for the incline controls on the console.

Chuck


----------



## Chucketn

The 10K pot would probably work if it is linear taper as opposed to audio taper. I'd try it if I had it. Can't help much on the incline motor as it is AC and don't get along with that! Though it looks like I have the same motor, controller and incline motor from a Freecycle treadmill. The motor and cntrller are on my X2 mill and working great. The incline motor is under the bench gathering dust. I don't believe I saved the incline control board.

Chuck


----------



## kd4gij

Some of the Treadmill Motors have the brushes set at an angle and won't last long in reverse. If the brushes are 90 deg to the shaft then it is fine in reverse.


----------



## Chucketn

Where the origional control panel slider connects to the controller there are 3 connections, right? Should be marked H-W-L for High, Wiper, and Low. These correspond to the 3 connections on the pot. One outside is High, center is Wiper, and other outside is Low. If speed increases when pot is turned conter clockwise, reverse the H and L connections.

Chuck


----------



## Chucketn

Looking at the motor controller only, is it marked MC-60? It looks identical to mine. I have disconnected everything from it and connected AC with a off-on switch, the motor, and the pot directly to just the motor controller board. If it is not a MC-60 controller, I may be misleading you.

Chuck


----------



## Chucketn

I thought I had pictures of my setup, but can't find them. I'll take some more and post them for you.

Chuck


----------



## bpimm

On your schematic you will see 3 wires running from the power board to the controller board. Circled in red. these are the wires you remove and replace with the pot. Red and black go to the outside terminals on the pot and white is the center, swap red and black to change the rotation of the pot.

Brian







nine4gmc said:


> There is no slider, there are 8 wires going from the power board to the control board labeled: Black Ground, Red 8-12vdc, Green Tach. Pulsing 5vdc, Blue PWM..0-5vdc, Orange Incline Up 5vdc, Yellow Incline Down 5vdc, Violet Incline Sensor 5v Pulse, Black Ground.
> 
> View attachment 54768
> 
> 
> View attachment 54769
> 
> 
> View attachment 54770


----------



## Chucketn

The attached picture is my spare  MC-60 controller,



Top left is the AC in, with the treadmill circuit breaker in the black line. Top right is the motor connection, Red+, Black-. Wire in a double pole double throw center off switch to reverse the motor if necessary.
Botom of the board are three terminals marked H, W, and L . This is where you connect the pot. H to one outside terminal, W to cwnter terminal, and L to other outside terminal. If direction that the pot turns to increase/decrease speed of the motor is reversed, reverse the wires on H and L.
Is that clearer?

Chuck

edited to correct spelling


----------



## bpimm

nine4gmc said:


> Yes, it's an MC-60.  Where did you put your pot?



Right here: should be labeled Red White and Black.




Brian


----------



## mrbreezeet1

bpimm said:


> Right here: should be labeled Red White and Black.
> 
> View attachment 54773
> 
> 
> Brian
> 
> View attachment 54773


Yeah, the board is labeled pretty well.
Getting ready to try one on my 200/Wards lathe

If I'm not pleased, will get a 3 phase motor from the "rat hole"
And buy a 110 volt input VFD.
Good luck with your project but BE CAREFUL PLEASE!
I UNDERSTAND D/C IS WAY MORE DANGEROUS THAN A/C VOLTAGE !!
BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL! 

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk


----------

