[How do I?] Wiring Up A Treadmill Motor (i Know, I Know)

I have the choke coil wired into the DC circuit, much like your drawing. Except right now I have it wired to the "RED" terminal, but when I use the double pole double throw switch to reverse the motor the coil is then wired to the "BLACK" terminal. It doesn't seem to matter which motor wire it is connected for the choke to work. Let me know if you find that it does matter. My reverse switch is wired between the MC 60 board and the coil. I suppose I could put the switch on the other side of the coil and it would always be in the same place electrically.
 
great info guys, thanks! I'm really excited to try this out. I got the link belt too, just been busy with other projects.

I'll be adding this to one of the external motor wires, where they're bolted together. I can test it on either wire to see if it makes any difference, although I can't think of why it should as it's role is to increase the total inductance of the motor.
 
It doesn't matter which motor lead the choke is in. It just needs to be in series with the armature.
 
put the choke coil on last night - what a difference! the whine has almost gone, certainly down to a barely noticeable level. no idea on low speed torque as i haven't used it enough to compare. also put the link belt on and the vibration has also almost completely disappeared. i had a very productive Friday afternoon :) now i just need to find one for the other motor..
 
mattthemuppet said:
Thanks for the amazingly thorough reply Monty, that's a great source of information. I think it would be worth sticking all this in a "how to" sticky post once I'm done as it would be a waste for all the info to be stuck somewhere in my thread.

I think I've addressed most of your points, especially the extra switch to isolate the whole caboodle - that's the first one on the AC line in my sketch on the first page. I'll be using an illuminated switch so it should be easy to see if the controller is energised or not. All the switches I've bought are 110V 15A rated, so that should be enough - the fuse (which I'll be reusing if I can) off the treadmill I scavenged is 15A rated too.

I'm replacing the flywheels with fans mounted to the motor shaft, but if I have trouble with cooling at low speeds I can always add a PC fan and wire it to the 12V supply for the tach.

Almost finished making the adapter hub to mount a 120mm PC fan to Jake's motor. Screwed up the first one because I was tired, but this one fits perfectly. Need to tap a hole and make a set screw then that part is done. After that I need to bore out the pulley to fit and figure out a mount then the lathe motor will be ready for wiring up. I'm not sure how I'll stop chips getting inside other than the chip shield I plan on making for the lathe, but I'll ruminate on that.
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I was rereading your post (because I really like your whole thread, with step-by-step updates of what worked and what didn't, by the way). You mentioned the illuminated power switch, which is great, with one caveat: the bulb may fail to light, so don't let it give you a false sense of security. You didn't say what kind of bulb is in use; I would suggest LED as they have the highest reliability and life.
You might be interested in what I am putting into my machine power circuits in addition to your power indicator light: a switch that you have to twist to turn on, and press to stop. It's big and red, and used on a lot of machines. The idea is that when your sleeve gets caught and starts wrapping around the spinning chuck, you can stop the machine really fast by smacking the thing with your free hand, and it won't restart until you twist it again.
 
thanks Monty, yours was a lot of help too!

Actually the illuminated switch didn't work quite the way intended - it's lit anytime there is power to the box, rather than when the machine is turned on. So I pull the plug out (right in front of me) and coil up the cable when it's not in use. Not a bad idea with kids around, just in case. The next one will have a power switch at the plug, so I'll be able to isolate power to the control without having to unplug it.

I like your e-stop idea, those are really cool switches - they have them on the fume hoods at work. It's definitely something I'll bear in mind for the future.
 
In case you're interested, I bought those e-stops from Alibaba, now 3 for $3.99 w/free ship (via slow boat from china). They are adequate quality for home shop use. link is
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free...tton-Mushroom-Push-Button-Hot/1918439531.html

My kids are grown, so I hadn't thought of that angle. I would consider a lockable master switch for the shop if at all feasible. One option would be "AC compressor disconnect" - a UL rated box with pull-out thing that breaks the circuit. Under $7 at the big orange box. You could have a couple if the circuits are separate.
 
mattthemuppet said:
6. and best of all, cutting resistor R19/ RPS3 (connected to the wiper post of the pot) does away with the need to zero the pot to start the motor. It now starts at the same speed. How cool is that? Even found the same resistor (I think) on the MC40 board from my old treadmill. Woohoo!.
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I also have an mc-40 controller and have found the R19 resistor. It's right in front of the wiper post on the board.
Can you confirm this is the right one, does it matter which end you clip?

mc-40-R19-resistor.jpg
 
I'm 99% sure that's the one - it's the right no. and it's connected to the white (center) wire of the pot. I haven't done this mod to my MC40 controller yet so it might be a better idea to desolder one end instead :)
 
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