Hi John. I have the same Speed Control Board and I change speed using just a Potentiometer. Use 1kohm one and solder Blue wire on one end of Pot, White in the middle and Black on the other end. Works Great. Don't use Red or Yellow Connectors. Great Video BTW.
Hi Jerzy, thanks for adding the pot info, have the same board and was going to go down another path till i saw your post, John appreciate the video as i have the exact same board
Can you write the labels of two components that are connected to head sink...I canot believe... the producer of the board that look very similar erased the labels of thode two components, that make imposible to repair the treadmill. Thanks
If possible find a working one that has been scrapped for other faults such as worn conveyed belt. Mine is now boxed and so I am not able to see if there are any markings. Good luck.
If you know that you are controlling a high voltage brushed DC motor then you can source a control circuit from China for less than the cost of repair.
I have several MC-60 controllers and treadmill motors. When first powered on, the motors will not run unless the speed control pot is backed all the way down to "0", then adjusted up to the desired speed. I'm guessing this is to prevent the treadmill from instantly spinning at high speed when turned on, which would be a safety issue for the user and likely hard on the motor trying to jerk-start the large heavy flywheel. Also, on many motors, the flywheel is also the fan. But I have a motor that has plastic fans on both ends, so the flywheel is not necessary, as it also makes the motor coast for quite a while when powered down. I'm installing this motor on my drill press, so a long wind-down is not desired. My question is, is there a way to bypass the "Start at 0" feature? Or would disabling that feature damage the motor even with the heavy flywheel removed? I don't really want to have to turn on a power switch AND zero the speed control every time I use the DP. Second: IF disabling the "Start at 0" is not possible or not recommended, could I use the speed control pot as an on/off switch (leave it at "0" when not in use) instead of powering down the whole system? What would the ramifications of that be?
I would advise keeping to the original circuit and function for some of the reasons you discuss. You seem to have a very good understanding. A NVR and a suitable third party controller would meet your needs. I have a mini lathe to which new circuits have been fitted. It will start at the preset speed when I release the NVR and turn the direction with on.
Hi Marco. This is a difficult question to help you with. In general you will find through a web search or eBay people who match up components. I have modified treadmill motor circuits, I have bought bare boards and boxed them myself, I have also bought a ready made system from an amateur. I try and include as much information as possible in the videos but you will need to search through them and those of other RUclips contributors. You will learn a lot along the way so enjoy! Cheers, John.
Hi Marco. Sorry, I have screwed the circuit board inside a wooden box. I can't see it. I have seen someone in RUclips build or use a new circuit. Good luck. John
each treadmill has its own proprietary patented circuitry. I am using a 2.5 hp Nordic Track setup adapted to my Midas (circa 1995+) 1220 lathe/ mill and the wiring control circuitry is different for each treadmill manufacturer. The important controls are the speed and if possible braking functions on the main board. All the other functions, incline, heart rate, odometer, etc. can be unplugged for simplicity sake without losing critical lathe/mill function control.
Yes john, there appear to be two basic types of motor, dc as here or else three phase ac. It would be possible to just use the motor and drive it with a Chinese made DC motor controller. If the rebuilder has some basic knowledge they could locate the low voltage speed control signal into the treadmill control circuit and then they would not need to use the control panel. Thank you for your comment. It is very helpful.
Pls how can I connect the red, blue, white, yellow and black wire to keep the motor running without the treadmill control board. Am having same you used in the video. Am using the motor for project. Pls kindly reply. Thanks
You need a speed control board for a DC motor that is rated at 200v DC or more. They are available at low cost from China. I have only used the 12v to 30v type so I cannot help you further. See my video of the other dç motor.
The colours used within this piece of equipment do not follow standard convention. Please not my verbal warning at 13min 28sec. Red and black wires have 240v AC. Live can be blue, grey or other colour.
John, super work and thank you for a simple down to earth and very understandable vid. Looks like you posted it yesterday! I'm a woodworker building a reciprocating sander and was intending to source a cheap tradmill. Now wondering if it too powerful and a smaller (say 150w) scooter motor with a cheap chinese pwm and supply might be more appropriate. Would welcome your thoughts? Many thanks Alan
Scooter motors come in a range of sizes or powers. I think a relatively cheap 150w one as you suggest would be enough for your task. The low cost Chinese speed controllers work well with them and I have used a switch mode supply designed for low voltage shop lighting (12v halogen) and that provides a good stabilised 12v. Using a computer power supply means a lot of redundancy so its worth buying the 12v supply.
John Mellor Super! I will look at sourcing a smaller motor. They do seem quite small for the task but the upside is a reduced footprint overall. I guess the higher the wattage the better though... This all new to me.
The great thing about building your own is that if you find it underpowered you can incorporate a stronger motor later. However, my portable sander is 600w. There are cordless ones at low cost in the UK but they must be much lower power. Most cordless power tools use DC motors from China made by Johnson Motors -have a look at them.
Hi John , I have the same motor and board that I intend to use for one of my lathes , Can you tell me how to connect a potentiometer to this board or is it more complex than that , I am not bothered about digital readout just simple speed control Great vids by the way , Alan
alan manning Hi Alan, there is a five wire connection on the main motor control board. The power supply board provides a reference voltage (+8v). Ignore the two AC voltage wires. Connect one end of a 10k potentiometer to GND (blue) the other end to +8v (black) and the wiper to OUT (white). See video at 9.08min. Let me know how you get on.
John Mellor Hi John , Brilliant ,Tried it today , Worked a treat , Thanks a Million , My next challenge is to use the Incline motor and gearbox only without screw jack to power the feed on my Little lathe , I have another speed control so it shouldn't be a problem now , Thanks again John
alan manning Hi Alan.The screw jack is 240v AC mains powered. Speed control for that would be from a mains dimmer or speed controller I guess. I had not thought of that use. It sounds like a good idea, I look forward to hearing your experiences.
Very interesting video. My house current is 110volt.. My treadmill motor is 90 volts. The treadmill board has been fried. Is there an inexpensive control that would give me the capability to reduce 110 to 90 Volt and have the speed control in the same unit? Thanks for your help.
Hi Harris creek. If you are using this in a treadmill stay well clear. If you are motorising a drill or lathe then there are motor speed control boards that would be suitable. You will get local advice from machine shop and lathe forums. Your house power and the power needed by the motor are completely different. Your house voltage (not current) is probably 110 volt AC. The motor could be 90v DC (direct current) at 10 amps current It makes a big difference and needs to be understood. Get local expert advice please.
and also,pm,shunt series,compound etc,etc, a lot of things on the motors people have no clue what they are ,but i don't want to wast my time know w/school for nothing
Hi great video, congratulations. Could you help me with my card like this, the technician removes the transistor mosfet now I'm trying to fix it but I don't know what numbering they are 3 could you help me?
Hi junior. I rebuilt mine using the existing circuits and just reconnecting the various circuits. I have also used another one with motor control circuits from China. My advice is buy a complete motor control circuit and use that. Let me know what you decide to do.
Hi Junior. If you are thinking of doing some electronics work at the circuit level then it would be helpful for you to join an electronics forum. I studied electronics at university but these days work at module level using my knowledge to help me get compatible modules that have adequate power etc. Also safety is very important. Try a forum. You will get many responses from different people rather than just one. Let me know which forums you go for.
Considering using the motor on another lathe. DC motor speed controllers from China via eBay are really cheap and other have videos of using them. Don't even think about repairing the board unless you have the time and expertise.
I have a treadmill with this exact same DC motor control board, and lately the motor has been starting at full speed once the treadmill is powered. After troubleshooting I believe the problem is with the speed controller unit (that metal-cased box on the board). Also, the metal case has a live current when the treadmill is powered on. What would you advise? could the problem be the motor? could the motor be shorted despite still working?
I think your first thought is correct. It is very unlikely to be a problem with the DC motor. With a meter it is possible to test whether the control voltage coming down from the top of the machine to the motor control board is correct. If you can find a secondhand motor control board at low cost I would change it.
Thanks for your reply. I also noticed quite a lot of sparking coming of the brushes of the motor. The brushes themselves are fine. So I intend to skim the commutator. However I do not know if this sparking is also responsible for the uncontrolled speed of the motor?
Unless their is a serious reason to try this I would not go beyond a general clean of the commutator with a 'comm stick'. You can find complete treadmills with little use for less than £20. You are having great adventures looking at the issues with yours, you will probably find all the spares you need and be able to rebuild your treadmill and work on your motor at your leisure.
+Brad Cahoon Hi Brad. I was going to use a pot but ended up using the control panel.Should be easy using a pot to provide the control signal to the motor control board. Let me know how you get on. John
+Brad Cahoon If the motor is ok then I guess it means looking out for one with a burnt out motor but working control board. There are also cheap control circuits for dc motors from China.
Hi Brad, see the great comment from Jerzy above.. Check ebay for a motor speed control board. Just make sure it has sufficient power (current, amps, watts). No need to worry about voltage, mine works for anything from 3volts to 30volts. You will also need a 12v or 24v dc power supply, depending on the dc voltage of your motor. These are sold as 'LED lighting supply'. Again just buy one with sufficient power.
You need to hop on eBay and get the SCR 220 v ac controller, a bridge rectifier, and a 5k pot. Did this to my Bridgeport milling machine and it is wonderful for around 25 bucks US you can't beat it. You can see my conversion at flathead Ron's garage on RUclips. No more soft start and you can put a switch inline and when you turn it off the back on you are at the same exact rpm as you were before. P.s. Low rpm is about 60 to 80.
I've got a 220V DC 6.6 amp 3HP motor. The treadmill control board is bad so I'm trying to find a way to use the motor for a belt grinder with off the shelf components. I've seen people use a heavy duty AC potentiometer with a wattage rating well above the motors, coupled with a heavy duty bridge rectifier. Idea being, you control the AC mains input voltage and then convert it to DC to drive the motor. I'm pretty confident I could get this set up wired up correctly and housed inside a nice control box, but I'm wondering if its a good solution? I'm assuming mains 240V is close enough to 220V is close enough to not require transforming. AC-DC control boards designed for this purpose run anywhere from £100 and up, whereas this potentiometer and rectifier would cost less than 20 quid. Seems to good to be true (serious safety concerns)...
A modern DC controller will maintain full power to the motor while reducing its speed. That is the way the treadmill control board works. Rectifying a reduced AC voltage will reduce the speed but will also reduce the power. However, at 3HP you have plenty of power to spare so the 'quick and dirty' approach may do the job well. Safety - yes in the US the mains voltage is 'safer'. Our 240v mains is lethal. The videos of uncased potentiometers and open wiring at mains voltage scare me. Mind you, 6 amp 220v DC would do a lot of damage!
Yeah they scare me too, I'll probably just sell the motor. I got the treadmill from ebay for £5 so if I can sell the motor on it's happy days and no death for me. I've got a 2 H.P AC motor which is a lot more straight forward for a grinding belt if I only want it to run at one speed. I see second hand Leeson motors with less H.P selling for £200 or more, are larger motors generally more expensive? I don't really want to sell the thing for £50 if its worth a lot more. Thanks for the input as well!
Sounds like good reasoning to me. After you have done the difficult thing of building your belt sander/grinder with the 2HP motor you can always add a speed controller at some point if necessary. Motors without controllers don't sell well, but good luck.
then no torque ,,means no power,that the reason the dc motor controller has,min speed,max speed, torque, acel, I, dec, (field v for a shunt motor) etc,etc, you need all those adj to control a dc motor, w/out that is a mickey mouse job
i want to use my treadmill motor for a trike....mount it in the space beteewn the back wheels and have it belt drive a wheel..run off a battery..any way to make these motors run off a battery ?
Some smaller treadmill motors are DC and would run a trike fine with the appropriate DC controller. See the video of one running the Simat 101 lathe. Better still get a DC scooter motor and controller. Do not go near AC or three phase variable frequency.
Yes, the treadmill motor is as powerful as a mains motor and there is no more need to change pulleys to adjust speed. I use a smaller scooter motor on another lathe very effectively.
Hi Lynn. Everything was working with this equipment stripped from a treadmill. I just boxed up the electronics and used it as it was. I have another motor.
Hi Lynn, On my Emco Unimat 3 I have a smaller motor (about the size found on electric scooters) with a speed controller supplied at low cost from China. A 12v power supply is also required. So the connections are... Mains into 12v DC supply...... connect to 'motor speed controller board' from China..... connect to DC motor. Ensure all components are of adequate 'ampereage'. The motor speed control board comes with a 'pot' to vary the speed but no reverse.
Lynn, keep it simple, get a 10000w Chinese speed controller from ebay (£12) and a 50amp bridge rectifier (£5), swop out the 500k potentiometer on the speed controller for a smaller one (some say 100k, some say as small as 5k) Suck it n see... Put it all in a nice wee box, (stick a computer fan on if your a show off) and Bob's your uncle..or in this day n age, Bob's not quite sure about his sexuality, so he's called Karen !!.. Goodluck 👍... And remember safety first, stand in a bucket of water, and wet your hands thoroughly 🤪
@@AA-69 How hard was that? See you can do it if you try. A very helpful and useful reply. You will see another video where I did use the Chinese motor control circuits rather than reconfigure the treadmill circuitry. My motor and controller is still working fine.
Hi Francesco. For the UK version of the treadmill the live and neutral inputs run at 240v. All ways check things through and measure on any such equipment you may be working on. I do see a similar motor used with 110v machines in youtube videos from the USA. They are probably all made in China. John.
@@bikerides Hi John , I'm from italy, so my board runs at 240 volts too. I asked you this because i thought the board accepted a low voltage in input, by using a transformer or something else. Thank you very much. Francesco
@@franz1242 Hi Francesco. The motor control board shown at 10.30 has mains voltage in plus a control signal to the electronics in that rectangular metal box. There are many different treadmill motors running at different voltages so I have other motors and control boards running from 30v DC. But this one has mains to that control board.
Hello sir, I have a treadmill brand (ELEC TREADMILL ) and the wire was cute between the main control panel and the upper panel The wires were welded and not connectors, there are no numbers or symbols on the board The wires is four colors red, yellow, black, green, please is there any way to find out where wires are to reconnect them
It would be a great shame to throw out a good treadmill because a wire has broken. I am not familiar with your make. Every make has minor differences. There are often markings on the circuit board which can be a great help. Good luck
Hi John i have nearly the same circuit board. But the bridge rectifier has outputs sticking out. So as i am looking down on the board from left to right.M- M+, then the four terminals for the the bridge rectifier, then three outputs labelled L2 L1 L0 then the over to the right hand bottom left the multi cable with the red yellow blue white black wires. My question is as i go around the board the black and red in the M- and M+, the BR what wires go where on the bridge rectifier, i know there are diagonal on your board there soldered on but my board have the outputs sticking out. is it jsut the case if joining the the two ends like ac to the ac and then wire joining the dc part to each other. then the L2 would that be the neutral or the live wire coming in from the mains L1 will be answered from the previous and L0 would be the green yellow earth wire. Then i saw the post further down regarding adding potentiometer to the blue,whitle black wires, but what do you do with the red and yellow wires at the top of the multi cable. TIA
last bit first. The multicable to the control panel caries power and some other signal up and sends the desired speed down. Hence only three wires are required for potentiometer control. In fact the other wires could be elevation. Without seeing the board I don't wish to hazard a guess at where the L0, L1 and L2 wires go on your board. Any chance of posting a picture?
John Mellor a good friend of mine is hooking up a power inverter so i can power my heat guns, compressor and blow driers, im in interior cosmetics, leather and vinyl repair and refinishing, i just built the shelving system.
Hi John. Check with your friend about the advantage of a generator. The inverter will be large and wack the power out of your batteries. A friend of mine does mobile car valeting and needs a petrol generator.
John Mellor absolutely, he mentioned needing 2 batteries to me last night, i need all of the space i can get so im looking into a company that i used to live next door to ( Northeast Generator) they speciallize in that are, i used to see alot of ambulance, news and police mobile command centers there.. i will be checking them out Monday
+Roberta Flores Hi Roberta, it could be any number of problems. If the motor is under heavy load - working too hard, it will get hot. i do not use a treadmill but understand that the bed under the belt needs to be scrupulously clean and lubricated. There could be friction from other sources - I've seen one with the belt skewed. if it is a brushed DC motor then if the brushes are worn it can arc and get hot. Could you check those issues first. You probably need to find a forum for your particular make of treadmill.
estou precisando deste numero do transistor o regalador de voltagem do motor vc pode passar ´pois a minha esta raspado de fabrica e a sua e a mesmo modelo
Mught be imtresting upgrade for home made mill 2.5 hp..variable speed see if come up with something....thanks for feed back keep up videos..... dont worry about saftey nazis
Hello Zuber, my approach was to take the circuits from the treadmill and remember where the wires went. I have done another DC motor and there may be a video on my channel. You need to get a 180v DC motor speed controller from China or ebay. Then you need a mains ac to 180v dc power supply or converter. It is not worth building your own circuits. Both power supply and controller need to be of enough power, current, amps to drive the motor plus 50%. Connect them up and away you go. Raw mains into power supply, 180DC output from power supply into speed controller, output from speed controller to motor. Let me know if this makes sense to you or not.
Even though this is a DC motor there are mains voltages involved so do not attempt any such work unless you are competent. The wire colours used are not standard. If you have your own treadmill it is likely to be different anyway.
Difficult to know Bob. Much better to get a motor you know the history of. There are lots of clues to look for. Find a motor person near you and show them the motor. It would be unwise for me to comment without seeing it or being able to do some simple checks
Hi John. I have the same Speed Control Board and I change speed using just a Potentiometer. Use 1kohm one and solder Blue wire on one end of Pot, White in the middle and Black on the other end. Works Great. Don't use Red or Yellow Connectors. Great Video BTW.
Hi Jerzy. Thank you for that very useful information. A great way to get variable speed control at low cost.
Hi Jerzy, thanks for adding the pot info, have the same board and was going to go down another path till i saw your post, John appreciate the video as i have the exact same board
Just the information I was looking for. Thanks! Great video John!
Can you write the labels of two components that are connected to head sink...I canot believe... the producer of the board that look very similar erased the labels of thode two components, that make imposible to repair the treadmill. Thanks
If possible find a working one that has been scrapped for other faults such as worn conveyed belt. Mine is now boxed and so I am not able to see if there are any markings. Good luck.
If you know that you are controlling a high voltage brushed DC motor then you can source a control circuit from China for less than the cost of repair.
I have several MC-60 controllers and treadmill motors. When first powered on, the motors will not run unless the speed control pot is backed all the way down to "0", then adjusted up to the desired speed.
I'm guessing this is to prevent the treadmill from instantly spinning at high speed when turned on, which would be a safety issue for the user and likely hard on the motor trying to jerk-start the large heavy flywheel.
Also, on many motors, the flywheel is also the fan. But I have a motor that has plastic fans on both ends, so the flywheel is not necessary, as it also makes the motor coast for quite a while when powered down. I'm installing this motor on my drill press, so a long wind-down is not desired.
My question is, is there a way to bypass the "Start at 0" feature? Or would disabling that feature damage the motor even with the heavy flywheel removed? I don't really want to have to turn on a power switch AND zero the speed control every time I use the DP.
Second: IF disabling the "Start at 0" is not possible or not recommended, could I use the speed control pot as an on/off switch (leave it at "0" when not in use) instead of powering down the whole system? What would the ramifications of that be?
I would advise keeping to the original circuit and function for some of the reasons you discuss. You seem to have a very good understanding. A NVR and a suitable third party controller would meet your needs. I have a mini lathe to which new circuits have been fitted. It will start at the preset speed when I release the NVR and turn the direction with on.
Sorry,were i can to buy One ibrid module (closed in metal box)used on the board for motore control ?
Hi Marco. This is a difficult question to help you with. In general you will find through a web search or eBay people who match up components. I have modified treadmill motor circuits, I have bought bare boards and boxed them myself, I have also bought a ready made system from an amateur. I try and include as much information as possible in the videos but you will need to search through them and those of other RUclips contributors. You will learn a lot along the way so enjoy! Cheers, John.
I have the same board .but Is demage .do you have one foto of the down of the circuit? Ws side .
Hi Marco. Sorry, I have screwed the circuit board inside a wooden box. I can't see it. I have seen someone in RUclips build or use a new circuit. Good luck. John
each treadmill has its own proprietary patented circuitry. I am using a 2.5 hp Nordic Track setup adapted to my Midas (circa 1995+) 1220 lathe/ mill and the wiring control circuitry is different for each treadmill manufacturer. The important controls are the speed and if possible braking functions on the main board. All the other functions, incline, heart rate, odometer, etc. can be unplugged for simplicity sake without losing critical lathe/mill function control.
Yes john, there appear to be two basic types of motor, dc as here or else three phase ac. It would be possible to just use the motor and drive it with a Chinese made DC motor controller. If the rebuilder has some basic knowledge they could locate the low voltage speed control signal into the treadmill control circuit and then they would not need to use the control panel. Thank you for your comment. It is very helpful.
Pls how can I connect the red, blue, white, yellow and black wire to keep the motor running without the treadmill control board. Am having same you used in the video. Am using the motor for project. Pls kindly reply. Thanks
You need a speed control board for a DC motor that is rated at 200v DC or more. They are available at low cost from China. I have only used the 12v to 30v type so I cannot help you further. See my video of the other dç motor.
Jesus Christ, I was five minutes into this before i realized it HAD a sound track.
Glad you sorted it!
I post some videos with no soundtrack for you to add your own as well.
The colours used within this piece of equipment do not follow standard convention. Please not my verbal warning at 13min 28sec. Red and black wires have 240v AC. Live can be blue, grey or other colour.
John, super work and thank you for a simple down to earth and very understandable vid. Looks like you posted it yesterday! I'm a woodworker building a reciprocating sander and was intending to source a cheap tradmill. Now wondering if it too powerful and a smaller (say 150w) scooter motor with a cheap chinese pwm and supply might be more appropriate. Would welcome your thoughts?
Many thanks
Alan
Scooter motors come in a range of sizes or powers. I think a relatively cheap 150w one as you suggest would be enough for your task. The low cost Chinese speed controllers work well with them and I have used a switch mode supply designed for low voltage shop lighting (12v halogen) and that provides a good stabilised 12v. Using a computer power supply means a lot of redundancy so its worth buying the 12v supply.
Thank you Alan for your encouraging reply. Some comments below. Have fun and good luck.
John Mellor Super! I will look at sourcing a smaller motor. They do seem quite small for the task but the upside is a reduced footprint overall. I guess the higher the wattage the better though... This all new to me.
The great thing about building your own is that if you find it underpowered you can incorporate a stronger motor later. However, my portable sander is 600w. There are cordless ones at low cost in the UK but they must be much lower power. Most cordless power tools use DC motors from China made by Johnson Motors -have a look at them.
Hi John , I have the same motor and board that I intend to use for one of my lathes , Can you tell me how to connect a potentiometer to this board or is it more complex than that , I am not bothered about digital readout just simple speed control
Great vids by the way , Alan
alan manning Hi Alan, there is a five wire connection on the main motor control board. The power supply board provides a reference voltage (+8v). Ignore the two AC voltage wires. Connect one end of a 10k potentiometer to GND (blue) the other end to +8v (black) and the wiper to OUT (white). See video at 9.08min. Let me know how you get on.
John Mellor Hi John , Brilliant ,Tried it today , Worked a treat , Thanks a Million , My next challenge is to use the Incline motor and gearbox only without screw jack to power the feed on my Little lathe , I have another speed control so it shouldn't be a problem now , Thanks again John
alan manning Hi Alan.The screw jack is 240v AC mains powered. Speed control for that would be from a mains dimmer or speed controller I guess. I had not thought of that use. It sounds like a good idea, I look forward to hearing your experiences.
Very interesting video. My house current is 110volt.. My treadmill motor is 90 volts. The treadmill board has been fried. Is there an inexpensive control that would give me the capability to reduce 110 to 90 Volt and have the speed control in the same unit? Thanks for your help.
Hi Harris creek. If you are using this in a treadmill stay well clear. If you are motorising a drill or lathe then there are motor speed control boards that would be suitable. You will get local advice from machine shop and lathe forums. Your house power and the power needed by the motor are completely different. Your house voltage (not current) is probably 110 volt AC. The motor could be 90v DC (direct current) at 10 amps current It makes a big difference and needs to be understood. Get local expert advice please.
and also,pm,shunt series,compound etc,etc, a lot of things on the motors people have no clue what they are ,but i don't want to wast my time know w/school for nothing
Hi great video, congratulations. Could you help me with my card like this, the technician removes the transistor mosfet now I'm trying to fix it but I don't know what numbering they are 3 could you help me?
Hi junior. I rebuilt mine using the existing circuits and just reconnecting the various circuits. I have also used another one with motor control circuits from China. My advice is buy a complete motor control circuit and use that. Let me know what you decide to do.
@@bikerides Do you have Whatsapp ? I would like to send you pictures of the plate
Hi Junior. If you are thinking of doing some electronics work at the circuit level then it would be helpful for you to join an electronics forum. I studied electronics at university but these days work at module level using my knowledge to help me get compatible modules that have adequate power etc. Also safety is very important. Try a forum. You will get many responses from different people rather than just one. Let me know which forums you go for.
Considering using the motor on another lathe. DC motor speed controllers from China via eBay are really cheap and other have videos of using them. Don't even think about repairing the board unless you have the time and expertise.
I have a treadmill with this exact same DC motor control board, and lately the motor has been starting at full speed once the treadmill is powered. After troubleshooting I believe the problem is with the speed controller unit (that metal-cased box on the board). Also, the metal case has a live current when the treadmill is powered on. What would you advise? could the problem be the motor? could the motor be shorted despite still working?
I think your first thought is correct. It is very unlikely to be a problem with the DC motor. With a meter it is possible to test whether the control voltage coming down from the top of the machine to the motor control board is correct. If you can find a secondhand motor control board at low cost I would change it.
Thanks for your reply. I also noticed quite a lot of sparking coming of the brushes of the motor. The brushes themselves are fine. So I intend to skim the commutator. However I do not know if this sparking is also responsible for the uncontrolled speed of the motor?
Unless their is a serious reason to try this I would not go beyond a general clean of the commutator with a 'comm stick'. You can find complete treadmills with little use for less than £20. You are having great adventures looking at the issues with yours, you will probably find all the spares you need and be able to rebuild your treadmill and work on your motor at your leisure.
Did you finish this circuit with a POT? I am curious as I have just squired the same machine and want to set up for my record wood lathe. Thanks Brad
+Brad Cahoon Hi Brad. I was going to use a pot but ended up using the control panel.Should be easy using a pot to provide the control signal to the motor control board. Let me know how you get on. John
+John Mellor there is something wrong with my board unfortunately
+Brad Cahoon If the motor is ok then I guess it means looking out for one with a burnt out motor but working control board. There are also cheap control circuits for dc motors from China.
Hi Brad, see the great comment from Jerzy above.. Check ebay for a motor speed control board. Just make sure it has sufficient power (current, amps, watts). No need to worry about voltage, mine works for anything from 3volts to 30volts. You will also need a 12v or 24v dc power supply, depending on the dc voltage of your motor. These are sold as 'LED lighting supply'. Again just buy one with sufficient power.
You need to hop on eBay and get the SCR 220 v ac controller, a bridge rectifier, and a 5k pot. Did this to my Bridgeport milling machine and it is wonderful for around 25 bucks US you can't beat it. You can see my conversion at flathead Ron's garage on RUclips. No more soft start and you can put a switch inline and when you turn it off the back on you are at the same exact rpm as you were before. P.s. Low rpm is about 60 to 80.
I've got a 220V DC 6.6 amp 3HP motor. The treadmill control board is bad so I'm trying to find a way to use the motor for a belt grinder with off the shelf components.
I've seen people use a heavy duty AC potentiometer with a wattage rating well above the motors, coupled with a heavy duty bridge rectifier. Idea being, you control the AC mains input voltage and then convert it to DC to drive the motor. I'm pretty confident I could get this set up wired up correctly and housed inside a nice control box, but I'm wondering if its a good solution? I'm assuming mains 240V is close enough to 220V is close enough to not require transforming.
AC-DC control boards designed for this purpose run anywhere from £100 and up, whereas this potentiometer and rectifier would cost less than 20 quid. Seems to good to be true (serious safety concerns)...
A modern DC controller will maintain full power to the motor while reducing its speed. That is the way the treadmill control board works. Rectifying a reduced AC voltage will reduce the speed but will also reduce the power. However, at 3HP you have plenty of power to spare so the 'quick and dirty' approach may do the job well. Safety - yes in the US the mains voltage is 'safer'. Our 240v mains is lethal. The videos of uncased potentiometers and open wiring at mains voltage scare me. Mind you, 6 amp 220v DC would do a lot of damage!
Yeah they scare me too, I'll probably just sell the motor. I got the treadmill from ebay for £5 so if I can sell the motor on it's happy days and no death for me. I've got a 2 H.P AC motor which is a lot more straight forward for a grinding belt if I only want it to run at one speed.
I see second hand Leeson motors with less H.P selling for £200 or more, are larger motors generally more expensive? I don't really want to sell the thing for £50 if its worth a lot more.
Thanks for the input as well!
Sounds like good reasoning to me. After you have done the difficult thing of building your belt sander/grinder with the 2HP motor you can always add a speed controller at some point if necessary. Motors without controllers don't sell well, but good luck.
then no torque ,,means no power,that the reason the dc motor controller has,min speed,max speed, torque, acel, I, dec, (field v for a shunt motor) etc,etc, you need all those adj to control a dc motor, w/out that is a mickey mouse job
i want to use my treadmill motor for a trike....mount it in the space beteewn the back wheels and have it belt drive a wheel..run off a battery..any way to make these motors run off a battery ?
Some smaller treadmill motors are DC and would run a trike fine with the appropriate DC controller. See the video of one running the Simat 101 lathe. Better still get a DC scooter motor and controller. Do not go near AC or three phase variable frequency.
is it worth the trouble doing
Yes, the treadmill motor is as powerful as a mains motor and there is no more need to change pulleys to adjust speed. I use a smaller scooter motor on another lathe very effectively.
Dear John
Thanks for a well produced video. Can you let me know what you final solution was to the connection for variable speed of the motor?
Hi Lynn. Everything was working with this equipment stripped from a treadmill. I just boxed up the electronics and used it as it was. I have another motor.
Hi Lynn, On my Emco Unimat 3 I have a smaller motor (about the size found on electric scooters) with a speed controller supplied at low cost from China. A 12v power supply is also required. So the connections are... Mains into 12v DC supply...... connect to 'motor speed controller board' from China..... connect to DC motor. Ensure all components are of adequate 'ampereage'. The motor speed control board comes with a 'pot' to vary the speed but no reverse.
What he's saying is.... HE HASN'T GOT A CLUE !!!..ANOTHER WIND AND PISH VIDEO FROM A DREAMER 😠
Lynn, keep it simple, get a 10000w Chinese speed controller from ebay (£12) and a 50amp bridge rectifier (£5), swop out the 500k potentiometer on the speed controller for a smaller one (some say 100k, some say as small as 5k)
Suck it n see... Put it all in a nice wee box, (stick a computer fan on if your a show off) and Bob's your uncle..or in this day n age, Bob's not quite sure about his sexuality, so he's called Karen !!.. Goodluck 👍... And remember safety first, stand in a bucket of water, and wet your hands thoroughly 🤪
@@AA-69 How hard was that? See you can do it if you try. A very helpful and useful reply. You will see another video where I did use the Chinese motor control circuits rather than reconfigure the treadmill circuitry. My motor and controller is still working fine.
At 4:05 you're showing the live and neutral input, but at what voltage do they run?
Hi Francesco. For the UK version of the treadmill the live and neutral inputs run at 240v. All ways check things through and measure on any such equipment you may be working on. I do see a similar motor used with 110v machines in youtube videos from the USA. They are probably all made in China. John.
@@bikerides Hi John , I'm from italy, so my board runs at 240 volts too. I asked you this because i thought the board accepted a low voltage in input, by using a transformer or something else. Thank you very much. Francesco
@@franz1242 Hi Francesco. The motor control board shown at 10.30 has mains voltage in plus a control signal to the electronics in that rectangular metal box. There are many different treadmill motors running at different voltages so I have other motors and control boards running from 30v DC. But this one has mains to that control board.
Hello sir, I have a treadmill brand (ELEC TREADMILL ) and the wire was cute between the main control panel and the upper panel
The wires were welded and not connectors, there are no numbers or symbols on the board
The wires is four colors red, yellow, black, green, please is there any way to find out where wires are to reconnect them
It would be a great shame to throw out a good treadmill because a wire has broken. I am not familiar with your make. Every make has minor differences. There are often markings on the circuit board which can be a great help. Good luck
Hi John i have nearly the same circuit board. But the bridge rectifier has outputs sticking out. So as i am looking down on the board from left to right.M- M+, then the four terminals for the the bridge rectifier, then three outputs labelled L2 L1 L0 then the over to the right hand bottom left the multi cable with the red yellow blue white black wires. My question is as i go around the board the black and red in the M- and M+, the BR what wires go where on the bridge rectifier, i know there are diagonal on your board there soldered on but my board have the outputs sticking out. is it jsut the case if joining the the two ends like ac to the ac and then wire joining the dc part to each other. then the L2 would that be the neutral or the live wire coming in from the mains L1 will be answered from the previous and L0 would be the green yellow earth wire. Then i saw the post further down regarding adding potentiometer to the blue,whitle black wires, but what do you do with the red and yellow wires at the top of the multi cable. TIA
last bit first. The multicable to the control panel caries power and some other signal up and sends the desired speed down. Hence only three wires are required for potentiometer control. In fact the other wires could be elevation. Without seeing the board I don't wish to hazard a guess at where the L0, L1 and L2 wires go on your board. Any chance of posting a picture?
tried to reply to the email i got saying you answered but it just came back saying not delivered. |How do upload a pic to here mate
I will take a video and put link here if it will let me do that
I think I have it but I need time to go and look at my circuit because I've forgotten
Im using mine for an actuator motor to power my vans rollout shelves..
Excellent. Are powering it from the van 12v supply?
John Mellor a good friend of mine is hooking up a power inverter so i can power my heat guns, compressor and blow driers, im in interior cosmetics, leather and vinyl repair and refinishing, i just built the shelving system.
Hi John. Check with your friend about the advantage of a generator. The inverter will be large and wack the power out of your batteries. A friend of mine does mobile car valeting and needs a petrol generator.
John Mellor absolutely, he mentioned needing 2 batteries to me last night, i need all of the space i can get so im looking into a company that i used to live next door to ( Northeast Generator) they speciallize in that are, i used to see alot of ambulance, news and police mobile command centers there.. i will be checking them out Monday
That would probably be a good investment. The generator will have a 110/240v AC output and probably a 12vDC output as well.
when I use the treadmill the motor gets hot after 15 minutes what do I do
+Roberta Flores Hi Roberta, it could be any number of problems. If the motor is under heavy load - working too hard, it will get hot. i do not use a treadmill but understand that the bed under the belt needs to be scrupulously clean and lubricated. There could be friction from other sources - I've seen one with the belt skewed.
if it is a brushed DC motor then if the brushes are worn it can arc and get hot. Could you check those issues first. You probably need to find a forum for your particular make of treadmill.
Put a fan on it.
no,,,, dummy, fix the problem first .
ELA FICA LIGADA DIRETA SO DESLIGA PUXANDO NA TOMADA PODE ME AJUDAR E VC TEM UMA PLACA DE MARCA PARA VENDER ESTERA E DA TREADMILL SUNDOWN
Thank you. I hope you enjoy my videos on lathes, model trains and bits of engineering.
transistor desta placa e que numero
e um irg4pc40ud
estou precisando deste numero do transistor o regalador de voltagem do motor vc pode passar ´pois a minha esta raspado de fabrica e a sua e a mesmo modelo
+Solimar Garcia hi. you'll have to give me a couple of days to translate your comment. have you written it in Spanish?
another trick if find old wire feed welder...use for lathe carraige feed has control..and most 120 volts
that is another great tip Miguel. Thank you for sharing it with us. I will look out for an old welder.
Mught be imtresting upgrade for home made mill 2.5 hp..variable speed see if come up with something....thanks for feed back keep up videos..... dont worry about saftey nazis
+Miguel Castaneda I haven't yet justified the expense of a mill. I would certainly look to variable speed motor drive if one came up.
Hello sir send circuit diagram 180volt DC drive control pls sir
Hello Zuber, my approach was to take the circuits from the treadmill and remember where the wires went. I have done another DC motor and there may be a video on my channel. You need to get a 180v DC motor speed controller from China or ebay. Then you need a mains ac to 180v dc power supply or converter. It is not worth building your own circuits. Both power supply and controller need to be of enough power, current, amps to drive the motor plus 50%. Connect them up and away you go. Raw mains into power supply, 180DC output from power supply into speed controller, output from speed controller to motor. Let me know if this makes sense to you or not.
this schematic is only for you to understand because you make this thing complicated for nothing
Even though this is a DC motor there are mains voltages involved so do not attempt any such work unless you are competent. The wire colours used are not standard. If you have your own treadmill it is likely to be different anyway.
my motor has 3 wires...i know one was the common ground
Difficult to know Bob. Much better to get a motor you know the history of. There are lots of clues to look for. Find a motor person near you and show them the motor. It would be unwise for me to comment without seeing it or being able to do some simple checks
Connect a battery and see what happens
dummy
if the motor running but make sound
Yes Patrick, you are very observant.