You can hook it up to a 12 volt battery and see if it turns. But I'm pretty sure it is brushed.

 

Ok, so I marked the drive wheel and motor pulley as instructed, and turned them. It appears that the rotation ratio is something like 2.3 to 1 (motor pulley rotations to wheel rotation?).

As for wiring, the instructions are somewhat vague? I mean to say that the motor has only two leads (red and black) and the controller has multiple leads that somehow are supposed to connect to these two? For instance, there are yellow, blue, and green phase wires coming from the controller, as well as red/black power wires, and then there the five hall wires(red, black, green, yellow and blue)?

IMO, That is a very low design ratio, you may run into a problem.
Hall effect wires indicate BLDC controller, pretty certain you have a DC brushed motor.
There are BLDC drives out there that will run a brushed motor, but they have to be switched to a 120° commutation.
Check for offset brushes as the motor specifies one direction rotation.
Preferably you require a PWM drive as opposed to SCR bridge type.
Also check to see if your motor has the digital tach, most T.M. motors have.
Max.

 

You can hook it up to a 12 volt battery and see if it turns. But I'm pretty sure it is brushed.

It does turn for sure when connected to 12v battery. I do have another treadmill dc motor that has a red and black lead, along with two blue leads. I connected it as well, and it runs with the 12v battery. Any idea what the blue leads are for? I read somewhere else, that those are just speed indicators??

 

Any idea what the blue leads are for? I read somewhere else, that those are just speed indicators??

Usually a optical or hall sensor digital tach signal.
Max.

 

Sounds like your final drive ratio is too low.

Motors produce power as the product of (speed X torque), with a low drive ratio, the torque produced by the motor will need to be high, hence high armature current.

When the motor is more correctly matched to the load, it can produce more output power over the desired speed range.

Calculating the correct ratio is tricky, many variables to consider.

 

Usually a optical digital tach signal.
Max.

Ah, got it. I have a battery operated digital readout that's left over from the treadmill. I attached magnets to the flywheel of the motor while it was running, and it seems to be working?

If my motor doesn't have phase wires, what do I do with the bldc controller phase wires?? Here's a picture of what the normal bldc controller wires would be connected to.http://www.leafmotor.com/hub-motor/brushless-controller-wiring.jpg

 

This is the motor I'm looking at using now.

 

Sounds like your final drive ratio is too low.

Motors produce power as the product of (speed X torque), with a low drive ratio, the torque produced by the motor will need to be high, hence high armature current.

When the motor is more correctly matched to the load, it can produce more output power over the desired speed range.

Calculating the correct ratio is tricky, many variables to consider.

Ok, really stupid question here, but please bear with me? Can the treadmill motor controller (which is an AC circuit I believe?) somehow be converted to DC? If so, then I'll stop goofin' with this e-bike controller.

 

For these types of controllers the motor is either DC brushed or BrushlessDC (BLDC).
You need the correct controller for the motor technology, as I mentioned before, there are BLDC servo controllers that will run a brushed DC just as well, you can get these on ebay that use low voltage DC supplies, such as A-M-C.
But it may be overkill for what you are doing.
The last motor you showed, appears to be a BLDC, I cannot read the plate.
If you can show a close up of the plate it will identify the motor type.
Max.

 

There are a lot of unknowns between your brushless motor and controller that may give you heartburn. I would stick with the simple brushed motor and a PWM controller like I posted.

 

There are a lot of unknowns between your brushless motor and controller that may give you heartburn. I would stick with the simple brushed motor and a PWM controller like I posted.

You guys are all right, so I've contacted a local heavy equipment sales/repair shop here in Calgary, and they may actually be able to provide me with a used dc motor controller from a forklift or something on that order?

 

Won't they only be 12v supply, 24v max maybe?
Max.

 

Won't they only be 12v supply, 24v max maybe?
Max.

24-48v I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but could I not use a 24-48vdc controller for a higher voltage motor, as long as it's DC? Say with the 90Vdc motor, I wouldn't be able to use it to it's potential, but it would still work, no?

 

You can use it, just that the motor will not reach maximum RPM and the continuous torque rating will be a shorter curve.
I would seriously look at setting the reduction to at least 10:1, even with the reduced top RPM you should get the travel rate you need.
Right now you most likely have ~ 2.3 revs for 30" of travel?
Max.

 

You can use it, just that the motor will not reach maximum RPM and the continuous torque rating will be a shorter curve.
I would seriously look at setting the reduction to at least 10:1, even with the reduced top RPM you should get the travel rate you need.
Right now you most likely have ~ 12 revs for 30" of travel?
Max.

Once again, to clarify, you're talking about the ratio/difference in size of the pulleys/gears?

 

Reduction between the motor and the driven wheel, 2.3 motor revs for 30" of trolley travel estimate at present needs increasing IMO.
This can be done with pulleys with an intermediate shaft.
The compact alternative is a gear box or planetary gearbox, but you may not want to run to this.
Max.

 

Reduction between the motor and the driven wheel, 12 motor revs for 30" of trolley travel estimate at present needs increasing IMO.
This can be done with pulleys with an intermediate shaft.
The compact alternative is a gear box or planetary gearbox, but you may not want to run to this.
Max.

Oh I see...
Quick, I have two electric forklift controllers waiting for me, but apparently they are for SEM-type DC motors? Would they suffice for what I'm trying to do, or should I pass on them?

 

That should read 2.3 revs/30''! I edited the previous post but missed this one.
SEM typically made Decent DC servo motors, it depends on the size of motor they were aimed for, I would have expected traction motors on a forklift, but this depends on what the function was on the forklift?
But I definately think you need to look at reduction, one way with belts is the intermediate pulley system such as used on a drill press etc.
What is your intended power source?
Max.

 

That should read 2.3 revs/30''! I edited the previous post but missed this one.
SEM typically made Decent DC servo motors, it depends on the size of motor they were aimed for, I would have expected traction motors on a forklift, but this depends on what the function was on the forklift?
But I definately think you need to look at reduction, one way with belts is the intermediate pulley system such as used on a drill press etc.
What is your intended power source?
Max.

2.3 revs/30", got it.

Power source would be 3 - 4 12vdc deep cycle batteries. I contacted Curtis(who makes the controllers in question), and he said that they would have to change a parameter within the controller to be able to shut of the "field search" parameter or something like that? But at any rate, they're giving them to me for free, so if I can get them to program the controllers for me, I'll build two rigs instead of one, keeping in mind the reduction parameters you've given me. Wish me luck!

 

Sounds like they are made for wound field motors?
The T.M. motors are P.M. types, as a rule.
He may have to turn off the field loss detection circuit, maybe?
Max.