ok i pulled a treadmill motor controller and power supply from a treadmill of course. the pwm controller is a model MC-60. can it be used to controlle the same motor but on a go kart with batteries and also can i hook up a potentiometer to it if so how can i?

 

you will have to look at the torque specifications on the motor, the weight of your go-cart (with a person in it) and the current draw of the motor under load to determine how long a car battery (or two) will last. The weight of the go-cart will require a start-up current to get the thing moving. There are mathematical formulas for this but the physics are way above my level. If anyone else has any ideas...

 

ok i pulled a treadmill motor controller and power supply from a treadmill of course. the pwm controller is a model MC-60. can it be used to controlle the same motor but on a go kart with batteries and also can i hook up a potentiometer to it if so how can i?

Howdy,

My first post here.

Actually the MC60 is exactly what brought me to this board with a google search a few weeks back. I was fascinated with the diversity of information available here and decided to hang around.

The short answer to your question is no. You must have a 120VAC source to run the MC60.

However, you can build an inverter to power the MC60. You would need to do some serious testing; a simple inverter makes chopped DC, not true AC. I do not know how the MC60 would behave with that input. It might work and would be worth a shot.

Here is a web page with a simple inverter:
http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/inverter.asp

Google "dc to ac inverter". Hours of reading enjoyment.

On this forum, there are at least two discussions about the MC60. Board member trolley1 (thank you trolley1) made the effort to draw the schematic for the MC60. He also provides another PWM controller schematic. See this thread:

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=18895

and the more recent:
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=42116

If you google things like "electric mower conversion", "electric kart", etc. You will find a lot of information. It has been awhile since I was looking at electric powered mowers but I seem to recall that 12v or 24v motors are favored for powering small vehicles. That doesn't mean a 90v or larger motor won't work for you. It just takes a little more control.

Good luck with your project. I hope you are successful.