Dear Colleagues,

This is my first post to the group and I'm not an electronic guru so please bear with me.

I have NordicTrack EX3300 Treadmill NETL819060 - Circuit Board U-MC 2100E since 2009. In 2012 the treadmill will I was walking on a moderate speed all of a sudden it went into high speed and then stopped working. The motor will not work but the screen gave no error.

The agent company's technician came and checked it and said either we replace the board (which was not available at the time) or replace one of the ICs. He replaced the original G4PC40K with IRFP360. The treadmill worked fine since then till last week when it had stopped.

But this time the symptoms before its stoppage were different. While it was running all of a sudden it will behave like stopping for a split second and then continue on, then after a few minutes it stopped completely.

The technician came this time and measured the control board and found out that the IRFP360 IC is not working and replaced it with IRFP460. He did not have the IRFP360 and confirmed that it will work. The treadmill worked when we tested it for a short while.

But next day it repeated the same symptom, but instead of stopping it continued till we smelled a burring smell before it stopped. When I removed the cover I noticed that the motor fan is not in place and the motor is extremely hot. The motor fan image is attached.

My questions are:-

1- Can IRFP360 or IRFP460 replace G4PC40K without a problem?
2- It seems that the failure of IRFP360 was due to a cause in the circuit that was not discovered by the technician, have any one went through a similar experience and if someone did, then what was the main reason(s)?
3- It seems like the motor have gone and the board is misbehaving, is it worthwhile to replace them or the cause may be something outside of both.

Please note that I live in Egypt where it is extremely difficult to find the original spare parts and it takes ages to import them. In fact the Nordtrack agent have been replaced by another one, who unfortunately did not sell this model and does not keep its spare parts.

So, I'll be grateful for any tip of advise that will expedite the solution.

Thanks a lot.

regards,
Amgad

 

First, you should take into account that G4PC40K is an ultra fast IGBT while IRFP360 and IRFP460 are Power MOSFETs. However, looking at the datasheets, the G4PC40K can stand higher collector/drain current. Sometimes you can't replace an IGBT with a Power Mosfet merely. One should consider that specs match.

I suggest you to check if the motor is shorted. If so, it will keep burning the transistor and the solution is to replace the motor.

If the motor is ok, then the main board has another faulty element. Troubleshooting a board is something tedious if you're not an experienced technician, so I suggest to replace it.

 

First, thank you so much for your reply.

I have replaced the motor and it started to work but it behaved like this:-

1-When the treadmill starts to work with no load, then it will start at the selected speed and stay at this speed for around 10-15 seconds then will slow a little bit and continue on the lower speed. The trouble shooting led continues to blink over the whole period.

2-When it works with a load it will work for around 40-60 seconds well, then slow down again till it stops. Initially , the trouble shooting led will be blinking till the treadmill stops and go off then. When the load leaves the treadmill it will work again.

I'll try to get the board replaced, but as I pointed out this is difficult in Egypt as the old agent is not around anymore and perhaps I'll have to obtain it from abroad and go through the customs hassles here myself.

But, in the meantime, I'll appreciate any input that can help me troubleshot and perhaps repair the board.

Thanks a lot.

regards,
Amgad

 

Don't worry about the led blinking when the motor is running. It just mean that there's an active PWM signal controlling the motor speed. I suggest you to upload an imagen of the board. Some models have a compensation potentiometer which should be calibrated in orden to obtain good perfomance.

 

Do you need any info on the board?
I have a reverse-engineered schematic of the MC2100
Max.

 

Don't worry about the led blinking when the motor is running. It just mean that there's an active PWM signal controlling the motor speed. I suggest you to upload an imagen of the board. Some models have a compensation potentiometer which should be calibrated in orden to obtain good perfomance.

Thank you for so much your reply. I have uploaded an image of the board and its label. It has a compensation potentiometer. Should I set it to maxim output. Would that help resolve the issue.

Please advise.
regards,
Amgad

 

Do you need any info on the board?
I have a reverse-engineered schematic of the MC2100
Max.

Yes. that would be great.

thanks a lot.
regards,
Amgad

 

MC2100
Max.

 

MC2100
Max.

Thank you so much. There is a wealth of information in the documents you have sent. I'll read them and perhaps apply some of the findings to diagnose the board.

once again thanks for sharing them.

regards,
Amgad

 

Hello,

Just to update you on the progress that I have made.

1-I have found IRFP460 IC here in Egypt and managed to replace it on the board.
2- I checked the Motor and found out that its brushes have worn out from the incident (there were a lot of carbon dust inside the motor and that was the cause of the smell). I used the brushes of the old motor and managed to get it to work.
3-I installed a digital thermometer attached to the motor to know the motor's temperature. I have attached its photo.

I have used the treadmill now for a few days and everything works fine now except that I hear a noise similar to the one shown in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgb2TY3WCkg

I suspect that this is something to do with the motor brushes I have taken the brushes out and turned the motor without them and the noise disappeared, but I'm not sure.

I hope that there is a solution to this noise and perhaps someone have had a similar problem can share them with me.

Once again, than you all for your helping me out.

regards,

Amgad

 

Can't access the video needs Mimecast enrollment or some such?
Max.

 

MC2100
Max.

Thanks a lot

 

Hi Max,

I have only noticed your reply today.
Sorry about the mistake in the video's link. I have copied it with mimecast protection on The correct one is

Once again thank you for your great help.

regards,
Amgad

 

Pacific Scientific are nice motors, that sounds like bearing noise to me.
max.

 

thank's bro very best post

MC2100
Max.

 

Thanks