Hello,
My treadmill has been sitting around ever since the motor-controller board broke. Since I could not find a replacement for the board, I thought why not build a power supply myself. I do not need fancy speed control; one single speed value is enough for me, probably the value that makes the motor rotates at 75% of its maximum speed.
The label on the motor indicates that it needs a voltage of 180Vdc to operate and draws 4.6A of current. My idea is to have something that turns my house's 220Vac to 180Vdc; and research in the web yielded that a bridge rectifier can do the job. I still haven't dug too much into it because something caught my attention. Quite a few people indicated that a bridge rectifier is likely to blow up when the motor starts because of surge/starting current that far exceeds the normal operating current in intensity. I believe 4.6A is the value of the operating current that the motor draws when already started.
My motor has a label on it saying LifeGear together with values for voltage, current, horse power, and rounds per minutes; and that's it! Not a single word more. LifeGear is the manufacturer of the treadmill. Unfortunately, I could not find the datasheet of the motor anywhere to confirm anything about surge current values.
Finally, my question: Is it possible to have a bridge rectifier to operate my motor at a fixed speed without blowing up?
Cheers,
Amine.
My treadmill has been sitting around ever since the motor-controller board broke. Since I could not find a replacement for the board, I thought why not build a power supply myself. I do not need fancy speed control; one single speed value is enough for me, probably the value that makes the motor rotates at 75% of its maximum speed.
The label on the motor indicates that it needs a voltage of 180Vdc to operate and draws 4.6A of current. My idea is to have something that turns my house's 220Vac to 180Vdc; and research in the web yielded that a bridge rectifier can do the job. I still haven't dug too much into it because something caught my attention. Quite a few people indicated that a bridge rectifier is likely to blow up when the motor starts because of surge/starting current that far exceeds the normal operating current in intensity. I believe 4.6A is the value of the operating current that the motor draws when already started.
My motor has a label on it saying LifeGear together with values for voltage, current, horse power, and rounds per minutes; and that's it! Not a single word more. LifeGear is the manufacturer of the treadmill. Unfortunately, I could not find the datasheet of the motor anywhere to confirm anything about surge current values.
Finally, my question: Is it possible to have a bridge rectifier to operate my motor at a fixed speed without blowing up?
Cheers,
Amine.