Treadmill motor torque

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
Hi I have a TM Motor with these specs that I hooked up to my wood lathe.
1.75 HP Continuous Duty @ 90 VDC
Amps 15
4200 RPM @ 90 VDC
using an MC-60 control board.
I actually have three questions.
1) I've found that under load the motor bogs down pretty quickly. Is there anything I can do to increase the torque on this motor? And if not, what kind size motor would you recommend? fwiw max rpm don't really matter to me I really only need to go up to 2 maybe 3K max.
2) Because I run at lower rpm (500 - 3k) and I have a 10k potentiometer, it is not easy to adjust in between those speeds, it's like 5 degrees and your too far. Would increasing the k of the pot make it more sensitive?
3) when I turn the motor on, it takes 1 - 2 seconds before it turns. This seems odd to me. Not really a problem, just wondering if it's indicative of a problem.
Thanks for the help
Raif
 
Last edited:

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Is this the motor that goes with this drive, IOW, off the same T.M.?
The Triac bridge type MC-60 is not quite as good as the MC2100 PWM version, but typically a T.M. goes under verious loading and has to maintain constant motion.
One option would be to add some gearing.
Max.
 

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
Is this the motor that goes with this drive, IOW, off the same T.M.?
The Triac bridge type MC-60 is not quite as good as the MC2100 PWM version, but typically a T.M. goes under verious loading and has to maintain constant motion.
Max.
No, just hacked together off of ebay. Not sure how I would know, now what board should go with it. If I got a MC2100 PWM do you think that would help? would it pretty much just switch out with the mc 60 or would I have to figure out how that board works and rework stuff.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
The MC2100 requires a small PWM controller board for the signal, not just a pot.
I have only used them with the original motor.
Max.
 

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
But about the torque. Do you think I need more horsepower? I mean for my particular application, removing a lot of wood from a log. perhaps that's more resistance than a treadmlll encounters.
 

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
You mean the MC-60? Are you saying I could already be exceeding it or if I got a bigger motor I might exceed it? How would one know what the current limit is on a used board?
Thanks
Raif
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
Using a treadmill motor as a saw ? ? ? Maybe I shouldn't talk. I used a treadmill motor and its associated speed controller on a bandsaw. The original motor developed a bad start coil, and when switched on the motor would LOCK into one position and you couldn't turn it. I now have a variable speed bandsaw. So I suppose you can use one for cutting wood. However, I've never tried to cut heavy pieces of wood, so I don't know if you're exceeding the capacity and ability of the motor and controller.

Perhaps you can be a little clearer on what you're attempting to accomplish. That way we could give you the best direction we know. Otherwise, we're sort of in the dark about what you're doing.
 

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
Using a treadmill motor as a saw ? ? ? Maybe I shouldn't talk. I used a treadmill motor and its associated speed controller on a bandsaw. The original motor developed a bad start coil, and when switched on the motor would LOCK into one position and you couldn't turn it. I now have a variable speed bandsaw. So I suppose you can use one for cutting wood. However, I've never tried to cut heavy pieces of wood, so I don't know if you're exceeding the capacity and ability of the motor and controller.

Perhaps you can be a little clearer on what you're attempting to accomplish. That way we could give you the best direction we know. Otherwise, we're sort of in the dark about what you're doing.
Thanks for the reply
It is hooked up to a wood lathe. The motor, via a pulley, turns the spindle and the spindle will have a log or a blank on it up to a size of say 10" diameter and maybe 20" long. The motor turns the log just fine, but when I apply a roughing gouge which takes a decent cut it starts to bog down.
I guess what I'd like to know is, if the AC motor was 2 HP what size DC motor would I need to replace it. I currently have, as I stated above, a 1.75 HP DC motor but I understand that that is not continuous HP so it's not a very good measure. I believe a 2 HP AC motor would pull about 20 Amps, so maybe a 4 or 5 HP DC motor? And also will this fry my MC-60 control board.
Thanks,
Raif
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
It is hooked up to a wood lathe. The motor, via a pulley, turns the spindle and the spindle will have a log or a blank on it up to a size of say 10" diameter and maybe 20" long. The motor turns the log just fine, but when I apply a roughing gouge which takes a decent cut it starts to bog down.
I would assume the AC motor was not controlled in any way, i.e. constant rpm?
That is quite the load, depending on the ratio of the pulleys etc.
Max.
 

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
I would assume the AC motor was not controlled in any way, i.e. constant rpm?
That is quite the load, depending on the ratio of the pulleys etc.
Max.
Yes the the AC motor just had the step pulleys for speed hence the switch over. I'm not sure about the ration, but I'd guess the drive pulley is ~2" and the spindle pulley ~5" ?
I've read about people doing these conversions on wood lathes. Maybe they were all turning pens, IDK, but I am on this path! No turning back :). I've seen TR motors up to 4.5 HP, I just don't know if that would fry my board.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
I've read about people doing these conversions on wood lathes. Maybe they were all turning pens, IDK, but I am on this path! No turning back :). I've seen TR motors up to 4.5 HP, I just don't know if that would fry my board.
Most have current limiting built in, also controlled accel/decel so that should not happen.
Max.
 

Thread Starter

reharik

Joined Nov 4, 2019
23
Ok, I figured some stuff out. For starters my DC-60 is only 1000W where as my motor is 1300W. So right there I'm not getting the full power from the motor. Further if I upgrade the motor it will still only provide 1000w. So I need a new board. I'm going to post a new thread on building the proper setup. i.e. how do I put together the proper power supply converter and speed control for a higher wattage setup.
Thanks,
r
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Take a look at the board and see if you have a resistor position marked 6-8MPH, if so you could try clipping it to change from 15Kv motor to 17.6Kv ver.
Max.
 
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