Figuring out my tread mill motor

[theremart]

Hi all,

I scored a tread mill motor, and I am trying to figure out how to get it to be a wind generator if possible, if not I may try the Bedini Motor the 1984 one.

Anyhow, it has a nice flywheel on it here are the specs:

GE motor
BD6219
2 horse power


I tried hooking up a meter with it and it only put out .05 volt, when I spin it up with a drill.

So... I hooked up a small battery to it and it spins up nice, but... I found out that there must be some type of controller built in as when I flip polarity, it does not change direction of the way it spins

So, my first goal is to build a wind turbine, if I can bypass what ever the controller is inside, I believe that may get some juice out of it.

If you have any suggestions or comments please let me know

[gmeat]

Hi Mart,


Do you have any pics of it? .It sounds like it could be a universal motor as these run in the same direction regardless of polarity and will also run on A/C.I hate to say it but it sounds like the wrong kind of motor to use for what your trying to accomplish.They sure are fun to play with if you put more than one set of commutators on though .


-Gary

[Stealth]

I think Gary is correct, it is a universal motor capabile of running on DC or AC current. If you can't get it to work the way you want,you can check out this website where you can find almost any voltage or rpm motor you want. Burden Sales Surplus Center - Electric Motors, Gearmotors, Relays, Toggle Switches Good Luck.. Stealth

[theremart]

Thanks guys...

What I do like about it is how low power it takes to turn it. I am betting you are right But I turn the thing at 6 V, I was impressed it did that.

Looks like a neg on wind generator and a push to the Bedini 1984 setup, does not take much power to push this, and with the flywheel all I have to do is unlike myth busters is put magnets on it ;-).

mart

[rickoff]

Hi Mart,

Last October I found a discarded treadmill at the local recycling center, and the motor looked like brand new. A quick sniff determined that it hadn't burned out, so I quickly scavenged it as the center was about to close. I also took the small motor used for raising and lowering the height of the treadmill. I figured these would come in handy at some point in time, probably for a Lloyd's Friction Steamer rotor driver. The larger motor is labeled as such:

P.M. D.C. MOTOR MODEL C336483421
P/M M-215392
2.80 HP / 2089 WATTS
1.75 HP CONT. DUTY / 1305 WATTS
The maker is not stated, though there is a logo on the label featuring the letters RL, only they are shown backwards (not LR, just R and L, each facing backwards).

It has a hefty 5.5" diameter x 1" wide flywheel at one end with a grooved belt drive extension, and a large plastic cooling fan at the other end. The operating voltage is not stated, but I did give it a test spin with a 12 volt car battery. It self started nicely, and with considerable torque. The rpm checked out at 600 with the 12v test, and I think this motor would be capable of running considerably faster than that if operated around 24 volts.

Nice motor, but definitely not well suited for a wind generator. If you are wanting a wind generator, I have some really nice plans for a home-built generator. The plans cover the complete project, and are in 4 pdf files. I will send the 4th file, which covers the construction of the generator portion, to your e-mail so you can see if you find it useful. If so, let me know and I will send the other 3 pdf's along.

Anyone else who would be interested in having these plans, please PM me and include your e-mail address.

Best to all,

Rick

[theremart]

Re Floyds design...

Rick...

Now you got me thinking!!! I am attracted to Floyd design.

hmm now that I think about it on the tread mill there is another pulley that is much larger. I might have to do a test of putting wood up to the larger spool and see how hot it gets.

mart

[ozmatic]

Rickoff`s treadmill motor

Hi,
This is my first post on this forum, though I have been reading it for 2 years,and messing about with various circuits.
Rickoff, - I have got a similar motor,made by the same manufacturer, as you.The spec label reads:
McMillan Electric Company
PM DC Motor Model 53365B238
2.25 HP @260VDC
5 amps 5100 RPM CW rotation
Airseal West
Salt Lake City Utah RL {big letters, backwards}
.........................
I wish all motors were as well labelled!!
It is a permanent magnet motor that has tremendous torque. I use it to spin up my 18kw 72 voltDC series motor ,as this pulls 500 amps if started from standstill -and that blows a lot of fuses. One day I will get around to an electronic soft start, but at the moment I value my IGBT brick more than this motor.
Because it has so much torque I dont think it is the right generator for a wind genny, -but I could be wrong.
Try connecting the black and red wires together, and spin it by hand - the resistance is unbelievable.
Hope this is of some help.
I will be buillding my own wind genny soon as I can get some suitable bearings. Neo magnet rotor and 3 phase stator.
Chris.

[rickoff]

Hi Chris,

My motor doesn't carry the McMillan name on the label, but might also be made by them. They have a web site McMillan Electric and say that they manufactire 10 million motors per year!

I tried the black/red connection, but mine does not spin any differently than when disconnected.

What are you using the 18kw, 72vDC motor for? That's pretty hefty - around 24hp, right? That would be enough for an electric car.

Rick

[ozmatic]

Hi Rick,
Thanks for your interest. Basics of Design Engineering - Electrical/Electronic - DC Motors - PM motors is a great description of my motor. The stator is one large hollow magnet.I would love to dismantle it to mess around with the magnet, but I use the motor quite a lot .
The large series motor came from a 1968 2ton electric forklift that I got for free. [I am going to start a thread on this forum dedicated to scavenging components from industrial machinery for renewable energy projects].The motor weighs about 70kg,and was used to lift the forks.
I was going to install it on the front wheel drive shaft of a 4 wheel drive vehicle [one that has the 2WD option as well].This would allow the vehicle to be driven either by the ICE[internal combustion engine] and the back wheels , -or by the electric motor [in heavy traffic]and the front wheels.This would have also allowed for regenerative braking with a bit of engineering.
I was informed that if I tried to put this vehicle on the road, I would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!
Having no desire to be a martyr - I gave up.
I have now turned the motor, hydraulic motor and rams from the forklift into a log splitter [renewable trees only!], and it is capable of splitting whole tree trunks - nothing stops it, the hydraulic hoses are the weak point.

I would be interested in knowing what type your motor is, as I am revising my opinion about the suitability of mine as a wind generator. This morning I put the meter across the 2 wires, and turned it at 120rpm in the lathe [btw, it would make a fantastic DC lathe drive].
@ 120rpm I got 23volts!!! -I dont know how much useful power this would deliver to a battery, but that is very slow rotation to deliver such voltage, and it is already DC [no rectification losses]. I will investigate futher and post findings on this thread [if that is ok?-theremart?].
I think that with suitable gearing ,this could make a very compact generator-even to drive it directly with a lawnmower engine would make a powerful bulk battery charger.
I am starting to have a lot of respect for this little motor and they are cheap - I got it on Ebay about 4 years ago for $30.

Try spinning yours @ known rpm and measure the voltage you get -I am sure yours is some kind of PM motor - and you will be able to get an idea of its voltage rating, as its max rating will be well over 3000rpm. Mine is 5000rpm and at that speed should deliver 1.5kw into a 12volt battery bank - that is serious power.
Chris