DC motor control help

[BigDon]

I searched and found some info on this but still have some questions. I have a 2.5 H.P. treadmill motor but no control board. I had noticed some guys talking about a mc60 board and some spoke of a KB board but when I looked them both up, it don't look like they would work. My motor is a 90v but it says 21a and most of these boards look like they do 10-12 amps. What can I use to control this motor? Looking at using this on my Taig based cue lathe.
As always, thanks for any help!
Donnie

 

[ToolMaker]

deleted - 7/25/2020

 

[whammo57]

I searched and found some info on this but still have some questions. I have a 2.5 H.P. treadmill motor but no control board. I had noticed some guys talking about a mc60 board and some spoke of a KB board but when I looked them both up, it don't look like they would work. My motor is a 90v but it says 21a and most of these boards look like they do 10-12 amps. What can I use to control this motor? Looking at using this on my Taig based cue lathe.
As always, thanks for any help!
Donnie

I have one running a finishing spinner. It came from a Proform treadmill and is a 2.5 hp motor at 90 volts.

It uses the original MC60 controller.. It is easy to hook up and runs cool as a cucumber.

Kim

 

[Enigmaticul]

Talk to Bassel at custom cue lathes. He is a very nice guy and sold me a great motor control board and more important a very nice bracket that will mount everything on your taig headstock.

 

[BigDon]

Vega with a big block, sounds good to me ;-)

I say Taig based so everyone will know about what I am using it on but I am really looking to make a dedicated coring set up and thought if I can get it set right this motor might work good. Would prob use Taig style cue headstock but I dont think I will be hanging this motor off the side of it!

Hey Kim, what amp motor do you have hooked to that board. That seems to be my biggest problem is finding a board that comes close to the 21a rating on this motor. The other treadmill motor I have is at like 18a so it's kind of up there too.

 

[GBCues]

Hi Don,

Poor Enigmaticul thinks everything we're talking about is small like his set up. It'd be one heck of mount to put a 15 lb treadmill motor on the back of a Taig headstock!!

I am running my metal 3-in-1 combination lathe with a treadmill motor and a MC60. Motor is rated at 90V, 17.1 amps, 2.5 HP - there's plenty of power to go around and the controller stays cool, but I also mounted the controller to a piece of aluminum to act as a heat sink and there's plenty of air circulation.

The KBIC-120 is a workhorse too. I use one to control my cue lathe. I'm thinking either one is going to be sufficient for your boring setup.

Remember they are sized to run a treadmill that has been tilted up to ~15 degrees with a 300 lb woman on top trying her best to be next years Victoria's Secret Top Model - now THAT will cause that motor to pull a bunch of amps.

Neither of these two controllers are that expensive, so make sure you have a spare in case you do blow something up. At least you can quickly get running again, though maybe not at the load you were trying when you blew up the controller, but you won't be dead in the water either, while you look for a better solution.

And of course, you can use a simple 5K variable potentiometer on either to dial in the speed and a DPDT switch to reverse the direction of rotation.

My 2 cents,

Gary

 

[whammo57]

Hi Don,

Poor Enigmaticul thinks everything we're talking about is small like his set up. It'd be one heck of mount to put a 15 lb treadmill motor on the back of a Taig headstock!!

I am running my metal 3-in-1 combination lathe with a treadmill motor and a MC60. Motor is rated at 90V, 17.1 amps, 2.5 HP - there's plenty of power to go around and the controller stays cool, but I also mounted the controller to a piece of aluminum to act as a heat sink and there's plenty of air circulation.

The KBIC-120 is a workhorse too. I use one to control my cue lathe. I'm thinking either one is going to be sufficient for your boring setup.

Remember they are sized to run a treadmill that has been tilted up to ~15 degrees with a 300 lb woman on top trying her best to be next years Victoria's Secret Top Model - now THAT will cause that motor to pull a bunch of amps.

Neither of these two controllers are that expensive, so make sure you have a spare in case you do blow something up. At least you can quickly get running again, though maybe not at the load you were trying when you blew up the controller, but you won't be dead in the water either, while you look for a better solution.

And of course, you can use a simple 5K variable potentiometer on either to dial in the speed and a DPDT switch to reverse the direction of rotation.

My 2 cents,

Gary

I would caution you about the power that the treadmill motor and controller has. If you load the motor, the controller senses it and ramps up the current to compensate.

Be sure to keep the belt drive a little loose because it will rip your arm off if the belt doesn't slip.

Also these motors are usually designed to have a max speed of about 6000 rpm. That is a little too fast for our useage. You can cut the speed in half by putting a 5K resistor in series with one outside leg of the 5K speed control pot. If it doesn't work right, just switch the pot outside legs. Further adjust speed with pulley size.

Kim

 

[GBCues]

Kim,

We are in agreement here. Don was worried about blowing up his MC60 or KB speed control and I was pointing out that I have an MC60 driving a similar motor working in a higher load situation with no problem.

Gary

 

[whammo57]

Kim,

We are in agreement here. Don was worried about blowing up his MC60 or KB speed control and I was pointing out that I have an MC60 driving a similar motor working in a higher load situation with no problem.

Gary

There should be no problem as the 2.5 HP motor comes with the MC60 controller in the pro form treadmill.

I got mine on craigs list in free stuff.

Kim

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[BigDon]

Thanks for the help guys! I was not sure since I did not have a board to go by and looking at ratings, the mc60 was about half the amps my motor was showing. I will give it a shot and see.
Thanks again!

 

[GatzkeCues]

Just make sure you put a fuse between the motor and speed controller and your controller should be fine. Learned that lesson the hard way.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

GREAT thread with a wealth of info. Thanks again guys for all the shared knowledge.

 

[BigDon]

Router on DC

After doing the research for a board, I found that some guys are using dc to power the router or laminate trimmer. My router says 120 volts and 5.6 amps but most of the boards I have found go to 90 volts on a 110/120 AC input. Will this work and what are the real advantages other than speed control for running it on DC? Sorry guys, electrical is not my strong side!
As always, thanks for any help!
Donnie

 

[Piratejethro]

Your controller *should* work just fine. If you hook up a controller that has the "output" of 10-12A to a motor that is "capable" of 20A, the motor is not going to magically pull 20A through the controller board and fry it, it will pull the maximum that the controller board feeds it, and that will be it, the only factor you need to worry about is whether 10-12A is going to be enough to push your motor through the labor you are trying to use it for. The motor is rated in FLC, which is short for Full Load Current, but it may run slower at less amperage, or not at all, depending on how "under-rated" you are pulling it. (I am an Industrial Electrician professionally, 8 years now working for BF Goodrich) The motor will not blow, the board will only put out 10-12A, but the motor may run at a lower RPM, or with less torque, and once you load it/bog it down it may stall or it may be just fine, only way to know for sure is to try it.

Jim Notestine

 

[BigDon]

Thanks Jim! You sound like you know what your talking about so how about the other question I had. If my router is 120 volt ac or dc but my board puts out 90 volts dc, will it work O.K.? Sorry, mechanical I can handle it but electrical is a mystery to me.

Thanks,
Donnie

 

[Piratejethro]

That is a good question, I am not sure, I know that the router, working on AC or DC of course is a universal motor, but not sure what the DC rating of the motor is. Most universal motors don't operate on the same voltage range in AC as in DC, and that is something I haven't experimented with. I work tomorrow, and will have a discussion with a couple of my co-workers who are a bit more "motor-knowledgeable" than I am and I will get back with you ASAP tomorrow afternoon/evening with anything I find.

Jim Notestine

 

[Tommy-D]

I've been wondering about these things.

Is there a way to wire the controller where you have a button or a switch that can JOG the motor one way or the other and have say a consistent 25rpm or something similar? Maybe a knob where you could adjust it? Tommy D.

 

[whammo57]

Your controller *should* work just fine. If you hook up a controller that has the "output" of 10-12A to a motor that is "capable" of 20A, the motor is not going to magically pull 20A through the controller board and fry it, it will pull the maximum that the controller board feeds it, and that will be it, the only factor you need to worry about is whether 10-12A is going to be enough to push your motor through the labor you are trying to use it for. The motor is rated in FLC, which is short for Full Load Current, but it may run slower at less amperage, or not at all, depending on how "under-rated" you are pulling it. (I am an Industrial Electrician professionally, 8 years now working for BF Goodrich) The motor will not blow, the board will only put out 10-12A, but the motor may run at a lower RPM, or with less torque, and once you load it/bog it down it may stall or it may be just fine, only way to know for sure is to try it.

Jim Notestine

I seriously doubt that the control board has the ability to limit its output current when driving a motor under load that is larger than its rating. A larger motor has a lower internal resistance and will draw more current from the same voltage than a smaller motor would. The control board will try to supply the higher current until it fails.

The output transistors, scr's, or mosfets or what ever will most likely over heat and eventually will burn out.

You will damage the control board trying to run a motor that is rated much higher than the control board rating.

Kim

 

[GBCues]

I seriously doubt that the control board has the ability to limit its output current when driving a motor under load that is larger than its rating. A larger motor has a lower internal resistance and will draw more current from the same voltage than a smaller motor would. The control board will try to supply the higher current until it fails.

The output transistors, scr's, or mosfets or what ever will most likely over heat and eventually will burn out.

You will damage the control board trying to run a motor that is rated much higher than the control board rating.

Kim

I agree, voltage is pushed, amps are pulled. Pull too many amps and poof, you let the magic smoke out.

Otherwise, why would anyone need a controller rated at 15-20A to run a bigger motor if one rated at 3-5A would do?

Gary

 

[BigDon]

Kim and Gary, I am now a little confused. You both have these 2 or so HP motors running on mc60 boards. I think Gary you said yours was like 17 amps but these mc60 boards I have seen are only 10 amps max. This is what I am not sure about. They sell these treadmills with 2 hp motors but use a mc60 board with a 10 amp max. My motor come from a treadmill but it did not have the controller. I have a couple of KB boards coming with a 12 amp rating. I guess we will see if they smoke or not when I get them.