Some Data On Treadmill Motor

[Norm]

  After a couple of trial and errors I finally

got the treadmill motor working....





   .....Yes! That shiny chrome handle is actually

 a 1/2 socket screwed onto the side of the

lawnmower wheel with a lag bolt and some washers!

....and the lawnmower wheel was actually an

exercise wheel ...you know the kind with

handlebar grips on each side? ....($.25 at

Goodwill)

   The multigroove belt from a Toro snowthrower

... I would have used the multigroove pulley

instead of the lawnmower wheel ...but I mislaid

it somewhere...

   The ratio is about 5.5 to 1

You can see in the background, one of the two

 (was $17.96-now $3.00)Play&Ride 6 volt

batteries that I got from Walmart...about 2

years ago (the model that they were used in

were recalled because the charger got hot

enough to burn someone), they had 24 more,

but someone didn't think I needed all those

batteries.  

   As you can see above, it's putting 10.06 volts into this 6 volt battery @ 330 rpm.

   At this rate of charge it was putting out

.46 amp...Oooowh!...almost 5 watts!

   BTW that rpm on the $1 calculator is what

I would get if I hook it up to the lawnmower

wheel and preprogram the calculator ( +5.5)

and turn the charger fast enough to charge

about 10 volts.

   All kind of thoughts cross my mind here

fun things like hooking the wheel to be driven

by the rear tire of a multispeed bike...I could

charge some batteries.

 ....or hook it up to a VAWT ...I can see now

that it doesn't take too much power at all.

    Well that's what I did today...just had

a barrel of fun...in spite of the ice and snow

and stuff!  Hey! It's Spring!

                   ( :>) Norm.  

[TomW]

Norm;

Pretty neat stuff and i must say I think you have the only one of its kind on the planet!

All you need now is some wire to make a Tesla coil, something to make a spark gap and you can literally ride the lightning when you attach that bike drive unit!

Cheers.

TomW

[Norm]

  Yeah 24 of those batteries would have driven

a bike at a pretty good clip!

  I might just round up 3 or 4 12 volt batteries

and see how it works!

             ( :>) Norm.

[ghurd]

Hey Norm,

(I'm back with a total profit!)

What is the open voltage at 330rpm?

If you get a chance, hook it up to a 12v battery and see what it does.

I have a feeling it will still give you a 1/2 amp with about the same effort.

My little grey conversion acts about the same as this one did,

and it doesn't seem to care if the amps go into 6, 12, or 24 volts.

And with about the same effort.

I do not know why. Maybe it is so many turns in both of them?

And doesn't it look like a VAWT just waiting for blades?

G-

[Norm]

   Gotta get back out to the shed....had an

answer ( about 200 words touched the wrong button

and lost it all!

            so later....

                 ( :>) Norm.

[Norm]

   Glad to see your back G.

   The open voltage at 330 was about 14 I think.

   A funny thing happened when I first hooked it

up...I was so anxious cranked it over as fast as

I could...each time I got it up close to 20 open

voltage ...the display would go to a 1, tried it

a few times..each time I got it close to 20...

same thing ....1  , Oh No! Something's wrong with

the motor! Finally realized I had to turn the

dial to a higher voltage setting...turned it to

the 200 voltage setting and cranked it up to

600rpm and got about 26-28 open voltage ...whew!

what a relief!

   Ever do somethin' dumb like that?

...and about that VAWT, like I said one time before ...make an electric bike with this...

, a VAWT like a small merry-go-round ...put the

back wheel on the circular deck to charge it up.

             ( :>) Norm.

[nvmike]

I just received my PM treadmill motor.  Would like suggestions on a prop design.

Has anyone tried these PM motors with wind?

Thanks in advance.

[ghurd]

I've been following everything about these (I might even have found them first?).

They have a few problems.  Bearings (?), leaking flux, 5 ohm coils, etc.

It looks to me like a good start, at least for a beginner (like me).

Better than anything else I bought for a decent price.

But I have not seen them with blades... yet.

G-

[nvmike]

Put blades on my treadmill motor today, the pulley was left threaded, so have the blades turning CCW.  It seemed to turn well, no data yet,  need to run some wire up the pole, next weekend project.  Hope to add a magnet and reed switch so I can get the RPM.  

[nvmike]

I got some data today on PM treadmill motor.  Three, 3 ft radius blades, 6 in constant cord,  160 rpm in 6 mph wind, 6 volts dc no load.  If I figured right a TSR of 5.7.

Was expecting more output.  Or is this about what you should expect for this setup?

New to all this and would appreciate comments or suggestions.

PS made my RPM counter from calculator idea found on this board.  This is a great board.

[Norm]

  Nvmike,

     Very interesting ...would like to see some

pics if you can, is yours the same treadmill motor that I have here? If what you have this direct drive to the prop....you really should consider like I have started to develop for this

treadmill motor...it's getting late...if you see

this ...reply and I'll give you more detail...OK?

              ( :>) Norm.

[nvmike]

Yes the same treadmill motor, direct drive, next I may try to speed it up with pulleys.  Soon as i get digital cam back from my son, i will post a pic.

[Norm]

   You won't have to speed it up with pulleys

...If you had it set up the way I have it in the first

picture have your blades driving this lawnmower

wheel...this size wheel gives you a 5.5 to 1 ratio ...when your mill is spinning 100 rpm. the

genny will be going 550rpm .

    I'm thinking of doing it a slightly different

way...I'll show you a couple of pics in a few days

hopefully.

                     Have fun!

                     ( :>) Norm.

[nvmike]

Thank you Norm, keep me up to date.

[nvmike]

Updatge on treadmill motor in the wind.  I changed from direct drive to 3.5 to 1.  7 in pulley on blades to about 2 in. on the motor,  (v-belt to the treadmill motor multigrove pulley, will redo this later). Getting 12 volts (open, no load) with 6 to 7 mph wind, and hit 23 volts with gust to 10. (not much wind here).

May try chain drive next, having some belt slipping problems now. Still using 4 ft radius blades , three with 6 in. conatact chord.  Better blades are in the future.

[Norm]

  Use a lawnmower wheel just like I did...but

have the wheel directly connected to the blades:





 Have a stop on the arm so it is almost tight

enough to begin with.

 A little observation how the arm will swing and

this arrangement should work fine...I don't think

you should ever have belt slippage with this

cast-iron flywheel/pulley on the treadmill motor

only when you try using a different pulley...

even then if you put a steel disk with the new pulley as a flywheel ...a flat multigroove belt

should not slip...it doesn't on the alternator in

cars....

                     ( :>) Norm

Having a little trouble with

tendonitis in left shoulder

so slower going over here.

[Norm]

rear tire of bike goes against the outside part

of belt...proper tension of belt is adequate to

prevent slippage....not too much pressure against

the bike tire needed!