Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DICKEYBIRD
I was reading the post on here about eBay TM motors and thought maybe someone could use the method I came up with to cool them. I removed the flywheel/fan from mine and immediately found that airflow is needed.
I made a wood plug that duplicated the shape of the fan housing and the motor O.D. I turned the round end in the lathe, shaped the transition from round to square with the mill, a plane and coarse sandpaper. I then glued on a pair of blocks to make bumps to clear the brush boxes and then shrunk a 2 liter soda bottle tightly around it. I slit it down one side to remove it from the plug and then installed it with a tyrap, a piece of aluminum 200 mph tape and a strip of filament tape.
The soda bottle (P.E.T. plastic, polyethylene terephthalate) shrinks about 25-30% at approx. 400 deg f. and is amazingly tough stuff after shrinking.
The 1st fan I tried was from an old PC power supply but it didn't flow enough air so I bought a 12v 80 mm sq., 80 cfm server fan off eBay for $9.00. It does a great job but is a tad noisy. The fan is mounted to one of the motor studs via a cobbled up aluminum bracket. I mounted it so that it draws air from t'other end and blows the ozone rich air away from the motor guts. The insulation ought'a last longer that way.
I added a small switch and chose to turn it on & off manually so I can leave it running a few minutes after use to cool the motor all the way down.
Hope this helps someone. :cheers:
edit: Sorry, I just noticed the last pic shows the 1st fan and that it's set to blow air the wrong way. That was before someone on another forum mentioned the ozone thing.
You can get new fans here
http://www.partsfortreadmill.com/parts-for-treadmill/treadmill-motor-replacement/motor-fan-for-treadmill-motor.html
and you can check here for treadmill help in general
http://www.treadmillsrepair.co.uk/
http://www.partsfortreadmill.com/repair/repair.htm
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
I used this duct idea (thanks by the way) Then machined a prop, it moves alot of air.
Attachment 260298
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
Wow, that's some cool machining work right there! I'll bet that puppy sings a tune at full 5 - 6K rpm treadmill motor speed.:)
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
Yeah it was a fun part to do ;) Surprisingly quiet though.
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
I used one of these on my lathe, it worked pretty well. It's an inline 4" duct booster fan... it happened to fit close enough and is just aluminum taped on to the motor.
Cisno 4" Inch Duct Fan Exhaust Vent Air Cooling Hydroponic Inline Blower 100 CFM - - Amazon.com
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
TroyO,
Like your byline and can relate, although in this post your fan solution appears overly simple and too cheap. Would that make it a project failure or success??
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
Quote:
Originally Posted by
123CNC
TroyO,
...your fan solution appears overly simple and too cheap. Would that make it a project failure or success??
Definitely a failure. Too much mouse clicking & not enough manly use of tools! (Just kidding, that's a great find. Yet another device that I didn't have a clue existed.)
Re: Treadmill Motor Cooling
Thanks for reminding me to do this, converted my old conehead lathe to treadmill but still have not done the cooling yet. (even though i still run it!!!)