Scored another treadmill.

[simonl]

Hi all,

It was mentioned on another thread how free treadmills are often advertised on gumtree. Well, after all the parts I got off my last treadmill (which was free) I decided to hunt for another one. Nothing much doing on gumtree near where I live so I looked on ebay. Sure enough, a Life Fitness 9100HR came up. A fried circuit board was it's fault and was sold "as is" for parts only.

The auction ended and I got it for $11.50. Yesterday I picked it up having little expectations of it other than maybe a useable motor etc etc. I asked the owner (who was a personal trainer with a home gym) what was wrong and she said they had a service technician come have a look and quote a ridiculas figure to repair it. Based on that they decided to get rid of it.

To cut a long storu short, I got it home and turned it on. It came up with a "lift motor fault" This is the motor that adjusts the incline. It also poped a circuit breaker at the rear. I took a punt and replaced the started cap in this lift motor and bugger me. It works like new!

A $20 part and 20 mins of diagnosis and labour from a person who has limited (read none!) experience and it's fixed. How dodgy must this service techo dude be!!

Now I've got a predicament. It would seem a shame to rat a perfectly good treadmill for parts so I guess I'll have to re-sell the thing. It's a pitty cause I was looking forward to using some of the parts but I can't bring myself to scrap something that still works and is in good nick! :C

Simon

[eskimo]

Hi all,

It was mentioned on another thread how free treadmills are often advertised on gumtree. Well, after all the parts I got off my last treadmill (which was free) I decided to hunt for another one. Nothing much doing on gumtree near where I live so I looked on ebay. Sure enough, a Life Fitness 9100HR came up. A fried circuit board was it's fault and was sold "as is" for parts only.

The auction ended and I got it for $11.50. Yesterday I picked it up having little expectations of it other than maybe a useable motor etc etc. I asked the owner (who was a personal trainer with a home gym) what was wrong and she said they had a service technician come have a look and quote a ridiculas figure to repair it. Based on that they decided to get rid of it.

To cut a long storu short, I got it home and turned it on. It came up with a "lift motor fault" This is the motor that adjusts the incline. It also poped a circuit breaker at the rear. I took a punt and replaced the started cap in this lift motor and bugger me. It works like new!

A $20 part and 20 mins of diagnosis and labour from a person who has limited (read none!) experience and it's fixed. How dodgy must this service techo dude be!!

Now I've got a predicament. It would seem a shame to rat a perfectly good treadmill for parts so I guess I'll have to re-sell the thing. It's a pitty cause I was looking forward to using some of the parts but I can't bring myself to scrap something that still works and is in good nick! :C

Simon

what you do now is to sell it back to the gym at a good profit for your time labor and expert repair
and dont forget freight

[Stustoys]

No no, sell it to me.

You're allowed to be lucky sometimes :)
Though as you said it doesnt say much about their service tech.

Stuart

[eskimo]

Though as you said it doesnt say much about their service tech.

Stuart

a potential customer rings up and asks for a quote to replace a compressor...they are getting a check price from me as they didt like the price from the bigger guys so I usually win it due to price...one of first things I always do is check the capacitor, and megger test the compressor motor windings, and check contactor operation....I lose track each summer that that its the capacitor or the compressor is not down to earth or burnt out as the guy before me said...there are other causes for blown fuses and tripped circuit breakers duh?...amazes how some guys keep their jobs...but there being a shortage of fridgies the contractors have to use anyone they can get.. the few who know what they're doing and lots who dont...i guess its the same with the gym equipment wouldbe fixeruppers.

it really gets up my nose that service techs dont carry the right test instruments..eg a cap tester, a megger...so they can test properly...and worse they dont check the basics first. but being as the wholesalers in our industry wont warranty a new compressor and or motor unless the cap and/or contactor are replaced then it doesnt matter if they got it wrong..they will replace the other components not really knowing what failed...they just picked on the most expensive bit at the customers expense...
and now that refrigerant prices have gone thru roof god help the residential persons especially the old folks this summer

[bollie7]

...and worse they dont check the basics first.

Its funny that you say this. must be a young persons thing.eg
I get a ph call last week from my eldest son (22yo, 2nd year apprentice Eleco)

Son) Dad, have you got a wiring diagram for my car?

Me) yes but its on the computer, why?

Son) My boot light isn't working so I want to see where the wire comes from under the dash.

Me) have you checked to see if you have power at the light?

Son) the fuse isn't blown

Me) but have you checked for power at the light?

Son) no but the fuse isn't blown so it must be under the dash somewhere

Me) check the light for power, check the switch, it might be as simple as its faulty or a wire has come off.

Son) ooh no its in the harness somewhere.
end of call

5 minutes later another call

Son) aarh I fixed it

Me) what was it?

Son) aaarh the wire had fallen off the switch.

Me) insane laughter. But I didn't say "I told you so" Truly.:D

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. He always wants to look for a complicated reason why something isn't working first. I can't seem to get through to him that you always check the simple things first.
Kids!!!!!!!!!


bollie7

[eskimo]

He always wants to look for a complicated reason why something isn't working first. I can't seem to get through to him that you always check the simple things first.
Kids!!!!!!!!!


bollie7

tell me about it...my eldest wants to pull out and dismantle the engine in his TD 4wd at the tiniest hint of oil anywhere in the engine bay ....are you sure you didnt spill anything..yes I'm sure...are you losing oil..I must be.. its leaking...what does your dipstick say..??/blank look

lets clean it up and monitor...I never hear about it again...unless its a new leak...then we start the same process...:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

[nearnexus]

Simon,

I picked up a free treadmill off Gumtree a few days back - Repco with 1.5 HP 180 V DC motor which was not working.

Got it home checked it out - loose 240 main power fuse.

Runs perfectly.

I know how you feel about gutting something that works perfectly, but I don't think treadmills sell very well judging by the number for sale on Gumtree (at quite cheap prices).

So I will be demolishing it :)

Do it - get out the spanners and remove all those precious, great, usable bits that backyard boffins just love to have.

The next big worry is what do you keep and what do you bin, and where are you going to put all that heavy steel framing and base.

Rob

[simonl]

Simon,

I picked up a free treadmill off Gumtree a few days back - Repco with 1.5 HP 180 V DC motor which was not working.

Got it home checked it out - loose 240 main power fuse.

Runs perfectly.

I know how you feel about gutting something that works perfectly, but I don't think treadmills sell very well judging by the number for sale on Gumtree (at quite cheap prices).

So I will be demolishing it :)

Do it - get out the spanners and remove all those precious, great, usable bits that backyard boffins just love to have.

The next big worry is what do you keep and what do you bin, and where are you going to put all that heavy steel framing and base.

Rob

Hi Rob,

I keep everything until I either use it or deem it's no longer needed. I live on just over an acre with a large area behind my shed where I stockpile all my steel and gutted treadmills. When it comes to scrap steel I have learnt that if you keep it long enough you will find a use for it and if you throw it out you will live to regret it!

If I sell the treadmill then I'll want at least $300 for it which I will put towards my man stash. If I don't sell it then I'm not fussed, I then rip it apart with glee. At least that way I wont feel bad as I have at least given it a chance, even if the asking price is unrealistic! :B

Simon

[SurfinNev]

I can't seem to get through to him that you always check the simple things first.
Kids!!!!!!!!!

It's not just kids. I know of guys who have had a $1500 to $2000 rebuild of their turbos when the problem was just a small (probably about 50 cents worth) piece of hose has come adrift from the manifold. This is part of the hose assembly that goes to the Turbo Pressure Sensor. No boost reading so no Turbo Light. The experts rebuild the Turbo. Us amateurs tell them to replace the hose.

Nev

[simonl]

Its funny that you say this. must be a young persons thing.eg
I get a ph call last week from my eldest son (22yo, 2nd year apprentice Eleco)

Son) Dad, have you got a wiring diagram for my car?

Me) yes but its on the computer, why?

Son) My boot light isn't working so I want to see where the wire comes from under the dash.

Me) have you checked to see if you have power at the light?

Son) the fuse isn't blown

Me) but have you checked for power at the light?

Son) no but the fuse isn't blown so it must be under the dash somewhere

Me) check the light for power, check the switch, it might be as simple as its faulty or a wire has come off.

Son) ooh no its in the harness somewhere.
end of call

5 minutes later another call

Son) aarh I fixed it

Me) what was it?

Son) aaarh the wire had fallen off the switch.

Me) insane laughter. But I didn't say "I told you so" Truly.:D

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. He always wants to look for a complicated reason why something isn't working first. I can't seem to get through to him that you always check the simple things first.
Kids!!!!!!!!!


bollie7

A saying comes to mind.....

"You can't put an old head on young shoulders...."

I'm trying so hard not to start pulling stuff apart on it! I did some RPM tests on it today. At the lowest setting at 2.4 Km/h the motor is doing about 745RPM. At the fastest setting, 16Km/h the motor is doing a ripping 5000RPM.

The lowest speed seems a little disappointing. It maybe just in the firmware which means if I inject my own square wave signal I may get it lower but the upper speed is impressive considering the plate on the motor says 3900 RPM MAX.

Can I put a question to anyone out there with a VFD and 3 phase speed controlled motor, what is the lowest motor RPM you can achieve? Is it lower than 750 RPM?

Cheers,

Simon

[Stustoys]

Hi Simon,
The motor in my hoist will start and run at 1.85Hz, at (very roughly) 60rpm
Of course it wont do much work, you can stop it with your thumb.

Stuart

[kwijibo99]

Using a Siemens VFD on my drill press 0.5hp Cromp-Parkanson motor I could run it at 0.5hz and not stop it with my hand when fitted with a 2" pully.
The problem is that as these types of motors rely on cooling from the shaft mounted fan running it at this speed for a prolonged period will cook it.
I programmed minimum and maximum frequency setpoints of 30hz and 120Hz so it wont cook the windings by running too slow or the bearings by running to fast and this gives me a good enough range of speeds that I very rarely have to change the belt from its 1:1 setting.

Just on the over complicating things topic, I like the saying that if you hear hoofbeats you should think horses not zebras.

Cheers,
Greg.

[nearnexus]

I'm currently converting my lathe to use a 2 HP treadmill motor and have two 92 mm PC case fans mounted in tandem (as a stack) on the end of the motor - driven by a small 12 volt power pack.

These REALLY pull through the air, are quiet and would solve all your low speed heat problems.

Easy to mount and a cheap solution.

Rob

[wheelinround]

Some fellow on this forum converted his scored treadmill into a wide belt sander. I could have throttled my eldest son when he told he he got rid of one.

[nearnexus]

Yes that would be dead easy to do.

One roller is rubber coated and the bearing holders are a press in fit, so it would be easy to shorten the rollers to any width you wanted.

And it would be speed variable.

Great little project - built a fantastic linisher.

I have a slow speed linisher, it's direct drive from a junked Chinese AC motor, and having a slow belt speed it's very useful for de-burring and small stuff.

But there is a spare 1.5 HP DC motor laying about that would be the ideal candidate for an upgrade :)

Rob

[simonl]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

The dedicated 3 phase motor from these treadmills seems to have some sort of internal cooling or something as it has no fan. Admittadly the firmware only allows a minimum speed of approx 750 RPM (2.4 Km/h) so it may come into effect at lower rpm I guess. This is not my biggest hurdle. I'm having trouble identifying the communication protocol between the main control board and the VFD motor controller. I'm hoping to only need the motor controller and obviously not use the original console for the treadmill but it appears to be more than just a variable frequency square wave that sets the speed for the motor controller. My 30 year old CRO can't handle it either, it seems to be a higher frequency (1 - 2Khz) signal superimposed on a lower frequency carrier. If this is the case then I got no hope of creating that signal from a simple PIC program!

I'll keep playing. As long as I don't let out the majic smoke I should be right! :U

Simon

[Auskart]

If you are using a 180 volt DC Motor on a Lathe, what are you using for a variable speed controller.

[nearnexus]

KB Electronics KBI-240 controller.

These invert 240 AC mains to 180 DC and have a range of settings to control motor function - eg. min and max speed, acceleration.

The controller connects an ordinary 5 K Ohm potentiometer to vary motor speed across the prescribed range.

Rob