Use a Treadmill DC Drive Motor and PWM Speed Controller for powering tools

Step 3: The speed Pot

PWM circuits uses a Pot (Potentiometer)to adjust the speed from 0 RPM to Max RPM . The Potentiometer can be of the rotary type or linear sliding type. The potentiometer is usually rated 5 or 10K Ohms. Typically 0 Ohms is no movement and 10K Ohms is full speed (unless you have your Pot High and Low wires swapped...then it's visa versa). Keep in mind the motor may not even begin moving till 2 or 3 K Ohms (actual value varies) and you can't really start the pot at 2 or 3K Ohm position either because the treadmill motor controller requires 0 Ohms on start-up (Kind of annoying).

The Pot talks to the circuit board through 3 terminals usually marked High,Wiper and Low (or H,W,L).

Some controllers use a digital console to change the motor speed. You dont want to scroll through programmable selections, excercise routines and heart beat monitors just to change the motor speed on your lathe.
Solution: Throw it away and replace it with an appropriate Pot(usually 5 or 10K Ohm Pot). The digital console interfaces the PWM Circuit board the same way that The speed Pot does. through those 3 terminals (on some marked G O H or L W H and colored black, white and red or S1,S2,S3, colored Blue, Grey, Orange.

You should also use a switch for ON and OFF. The Pot is for speed control once the machine is running.

Comments

[mkoziol2]

I don't have any of the nomenclature you mentioned on my board, it has a digital display as mentioned above. From the schematic attached I only see the one wire which mentions PWM. I have read that i might need a 555 timer?? I havent been able to find a clear answer anywhere. Can anyone guide me in the right direction as to what I need to do to have manual control of my treadmill motor?