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hey , can anyone help me with input ?
i have a 180volt dc motor which came off a treadmill.
with no load it rotates free, with a 12 volt dc bulb(tail/light of an car) , it lights up with a slow turn using my fingers, however there is friction on the pully, if i turn it faster the bulb will blow with over voltage, i think if a larger load or many bulbs are used ithink it would be impossible to turn the pully?
can this be used as a wind mill? any details are appreciated.
thanks
wind-pirate Senior Member Joined: 01/02/2007 Location: CanadaPosts: 101
Posted: 05:41am 16 Dec 2007
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Hi helicable
Best thing is to turn the motor with a drill and check the D.C. open voltage. and note the rpm's. If you can burn out a 12 volt bulb by turning this motor by hand that is uncommon for a treadmill motor, they usualy need a lot of rpm's to reach 12 volts. Check the motor out.
THE Pirate.
stealing wind & solar energy is fun
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904
Posted: 02:26pm 16 Dec 2007
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Yes, it takes power to light a bulb and the power is felt as you try to turn the pulley.
I should imagine the motor is suitable, you just have to spin it up with something more powerful than your hand. Connect several (maybe 10?) 12V bulbs (same wattage) in series and see what voltage you get at the RPM you'd expect from your windmill. Start spinning it slowly, say 50RPM upwards rather than too fast. If you know somebody with a lathe, it would make an ideal driving source.
KlausKlaus
robbo Regular Member Joined: 25/03/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 71
Posted: 11:00am 09 Feb 2008
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Can you tell me what type of Treadmill you get this from ?
What brand, and how old ?
Wouldnt mind getting my hands on one of those.
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"the Earth was not given to us, by our fathers, rather, it is lent to us by our children".
hey there,
i'm not sure what brand name it is, but it came from a hospital a heavy duty one, it weighted
about 300-400 pounds,
but it was difficult to turn by hand when i had 6
12 volt bulbs hooked up, in other words the more bulbs the harder it was to turn,
i'm not even sure if its suitable,, ??
robbo Regular Member Joined: 25/03/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 71
Posted: 11:04am 25 Feb 2008
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Do you think you can get blades (3 or more) to turn it, with the wind in your area. If so, Great ! What are the total watts of the bulbs ? Eg. if it equals 100 watts then that is 8.3 amp at 12 volts.(12 x 8.333333 equals 100 watts) The motor can charge at 8.3 amps. Its just about getting the motor to turn with the resistance that is there."the Earth was not given to us, by our fathers, rather, it is lent to us by our children".
but anyone out there with a wind mill that has a load hooked up to it, does it do the same? or does it react differently when suppling a battery?
robbo Regular Member Joined: 25/03/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 71
Posted: 08:00am 28 Jan 2009
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Generally, when a load is applied (such as charging the batteries), the mill has to work harder.
If a mill is spun up to produce 24 Volts, unloaded, then it should only produce about half this amount at the same RPMS, when under load.
Note*** Must take into account the power band of each unique motor.
Enjoy your tinkering , and have fun.
javascript:AddSmileyIcon('')Edited by robbo 2009-04-05"the Earth was not given to us, by our fathers, rather, it is lent to us by our children".
Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
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and the power is felt as you try to turn the pulley.
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