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So I set here on my computer today since it is snowing and nasty outside. I find a free treadmill online. I am glowing on the inside. I like treadmills they have a lot of copper in them and weight of steel.
So while im waiting here for him to call me back I have a question. How much do you think on average you get out of 1 treadmill scrapping it. I have scrapped 2 in the past and added them to my other junk so I really don't know what one would be in cash value. Any idea's?
Not to trash your dreams, but last time I checked, there was no copper in treat mills, and a video by biggerhammer also dictates no copper in them.
Unless you are referring to something different, or the wires in them.
Electric treadmills have a good size motor in them. Sometime two depending on if it has a hydraulic lift for an incline. I can take a picture tonight when I tear it down and show you. Last time I tried putting a picture on here it did not work, I will try it again
was was a person that used to repair this the new was are made of wood and plastic there is a circuit board in the head this where all the gauges are other then that there is the drive motors one for incline and one that drives the belt (rodeocowboy72)
My apologies..I wasn't thinking clearly. A million things going on right now. You are 100% correct. The motor does have the copper in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by imyourgirl
If you sold the motor as sis, you might get a little more, unless you are like many and store it, till you have a few hundred pounds piled up.
Only thing that is in them, is the wire and that motor. The rest, just goes into the shred pile.
I understand GeorgeB, We all have day like that. The reason for the question is I can pick these up every month here. Someone is always getting rid of them.
I had time on here for the first time in awhile and found some video and looks like an average of $20 a piece if I understood right. Worth my while to pick them up.
imyourgirl, I just broke one down today. I think $20.00 might be a bit high as scrap value, but definitely worthwhile nonetheless. Very easy to work on. The steel, bolts and rollers could come in handy for projects too. Other than the wiring, the transformer and DC motor yielded about 1.5 to 2 lbs of copper. There were also a couple of circuit cards, a hand sized aluminum heat sink and a circuit breaker that I opened up for the silver contacts. I would say the one I broke down had a scrap value of about $10.00.
Not sure if there would be exactly $20 or not, but perhaps close to it. If you can break them down quickly, then it would be worth the efforts.Quote:
Originally Posted by imyourgirl
Is that the same DC motor that Green Folks like to buy for decent $$.Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto
I was thinking the same thing Kz. I read the wind Hippies pay pretty well for the DC motors.Quote:
Originally Posted by KZBell
Probably easy enough to hook it up to a wind or water source for power - would make an interesting project. At this stage in my scrapping though, I'm more interested in tearing things apart to see what they're made of.Quote:
Originally Posted by KZBell
I am pretty sure been looking into it =)Quote:
Originally Posted by KZBell
Never seen hydraulics on mine. Broke down 3 or 4 so far. I see a screw drive though.
I have only found one with a "hydraulic motor". It was a real expensive one, never seen one like it and the man who gave it to me said he paid 1,000 for it new. It had a push button on the control panel that would raise the platform up for the desired incline. The motor looked like a bottle jack that you put under cars to jack them up.
Yes, the motors are in demand as a cheap DC motor for DIYers.
I scrapped a treadmill and sold the motor for more than scrap value on craigslist. I don't know how much it weighed but it had to be ~20+lbs. I sold the motor for $20. It sold quickly and got several replies. The fellow I sold them to asked if I had the logic/control board, which I hadn't thought to save but it makes sense that it would be helpful. He said he was making a wood lathe.
The screw gear is for elevation and i recycled as motor scrap.
As a helpful trick, you don't need to wire the motors up to household current to check them out. You can hook them to car jumper cables or a 12V cordless drill battery. That way you can test the motor even if the other components are fried.
Treadmills are like other consumer products. The nice expensive ones are expensive for a reason. They are made of thick steel and have nice motors. The cheap foldable ones from sears are cheap for a reason. You'll notice the difference when you dissect them.
Just like there are appliance part websites, there are sites for fitness equipment. New belts or control boards are expensive. It might be hard to find a buyer, but I'd at least look into it before resigning to scrap value or trash heap.
If I had a truck I'd never pass up a treadmill.
-junkelly
I have one of these and it's handy for testing DC. I imagine if you hooked a DC motor to AC current you would fry it.
http://www.carjumperbatterypack.info...compressor.jpg
Yes you would cause they are wound differently,,But how do you use that battery jumper as a tester?? Remember it has a battery inside it, don't short it intentionally.Quote:
I imagine if you hooked a DC motor to AC current you would fry it.
Not sure how I would short it out unless I touched the cables together.
I either strip the wire back, or insert a bare wire into lead connector, then put a clamp on one lead, and repeat for the other side. If it spins up, I'd say it's good.
It's the same idea as hooking it to a car battery, except I don't have to lug it out to the car, pop the hood and all that fiddling around. I can bench test it at the shop table.