Electric Motor, Circuit Breaker Help PLEASE!

[Parks 788]

Won't go into great details but some background. I bought my wife an Expensive Factory Refurbished Commercial Precor 885 Treadmill. Would couldnt hook it up for about 5 months due to our moved etc. Now that we are in our new place we are having a terrible time getting it going. It's still under warranty but have had three service tech come out to Bristow to trouble shoot. They've been throwing a ton of different parts at it and nothing. The company has been good to deal with so far but my patience is getting short. It seems like there is a dispute with the type of power that this treadmill runs off. I know very little about electricity and know a lot of you fellas here know a metric crap ton. Here's the deal.

THe company is telling me, with an emailed screen shot that it is powered by a "Standard 115V ( Nema 5-20, Dedicated 20A). The pics I took of the motor for the treadmill, the motor for the incline feature and pic of the circuit breaker seem to show a different power requirement. THe cord is even a 220V style pronged plug. Our electician who's helping us said b the specs on the motors and breakers this should be a 220V plug to power the unit. But he said the breaker on the machine is wrong for the motor. I wasn't here and this is through my wife. The pic of the Motor tells me it's a 220 V (208-230V) and a 3 Phase motor. The rest on the Motor sticker I don't understand. The next pic is of the black motor that powers the incline/decline function show to be a 250V motor and the pic of the silver breaker seems to be a single phase 250V 16 amp motor (I don't understand the wiring diagram on the breaker). My electrician seems to think this treadmill needs the 220V power/plug that he ran but is saying that the beraker is incorrect and is for a 115V system. I really don't know.

For those that are electricians, how would this unit be powered if you were running the power from your homes breaker box to the plug outlet? What has me stumped is the bigger Lesson motor is stating 3 phase power. See if this works........ calling @dennishoddy and other electrical experts that know this stuff. Thanks for the help.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

You will need a 3 phase converter or replace the motor with a single phase one.

 

[bigred1]

Did that thing come from England?

 

[Parks 788]

Not that I know of. There are several large companies that take the highend commercial treadmills and other workout equipment and do a full refurbishment on them and sell for a fraction of the cost new. I know others that have bought these things and have had great luck. Maybe we are not the lucky ones. From the factory they come in 240V and 120V models. However, there is nothing on their website or discriptions that state 3 phase is required, which it looks like it is to run this damn thing.

 

[dennishoddy]

You can't run a three phase motor on normal 230 volt household hook up.
As was said, you would need a three phase converter to operate it. Some aren't too expensive, using capacitors to change the timing of the sine waves. Others can get pretty expensive.
The best thing to do is swap the 3 phase motor out with a single phase motor if possible.
Edit: Looking at it further, with the parts swapping you said three techs have done, could incorrect parts have been installed? A lot of folks not involved in industrial three phase do not understand it.
Do you have a schematic on the unit or a book that shows a schematic? Possibly list the model number to see if an online schematic is available?
You said it was a commercial model that had been refurbished, so we would need to look at the original schematics to know for sure if they have installed bad parts.

 

[eaglerjs]

Yes you need 3 phase for the one motor, but they may have VFD variable frequency drive. this would be expensive , but a very good way to control your speed of the treadmill. If you had dc motors you would just control the voltage to the motor, but with a VFD you have full torque at all speeds.

 

[Snattlerake]

What is your "electrician" calling a breaker? Something in the treadmill or in your house electrical box?

I see no breaker. All I see is a three phase motor and a line to Load connection makup box.

Do you have the complete model number and electrical schematic?

 

[SoonerP226]

Not that I know of. There are several large companies that take the highend commercial treadmills and other workout equipment and do a full refurbishment on them and sell for a fraction of the cost new. I know others that have bought these things and have had great luck. Maybe we are not the lucky ones. From the factory they come in 240V and 120V models. However, there is nothing on their website or discriptions that state 3 phase is required, which it looks like it is to run this damn thing.

My guess is that they put the wrong motor in it when they refurb'd it. I'm not sure why they'd expect a home in the US to have 3-phase power, as it's exceedingly rare in residential construction, and it's probably not that common in the light commercial settings of most health clubs. The fact that the plug on the treadmill doesn't match the plug they're telling you it should have also indicates that somebody screwed up.

 

[KOPBET]

I don't see any way that unit originally came with a multi-phase motor. What does the electrical plug look like?

Contact Precor Customer Service at 1-800-786-8404.

 

[Shadowrider]

What @SoonerP226 said. You almost never see 3 phase service unless it's industrial equipment. Households don't need it. I'm surprised they put a Leeson motor in that. They are good motors that will run for a long time and used in better grade equipment. They are a direct competitor to Baldor which is the king of electric motors in small sizes.

It's the wrong motor, Leeson makes single phase too.