Distance of Inverter from batteries

Far enough so the gasses from the batteries are not going to ignite. sounds crazy but a lot depends on where and how your batteries are stored.
JUST remember connect your negative cable last then plug in and turn on inverter and when disconecting remove negative cable first.
There should not be a spark when connecting if there is something is wrong

I understand that unless you have batteries that can expell gas they shouldn't be enclosed inside, like the basement without ventilation to the outdoors.I have AGM batteries and put them within 3' of my 2 power panels.    good luck, Jim A.

hi mark,
  this motor question is a tuff one. i can buy into the red=positive and the black=negative line of thought but those blue wires might be anything. if the (controller) you mentioned is for rpm adjustment the blue wires might be an electronic on/off for the motor. i would try to get more information on this motor to be sure of the proper connections. do you see any tag attached to the motor with a diagram? or the name of the unit.. it sounds like a pwm speed controlled motor. but not sure.

good luck.

Thanks to everyone again who have responded to my previous posts. 

Here is what I know about the motor: Permanent Magnet DC Motor; model PA140A manufactured by Argord Corporation, Toronto Canada; 2.5 HP Treadmill Duty @ 130 VDC; 18.5 Amps; 6750 RPM; 25 degrees C; CW Rotation; Enclosure Open; External Fan; Thermal Switch 120 VAC, 105+/-5 degrees C; 1.5 HP Continuous duty @ 95 VDC. 

So far I have hooked it up to an AMP meter with the red (positive) and black (negative) wires and it shows production of Amps.  I find a significant difference in resistance of the motor to turn when I do this.  The motor becomes quite difficult to turn by comparison to when the wires are not hooked up to the AMP meter- I assume this has to due with the magnets actually working?

So I still have these two blue wires coming out that I don't know what to do with... could they be the wires to a device that controls the amount of resistance the treadmill has?  I have found a phone number for the Argord Corp. and will call them Monday, but thought someone might know the answer to this... TIA Mark

Actually, I'm trying to hook up a exercise bike to this to make electricity uaing a 12v system... Mark

Again, thanks to all for your ideas! 

The motor that I have been trying to use turns out to be almost impossible to turn with my exercise bike.  When I do get it going, it burns up the wheels transferring energy from the bike to the motor.

It is 2.5 horse power motor.  I have ordered .5 horse power motor to see if it will turn more easily... I'll let you know.  Mark

Thanks Dave.  I'll give your ideas a try.  I am a total novice when it comes to electricity. I would love to use the 2.5 hr motor. If I didn't say before, when I have the motor turning (while burning up the rubber wheel) it shows 10 amps being produced.  I put an amp meter on it just to see what it can produce. Does this mean I want to get it down to 2 or 3 amps for it to be easier to run?

My next project will be wind and I know already there is no way will the wind turn this motor. I have another one like it I was hoping to try to use with wind.

Mark

 hi mark,

 heres a link that gives a good visual on the ammeter connections. could be that it's hooked up as a dead short.
 
  http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_6/chpt_2/4.html

 as far as using that size dc pm motor for a wind machine? it would need a gear up ratio and somewhere in the 8-10ft prop range...i'm in no way any expert on the subject but it would be fun to help work out the ratios if needed..that said, there are better starting places to look for pm generators/alternators..one that has a proven design without the complications of the whole gearing issue.

best regards, dave

 hi folks,

 all this talk of pedal generators has inspired a new project. i have access to several stationary bikes to choose from and have selected this little scooter motor. the target will be 100watts output at 12vdc nominal. the exercise bike has a 20" flywheel and a comfortable cadence with the friction bands on is 92 full pumps (184 half pumps) of the pedal per minute. with this bike the flywheel goes around 3 1/2 times per pedal rotation and we would like the pm motor shaft at 2500 rpm.. the nameplate rating for the motor.

 lets see.. thats 92rpm x 3.5 (1:3.5) ratio gives a speed of 322rpm at the flywheel. we need 2500rpm so 2500/322=7.76 gear ratio needed. to increase the 322 to 2500 with a 20" driving sprocket (the rubber flywheel) at a 1:7.76 thats 20/7.76=2.57" driven diameter. i have a 2 1/2" rubber skateboard wheel that may work out.

 i believe i'll try going into the 12 volt nominal battery unregulated thru just a 30amp schottky diode with a 20amp fuse.


�  �  �  �  � here is a cut and paste of the motor specs.

 24 Volt 250 Watt Electric Scooter Motor
24VDC 250W 2500RPM electric scooter motor. Powerful four brush permanent magnet electric motor design with 100% ball bearing construction. Includes 14 tooth drive belt cog for 5mm pitch drive belts. 12" long power leads with 1/4" push-in connectors. Shaft rotation reversible by reversing power leads. Dimensions: 4" wide x 3-1/4" long excluding shaft, 4-1/4" long including shaft. Mounting bracket measures 4-1/2" x 2-1/8 with 4 threaded mounting holes. Weight 4.3 lbs.
item # MOT-24250BCompatibility: Razor E300 Belt Drive Scooter, X-Treme X250, Sunl, Dolfin, Boreem, E-Scooter, Star II, Z Scooter Lightning SE, plus other similar makes and models.
Cross references motor numbers: MY1016, MY1018, BD250
 $39.95

 looks like it might be under a hundred bucks out the door!

 any observations, overlooks, advice etc welcome.

 cheers, dave

-wish that shaft were longer..only 1"

 edit 1/13: heres the link to that motor source.

�  http://www.ElectricScooterParts.com/

edit 3/19: project results posted.
http://picasaweb.google.com/davidamesofsouthington

 ken,

�  good eyes on that rpm issue. don't want to try pulling more than about 10amps or so. and like the drill press idea, that would save remaking the driven cog of the motor/gen a bunch of times chasing the rpm/power curve around for best input cadence. (we only know rated power rpm, and off rpm at this point). would you know if the volts per rpm stays constant throughout the rpm range? if so then we also know cut in speed is 1250rpm at 12 volts..(24v/2500rpm=0.0096volt per revolution)? i see on some of the pedal gens the use of a small flywheel on an extended shaft of the pm generator with an additional bearing support on that side of the armature shaft. not sure if that is for bearing pressure, twisting forces or what? some jpg images
�  http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&resnum=1&q=bicycle+powered+generator+picture&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

 anyway should be fun to poke around with this...

 best regards, thanks. dave

edit 3/19: project completed.
http://picasaweb.google.com/davidamesofsouthington

Hi.
I have came to learn many useful tips of how to look after inverter and its batteries too.