How Can I Safely Power a DC Treadmill Motor from AC Mains?

[Alex P]

Hi, so I salvaged a 220v, 6.5 amp DC permanent magnet motor from an old treadmill and I was having some trouble with it. I believe that AC motors can simply be run from mains power (I have an AC motor from a dryer that I cut the wires from in order to bypass the circuitry and essentially connected it directly to mains power using the dryer plug), however from my basic understanding of electricity, you need to convert the AC mains power to DC before connecting the motor. I know that this can be done with a simple 4-diode rectifier, but from a bit of research, people seem to be suggesting quite complex setups so I just had a few questions:

1. Is simply running a mains cable into say a 30 Amp, 400 Volt rectifier, with the two DC motor wires as the 'output' sufficient to run the motor without trouble?

2. Should the Earth wire from the motor connect to the Earth prong in the mains power plug?

I have the treadmill circuitry, however it looks quite complex, and I can't see anything that would appear to be the AC-DC converter. I am aware of the dangers of 200+ Volts and I admit I have a limited knowledge of electronics, so if this seems too advanced/potentially unsafe I will be fine to abandon the project until I learn more. Is a simple rectifier and Earth connection fine, or do I need more advanced components?

Thanks in advance!

 

[berkeman]

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