mc60 modAuthor: Dave Date: 04.24.15 - 10:16pm the MC60 variable speed DC motor controller is a low-cost unit that is readily available popular amongst home builders. One of the design features of the unit, because it's commercial use is on treadmills, is a soft start feature. The soft start feature requires that for the motor to start after power has been applied, the speed controller must be turned all the way to zero and then up. On a treadmill this makes a lot of sense you wouldn't want to start at high speed and fling Granny into the wall. For a modder who is using it to control a drill press or lathe, it is an annoying feature. It's one more step required before you can do work, and you Cannot keep a preset speed. I did a quick look around and did not find a way to bypass this feature. the closest I came was a note that by adding a switch to the high potentiometer lead to momentarily disconnected, would trick the controller into thinking it had been turned all the way down. So a normally closed momentary switch would do the trick, but you have to manually pulse it to get your machine to start every time. That is a neat trick, so now I needed a way to automate this behavior. I started looking up electronic delay circuits which actually looked to be quite simple but there was a time factor involved in the research, testing, and fabrication. My next thought was could I just purchase premade module? the answer to that is a big yes. There are many available in the five to ten dollar range. the first one that I purchased, and the one shown in the video below is Amazon part number B00E1JNLTS. When I got the unit and started testing it I realized it wasn't exactly what I needed, but it could be adapted for my use with a very small modification. The board works well and is currently in service. after the fact I also ended up purchasing a second model that looks to function exactly as I needed. B00VFUG3KK. although I have only done a quick bench test so far. So the way this modification works, when the controller board receives power, the delay board also powers up. The high wiper is momentarily disconnected by the delay relay and then automatically reconnected when it turns off. The interval can be quite short, enough to not even be noticeable. I tried to power the delay board from the MC 60 itself, I'm sure this can be done but it was not worth fighting with. I ended up just using an AC splitter to power an old 12v wall wart I had in my junk box. So both the controller board and the delay board power on at the same time. it is a very simple modification that doesn't require any great amount of electronic experience. The prices under $10, so the time that it saved is worth that to me. Use this at your own risk I currently have it installed and working on my drill press. below is the build log video. build log videos showing my drill press and metal lathe conversion to variable speed DC motors are also available. Comments: (2)On 01.04.18 - 10:23pm Jerry Rudolph wrote:
On 01.05.18 - 4:23am Dave wrote:
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