Dan, it seems that your motor is a fairly common PM (permanent magnet
field)-type, and therefore has no field wires/leads to be concerned with.
It should be fairly obvious that the green wire is earth ground, and is very
likely connected to the motor's case/housing.

Yes, reversing the red & black connections will reverse the direction of the
motor when the switch is located between the circuit board and the motor.
The only precaution is to only switch the direction when the motor is
stopped (the drive circuit board output is zero).
The reversing switch that's generally used is a DPDT (six terminals) type.

Since the motor is a Leeson, and from a piece of commercial equipment, it
probably has adequate cooling for being run at low speeds.
This is an important consideration when various other types of motors,
intended to be run at higher operating speeds, are utilized for running shop
machines at lower than (the motor's) optimum speeds.
Another consideration for the generic variety of treadmill motors is that
they sometimes utilize a flywheel with fins to act as a fan to cool the
motor, which is less effective at slower speeds, and that the shafts are
commonly threaded to accept the flywheel, because the motor's intended use
is to run in one direction only.

Generally, the only maintenance issue for a quality DC PM motor such as a
Leeson would be to inspect the brushes to make sure that they're replaced
before they wear out, along with cleaning out any brush dust that may
accumulate in the brush holder/commutator area.
Obviously, if the motor becomes noisy, the bearings should be inspected and
replaced as needed.

Other stuff..
Switches are usually rated for how much current they can switch (as in
turning a device on/off).
Since the reversing switch in this instance only needs to be able to "hold"
the motor current (used for changing direction, not run/stop), it doesn't
really need to be rated for switching the full motor current. A quality 20A
rated toggle switch would likely be adequate for reversing this motor.

The ideal method to start/stop the motor would be the treadmill's original
method, which probably gradually ramps up the motor speed when it's started.
This may have been a connection to the drive board that came from the
treadmill's control panel, or another type of operator's switch.
Starting the motor by switching the output of the drive circuit is likely to
damage the drive circuit, and should be avoided.

Many types of drives employ a safety stop method (such as the occupant
falling off the treadmill), and this connection, often referred to as
inhibit, could be used for an emergency stop switch. The inhibit connections
are a safe way to de-energize the drive's output without risking damage to
the circuit.

Any location on the drive circuit could be hot to earth ground, and the
circuit should be in a protective housing to eliminate any possibility of
contact with the circuit.
The AC line connections and the other circuit connections, including the
start/stop switch connections, all need be insulated for safety.
Any electrical connections should be treated as potential electrocoution
hazards, especially since this is being considered for a metalworking
machine.
That's one reason why so many devices today have so much plastic on them.

It's creepy to see pics of home shops where drive circuit boards and other
electrical devices are hung on a nail in the wall, with wires strung around
to the machine.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"DanG" wrote in message
...
engineman,

I appreciate everyone's input, but I want to clear up the reversing. The
motor has red, black, green that terminate on a printed circuit board.
I'm sure the circuit board's primary responsibility is to create DC and
also to provide the variable input. If I understand correctly, reversing
the red, black motor leads should reverse the direction. My main concern
would be to not hurt the circuit board. The reversing should occur after
the circuit board, and the circuit board should not be affected?

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______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)






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