Surge protection for treadmill.

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qcroanoke

qcroanoke

Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
Location
Roanoke, VA.
Occupation
Sorta retired........
Have a Sole F80 treadmill on the way and I've already ran a dedicated circuit for it .
My question is will the plug in type surge arrestors work ok with the treadmill or will the motor and the walking surges not play well with the surge protector?
 
qcroanoke said:
Have a Sole F80 treadmill on the way and I've already ran a dedicated circuit for it .
My question is will the plug in type surge arrestors work ok with the treadmill or will the motor and the walking surges not play well with the surge protector?
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A surge arrest or is for high peak short duration spikes. You can’t physically generate enough with a treadmill to have any effect on them whatsoever.
 
Jraef said:
A surge arrest or is for high peak short duration spikes. You can’t physically generate enough with a treadmill to have any effect on them whatsoever.
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If you can generate those hi spikes the POCO wants you for a micro grid
 
qcroanoke said:
Have a Sole F80 treadmill on the way and I've already ran a dedicated circuit for it .
My question is will the plug in type surge arrestors work ok with the treadmill or will the motor and the walking surges not play well with the surge protector?
Click to expand...
The average human being can barely put out 50 watts for any length of time. You have to be a professional caliber athlete to be able to do a hundred watts for more than a very short period of time. I don't think you have anything to worry about at all.
 
I'm more worried about the ups and downs of the amp and voltage draw being detrimental to the suppressor. I'm not a smooth walker at all and I can hear ups and downs in the machine.
Believe me I have no problem thinking I will produce a surge by walking too fast.....😏
 
tom baker said:
How much did the treadmill cost compared to an SPD? Need to protect the treadmill electronics...
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I intend to buy a surge suppressor i just wanted to know if it would stay in alarm because of the treadmill. The one I have now says to not connect it to a GFI. I'm assuming that won't be the case on this new one. But I'm not going to put it on a GFI.....
 
This is all much to do about nothing. Use an surge suppressor if you want but don't expect to notice anything. You have to be joking when you say that you think you will produce a surge by walking too fast. No way are you going to overrun it. Treadmills used to use a DC motor driven by a SCR controlled DC power supply which is why they say not to use a GFI. No idea what they do today, my guess would be a VFD since they are so cheap.

-Hal
 
I have read and re-read my original post and for the life of me I cannot see where I even came close to saying I thought I would walk so fast or hard that I would do damage to the suppressor but apparently I did.
According to responses I got from 2 moderators an engineer and a smartass.
Later,
 
210502-1415 EDT

qcroanoke:

You list your self as an engineer.

I suggest you study what typical surge suppressors are, and how they work. What do their typical voltage vs current curves look like?

Then I suggest you study how typical treadmills work.

With this information in hand, then what conclusions can you draw?

Then ask the question --- What purpose is the surge suppressor to serve? Why do you want the surge suppressor?

.
 
gar said:
210502-1415 EDT

qcroanoke:

You list your self as an engineer.

I suggest you study what typical surge suppressors are, and how they work. What do their typical voltage vs current curves look like?

Then I suggest you study how typical treadmills work.

With this information in hand, then what conclusions can you draw?

Then ask the question --- What purpose is the surge suppressor to serve? Why do you want the surge suppressor?

.
Click to expand...
Not an engineer. I work in engineering and electrical quality control.
I want the surge protector for that reason. To stop surges from getting to the treadmill controls. The board itself is 250.00 to 400.00 so if I can use one to stop a surge im all for it.
Thanks.
 
A commendable goal.
Summary:
Best protection is found when you use a combination of service level, feeder level if appropriate, and equipment level (plug-in feed through) devices.

There is nothing about the treadmill that will damage a surge suppressor. A surge suppressor, unlike an inductor or RF filter, works by conducting to bypass voltage spikes rather than flattening out current waveforms. It has no idea what current is being drawn, but usually is designed to minimize risks when its input comes through a particular sized OCPD.

Some treadmills recommend that you not use them on a GFCI or AFCI protected circuit because of the likelihood of spurious tripping. There is an ongoing battle between equipment manufacturers and GFCI/AFCI manufacturers about who is responsible for preventing the spurious tripping.
 
210502-1648 EDT

qcroanoke:

A surge suppressor of almost any form can be described as a non-linear resistance with with high short time peak power capability.

It will be designed to have a very high resistance up to some voltage threshold. Above this threshold it becomes a much lower resistance. That threshold is selected to be somewhat above the normal peak voltage you expect to be applied to the suppressor. For most devices this is not a real sharp point in the curve.

A surge suppressor is a shunting type load, and source impedance up to the suppressor's location determines in combination with the suppressor what the maximum voltage will be for a given source voltage and duration.

If you have a transformer feeding a rectifier, then you want a surge suppressor on the secondary side of the transformer at a minimum. You may also want want suppressors at various points leading to the transformer primary.

Basically the impedance between the transient source, and the suppressor should be high, then you get the greatest protection from the suppressor.

See:

.
 
GoldDigger said:
A commendable goal.
Summary:
Best protection is found when you use a combination of service level, feeder level if appropriate, and equipment level (plug-in feed through) devices.

There is nothing about the treadmill that will damage a surge suppressor. A surge suppressor, unlike an inductor or RF filter, works by conducting to bypass voltage spikes rather than flattening out current waveforms. It has no idea what current is being drawn, but usually is designed to minimize risks when its input comes through a particular sized OCPD.

Some treadmills recommend that you not use them on a GFCI or AFCI protected circuit because of the likelihood of spurious tripping. There is an ongoing battle between equipment manufacturers and GFCI/AFCI manufacturers about who is responsible for preventing the spurious tripping.
Click to expand...
GoldDigger said:
Thanks GoldDigger! That's what I needed to know.
Click to expand...
 
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