T&L Publications

Picked up (literally!) one Sole F83 Treadmill for free. Couldn't resist the challenge. Big 3 HP motor.
It powers on ok, but when the start button is pushed to start the motor, the display flashes a "3", and goes into reset, and starts over again.

No obvious signs of problems. Motor turns freely by hand.

Sole tech said it's probably the display board. ? It's $100. Hmm...

Time to ohm out the MOSFETS in the driver circuit.

Anybody ever work on one of these beasts?

I can't even find a forum where folks discuss repairing these things.

is 3 a Diagnostic code? Did they offer any clue as to the meaning. It may be related to a safety feature if they have one like a stall/jam protection or overheat protection where the associated sensor is bad. Overcurrent protection would cover a range of motor situations, it could also be a current sense circuit

what type of motor is it, a stepper, synchro, how many wires into the motor? If you going to ohm out the FETs might as well check any coils in the motor you can isolate the same way.

Image search on "treadmill schematic" returns a great many exploded view and schematic results, see if you can match up any and post the links.

I have scraped a few huge ones, saved the boards and motors etc..
i have a driver board from a big one, but i can't remember the name of it,, but it was a commercial unit.

ohming out the motor coils will help you understand if there is an open coil or shorted coil. In which case, its probably not worth fixing. Its probably a stepper motor, which are good for maintaining high torque during variable speed settings.

When you say it is flashing "3", do you mean more like "E3"?

If that's the case.
Take a look at this repair video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtRyPKJcIlY

Also here is the PDF Operating Manual.
https://www.soletreadmills.com/manuals/ ... 5_2009.pdf


Signed: Janitor Tzap

Thanks! Sole service department assures me it's the "Display Board", so ordered a new one.
They'll even take it back if it doesn't solve the problem! Haven't heard that in awhile!

Cool.

But, until the new display board arrives.
Try the quick repair, of cleaning the opto sensor that is mounted on the motor.
It's fairly easy to do.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

Mine is a magnetic pickup.

jwax wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:27 pm Mine is a magnetic pickup.

Okay,
Look at the rotor wheel that is on the motor shaft.
Is the magnet in its place on the rotor wheel?
Did it come loose, and fall off?
If the magnet is still in place on the rotor wheel.
Then disconnect the sensor, and connect it to a DMM.
Set the DMM to "Continuity".
Now slowly turn the motor shaft by hand.
The DMM should beep, as the magnet passes the sensor.
If it doesn't.
Then the sensor, or the wires from it are faulty.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

It was the Motor Control Board. That fixed it.

Cool.

Well, if you get bored with it, or simply don't want to put in the time of a daily workout.
The resale value of it would be about $800 to $1200 depending on it's condition.
{AND NO, I am not interested in buying it off of you.}


Signed: Janitor Tzap

Is the maintenance of the treadmill cumbersome? I used to work in shipping and transported a batch of treadmills, but I don’t know much about treadmills. I am very interested in seeing you.