Donald Schnell on fri 9 nov 01
Greetings,
We have a great, old alpine electric wheel purchased over 10 years ago,
used, from community college in the states which my boss loves and won't
give up if at all possible.
We have two issues:
1) its leaking oil and the bearing seems to need to be replaced, but are
having trouble figuring out a part # or exactly what it is we need for the
motor.
2) the foot pedal just fritzed out on us. It seems to be an electrical issue
and we may need to replace the pedal. Will any pedal do? Are there places to
get just pedals?
Any guidance in either area would be great. As would be if anyone knows if
there is a place to purchased used alpines.
Thank you.
Artistic Villas
by Donald Schnell
800-253-7107
Donald Schnell Studio, Inc.
Bougainvillea Leasing Ltd.
David Hendley on sun 11 nov 01
Alpine wheels had gearboxes, not drive belts. The gearboxes are
filled with oil. If it is leaking oil, you need new oil seals for the
gearbox.
The best way to get some seals is to take the gearbox to your
local bearing supply company and see if they can help you.
The probably can.
Alpine did not make gearboxes, so it is probably a well-known
brand that has not changed much through the years.
After installing the new seals, fill the gearbox with 90 weight
oil, easily available at the auto supply store.
The foot pedal is another story. Things have changed quite
a bit in the footpedal world in the last 25 years. You cannot just
replace it with another brand of pedal. Pedals and control
boxes have to go together as a team.
Trying to fix the old one is kind of like trying to fix a 286
computer; you might be able to get it going, but you would
still have an obsolete control system inferior to what's available
today.
The Alpines are well-made sturdy wheels, so if it were mine
I would go ahead and buy a new pedal and control box
to install on the wheel.
If it is a DC motor, the controllers for any brand of wheel
should work fine. Pacifica sells their new pedal and control box
so people can upgrade the electronics on older wheels.
This is the 'third generation for Pacifica. I replaced my
original pedal and controller with their 'second generation'
when it came out about 10 or 12 years ago.
This is not a cheap solution, but you will have the best
qualities of an old wheel (heavy-duty, gear drive), paired
with up-to-date electronics.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com
1) its leaking oil and the bearing seems to need to be replaced, but are
having trouble figuring out a part # or exactly what it is we need for the
motor.
2) the foot pedal just fritzed out on us. It seems to be an electrical issue
and we may need to replace the pedal. Will any pedal do? Are there places to
get just pedals?
Fredrick Paget on mon 12 nov 01
Last year I took on the job of rebuilding an Alpine wheel at the local
community college.
Somebody had donated this wheel to the school and I said "I will get it
going and fix it up."
The wheel has a1 HP Baldor DC motor and integral gear box. There was no
controller but there was an original foot pedal . The motor is not a
permanent magnet DC motor like the ones on modern wheels but has field
coils that produce the magnetic field and must be fed an electric current
in addition to the motor main armature current. This is an excellent motor
and more expensive than the permanent magnet type and also lends its self
to more control. (Weakening the field current speeds up the motor and
etc.). It is still in production by Baldor.
First I tried a Brent controller with added field coil circuit that I
built. This seemed to work but proved to be unstable and not give good
control.
I wound up purchasing a BC154 Baldor industrial controller designed to
run these motors for about $250 and it runs the wheel beautifully. It has
controlled acceleration and that is adjustable. Also the top speed is
adjustable as are several other things. To my knowledge there is no wheel
made today with a better control. It does not come with a foot pedal but
has a knob on the front to adjust the speed. (The knob turns a
potentiometer inside. Many foot pedals have a very similar potentiometer
inside as the active element. (Soldner and Pacifica excepted). I was able
to use the Alpine foot pedal that I had by changing the value of the
potentiometer that was in the pedal, using the Baldor control 's external
potentiometer option. The Baldor controller comes in a waterproof box that
can be hosed down.
The wheel was cleaned, painted and new gear oil installed and we have a
wheel as good as anything going.
Baldor has a web site and you can read all about these motors and
controllers if you understand the lingo.
Since the wound field motors should not be left turned on while standing
still for a long time (overheating) I installed a Mark Time clockwork type
off on switch which turns itself off after a couple of hours. I also built
a filter circuit from a choke and large capacitor to filter the armature
current and reduce the noise from the motor.
Yes, I am a retired electrical engineer, and I don't expect everybody to
try this, but if you are savvy to electrical things and a bit of a mechanic
I think it is possible.
Fred Paget
>Alpine wheels had gearboxes, not drive belts. The gearboxes are
>filled with oil. If it is leaking oil, you need new oil seals for the
>gearbox.
...
>The foot pedal is another story. Things have changed quite
>a bit in the footpedal world in the last 25 years. You cannot just
>replace it with another brand of pedal. Pedals and control
>boxes have to go together as a team.
>Trying to fix the old one is kind of like trying to fix a 286
>computer; you might be able to get it going, but you would
>still have an obsolete control system inferior to what's available
>today.
>
>The Alpines are well-made sturdy wheels, so if it were mine
>I would go ahead and buy a new pedal and control box
>to install on the wheel.
>If it is a DC motor, the controllers for any brand of wheel
>should work fine. .
>David Hendley
>.
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
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