Anyone done business with UUMotor?

SpeedEBikes

100 W
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
165
Location
Chicago
I'm interested in some of the BLDC hub motors offered at http://www.uumotor.com/store. Each of their motors is offered in multiple versions listed by increasing voltage and increasing price. I sent them an enquiry asking what was different between two versions of a motor to give them different voltage ratings? I received a rather unsatisfactory reply from Tony Zhang <sales@uumotor.com> stating the difference between them was speed although from their listed speeds for each motor in kmh it appears they have identical KV. I pointed that out and asked what is different, why is the lower rated motor more likely to fail at higher voltages?

I'm awaiting his reply but wondering do they really make tweaks to each design to bump their ratings and prices every 12 volts or are they sleazy, selling identical motors with different ratings?
 
Sometimes it is essentially the exact same motor, with differing controllers in two different kits.

Sometimes it is the exact same motor, but one has smaller wattage capacity wires leading into it.

Sometimes it is a completely different motor, different wind, different (likely bigger) wires leading in, even if all three have the same size and strength magnets.

That's a pretty vague answer, but I have no idea which two motors you are asking about.
 
They have separate pages for motors, controllers and kits, so I'm assuming the motor pages are for motors without a controller.

Almost every motor they sell comes in multiple power versions but they only give a single performance chart per motor, not for each version. The motor I enquired about was the hub8gl offered as a 24 volt 250 watt 20 kmh motor and a 36 volt 350 watt 30 kmh motor. I was told the motors are externally identical. The specified speeds imply the same KV which likely means the same magnets and windings. Perhaps the higher rated motor has efficiency tweaks for less heating or it has higher temp rated components or it has cooling tweaks. Or maybe not. Maybe they are identical inside too. They don't say and haven't yet answered my question.
 
I does appear like they would be the same winding, and magnet width. If any difference at all, it could be the thickness of the phase wires leading into the motor.

Goofy IMO, to label a motor for a particular voltage. Wattage yes, but in general a 24v motor can run on 36v.
 
A voltage rating could avoid insulation breakdown of the wiring or protect voltage sensitive components such as an internal capacitor in a single phase ac motor. Or it could serve as an rpm limit. But in this case I'd expect such limits to be far higher. For a typical ebike motor limited by overheating a wattage or current rating makes more sense.

I doubt the phase leads are upgraded between the two versions as that would allow more current, not higher voltage.
 
UUMotor has answered my last email confirming the two different versions of the motor use the same magnets and windings but still did not say what if anything is actually different about them.
 
Against my better judgement I went ahead and did a sample order of 4 different motors. The prices are decent but everything else about the website and their approach to sales seems unprofessional and tacky. But they offer a greater variety of motors than I have seen from other vendors and in particular they offer quite a few small hub motors with integrated rims which is what I'm looking for. I haven't found 36h rims smaller than 16" and wanted to try some builds with smaller wheels. I'll post a follow up after I receive my order.

markz said:
Start buying and see what they delivery?
Cheap enough price point.
 
Some of those tiny wheel scooter hub motors could be fun to play with. Stuff like powering up a garden cart, or a lazy boy chair.
 
dogman dan said:
Some of those tiny wheel scooter hub motors could be fun to play with. Stuff like powering up a garden cart, or a lazy boy chair.

I've been building motorized buckets, such as this one
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=65345

I got a bit carried away in the pursuit of performance and now I want to take a step back and build a lighter more compact one. It looks like I'll still be able to get decent performance as the need for torque shrinks with the radius of the wheel (as does ones desire for speed - at least on the rough roads here in Chicago). Anyway my next build will be more focused on ease of use about the house and loading in a car for trips with others. Still I wonder how hard the small motors can be pushed...
 
How did things go with uumotor? Tony answers my inquiries quickly and has an oddball motor and wheel for my E Scooter.
 
tomjasz said:
How did things go with uumotor? Tony answers my inquiries quickly and has an oddball motor and wheel for my E Scooter.

It took them until 3 days ago to fill and ship the order, but due to the premium shipping via DHL air I received the order yesterday.

Initial impression was not good. Some of the included tires are different from the ones expected/requested. A couple of the tires were poorly installed with gouges in the rims. Two of them have slow leaks. The machining on one of the motors is poor. Some of the screws holding the motors together have stripped heads. The motors were packed in a single wall card board box with loose chunks of foam resulting in shipping damage. One of the motors has the wires mangled where they exit the axle while another was scuffed and dinged.

I emailed Tony describing what I received. Haven't yet heard back from him.
 
Tony has responded requesting photos and offering to make it right sending replacements if needed. If they replace the motor with the wires damaged in shipping I'll be happy. It also is the one that had options for tire choice and was sent with an oversized knobby tire when a smooth street tire was ordered.

The rim gouges don't matter much for these test motors but would be a problem for motors to be used on scooters sold to customers. But if they can sell the motors bare in quantity shipped in formed styrofoam that would solve the problems of shipping damage, rim gouges and tire selection.

Anyway the critical thing is performance and there is potential for good performance due to the better ratio of motor size to total wheel size with the integrated rim hubs versus the spoked wheels of motors typically used with bicycles. I'll cross my fingers and hope that one or more of these motors will impress me with how it performs.
 
SpeedEBikes said:
Tony has responded requesting photos and offering to make it right sending replacements if needed. If they replace the motor with the wires damaged in shipping I'll be happy. It also is the one that had options for tire choice and was sent with an oversized knobby tire when a smooth street tire was ordered.

The rim gouges don't matter much for these test motors but would be a problem for motors to be used on scooters sold to customers. But if they can sell the motors bare in quantity shipped in formed styrofoam that would solve the problems of shipping damage, rim gouges and tire selection.

Anyway the critical thing is performance and there is potential for good performance due to the better ratio of motor size to total wheel size with the integrated rim hubs versus the spoked wheels of motors typically used with bicycles. I'll cross my fingers and hope that one or more of these motors will impress me with how it performs.

Hey.... so I also have been chatting to "Tony" at UUmotors. I was wondering how you went on after testing and what not. There are no trustable reviews of his stuff. He has posted a few vids on YouTube this year but again hard to say whether his stuff is decent or not.

Anyone else have any UUmotor feedback?
 
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