No freewheel on Bafang new BPM 2 from BMS battery

[romarin123]

Hello all

Since this is my first post, I will introduce myself: long time bicycle enthusiast which went from diamond frame, to recumbents and now wants to convert them to e-bikes due to knee problem. I own two recumbents one I built myself ( I do TIG) and a Rans Stratus LE. Now the bad stuff. I ordered a 48 v 12 ah battery and a Bafang BPM 2 motor mounted on a wheel from BMS batteries. Upon arrival I noticed the wheel was very hard to turn by hand (in the correct direction shown by arrow on hub). There is no freewheel. Upon complaining I was told by one BMS battery person 'it is built like that' and by technical support 'sorry we cannot hep you on that'. Now The Bafang BPM 2 is a geared motor and I purchased it believing it freewheels. Can anybody confirm that the BPM 2 has that feature ? Thanks

 

[FluxZoom]

What happens when you turn the motor the other direction?

 

[Jon NCal]

Yes, does freewheel. Just install and try it out.

 

[Ykick]

Welcome to the forum. Adding your general location in your profile may help us better help you. Probably not in this instance but for future inquires.

If any of the phase wires are touching one another a BLDC motor will be much harder to turn. Of course, a geared motor should be easy to turn in one direction.

But with touching phase wires it will be very hard to turn in the other (non-freewheel) direction. And when new, the motor freewheel may seem stiff. Give it a little time on the road and it should free up significantly.

The folks at BMS Battery mean well but simple don’t have enough command of English to answer much, if anything, regarding technical issues.

That’s kinda what this forum is for.

 

[romarin123]

Hello Ykick . Thank you for the welcome. My general location is Eastern Ontario, Canada. I will try to give BMS battery the benefit of the doubt till proven otherwise. The motor is presently not connected and I made sure no wires are touching. Thank you also Jon and Fluxzoom for your inputs. When I try to spin it in the reverse direction of the hub arrow, I feel the gears engaging and it becomes more difficult to turn. It may well be , as Yrick mentions that the stiffness is due to the 'newness' of the wheel. I cannot fully test and break in the motor as I have no controller. My goal is to try to run it with a cycle analyst V3 from ebike canada with a torque sensor as I ultimately want to have pedal assist on my recumbent rather than full electric. I still have not got the parts for that yet. So I gather from what you say that I should hold off getting into the insides of the motor. Thanks again for the help as it can be a bit unnerving to orient oneself all alone in this field.

 

[romarin123]

I forgot to clarify that when I test for freewheel I turn it in the direction of the arrow.