Winch Motor Electric Bike

So I want to build an electric bike...
I want to stay cheap.
My motor:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/Electrical/DC-Motors/DC-Motors-Face-Mount/12-VDC-8000-RPM-WINCH-MOTOR-10-1839.axd
Would it work?

Also: Suggestions on a controller, CHEAP!
I have a bike picked out and I know how to put it together.

Unless you are only driving a block at a time. that motor won't do it.

When they say 'intermittent duty' on those things, they mean it.

What would be a good and cheap motor to use?

deffonee said:

What would be a good and cheap motor to use?

Click to expand...

You pretty much have to pick one or the other. Good, or cheap.

Surplus Center used to sell inexpensive treadmill motors that I always wanted to try to build an e-Bike around, but I never got around to it, and I don't see them listed anymore. You would have to have some electronics abilities to mod a controller to use them, and mechanical abilities to make a drivetrain that would work.

It all depends on what you want the bike to do, and your level of 'do it yourself skills', on how cheap you can get away with.

Let's see: First, I figure that thing peaks at 600w, some chance it might hold up running continuously at 350w since it's physically quite a specimen. Normally a good electric vehicle motor that weights 22 pounds will hold up under several thousand watts.

So here's a motor that would perform as you're hoping that winch motor would perform. Note the price.

http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24v-350w-motor-11-tooth-25-chain-my1016.html

I'm working on overclocking one of those, if I succeed it will way outperform that winch motor for electric transportation. If you want to run it at 36v a cheap controller and throttle combo that is supposed to run it, as people insist the Razor motor are from Currie:

http://shop.razor.com/E-Kit-W15128190164/

Meanwhile, If you'd like to about DOUBLE the winch performance at about the same price, (Costs a few dollars more but you'll save on shipping because it's lighter.) AND get your pinion included;

http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24-volt-650-watt-motor-currie.html

Don't get too caught up in the idea of using some alternate motor to save money. You asked about something more expensive for the power output than a proper motor would be. Meanwhile, a windshield wiper motor might run continuously and might even be 600w, but would it hold up physically?

Heh, I bought about ten of those 350 Watt Currie motors on eBay for about $12.50 each about eight years ago.
Never actually used any of them, but did experiment with them, and they ran just fine on 48V no load.... I may have even pumped in 60V but can't remember that far back.

Learned a few things about running multiples in parallel and series playing around with them too.

As to the windshield wiper motor powering an e-bike... Wasn't there a guy in Pakistan that posted a thread here at E-S in about 2007 or 2008 about the one he built? It looked like you would expect, but it worked for him.

The motor does look cool and is inexpensive and might make for a challenging project, but in the end, I doubt it will make a very good e-bike propulsion motor. The first issue, already mentioned, is that these motors are designed to output huge power, but only for a few minutes at a time. They overheat very quickly. You'll need some kind of heavy duty cooling system, not just a fan, more like 20psi compressed air pumped through the motor interior at all times. The high burst power design also makes these motors inefficient power guzzlers. The spec says 12v and 50 amps no load. So right there it's a 600 watt motor before it offers any useful propulsion power. You'll need to double up on your battery capacity, quadruple it if you add the air compressor. The last issue is the no load speed, 8000 rpm, which is fast. You would need to gear it down to about 27-40 times to match a 200-300 rpm wheel speed (15- 24 mph 26" bike wheel). A friction drive setup for this motor might be a better choice than a geared down chain drive setup. Since this is a 50 amp no load motor, expect 200- 300 amps peak current at start up, so you'll need high current wiring, batteries, and controller.

Also a casual search doesn't seem to turn up any success stories on using these motors for an e-bike propulsion. There are a few stories, but I've only read ones that don't end with a finished bike and a smiley face.

I don't want to be a downer, but I had seen these motors in the past and been excited about their power, but after doing the math, I don't think about them anymore. And after reading for hours about DIY motor conversions, I don't think about DIY motor conversions much anymore. Now, I think about hub motor kits.