Urg! Motor smoking? (24v Currie)

[peaceguru]

Three weeks ago I bought a used xtracycle with a pedal assist. This morning after taking my son to school (about 10 blocks with a few hills) and returning home I notice my motor was getting wonky. Then I noticed it started smoking. I immediately disconnected the battery. I pedaled home then connected the battery back and I began smoking again. It's disconnected now and sitting idle. The motor is a 24 volt Currie Tech with a battery pack. I recently got two new 12volt batteries since the old ones where not giving me full power. The bike did get a little wet today but not soaked. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks, Robbie

 

[e-beach]

Three weeks ago I bought a used xtracycle with a pedal assist. This morning after taking my son to school (about 10 blocks with a few hills) and returning home I notice my motor was getting wonky. Then I noticed it started smoking. I immediately disconnected the battery. I pedaled home then connected the battery back and I began smoking again. It's disconnected now and sitting idle. The motor is a 24 volt Currie Tech with a battery pack. I recently got two new 12volt batteries since the old ones where not giving me full power. The bike did get a little wet today but not soaked. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks, Robbie

Ok, a couple of questions to zero in on what is going on. We need to get more spicific. When you say xtracycle you mean a Currie Tech bike with an xtracycle bicycle extention added on? I may be wrong but I don't think xtracycle has electric motors attached. Anyway a 24v Currie Tech motor sounds kind of small for the size of what your pushing, so.....

Tell us all about your bike....

Is it a Currie Tech bike or kit?
What is the model of the motor?
How many watts is it?
When the motor was smoking did you try to touch it? Was the body of the motor hot?
Was it making any kind of grinding or squealing noise as if a bearing was going bad?
Exactly what type of batteries did you install?
Were you heavily loaded down with a bunch of stuff beside the kid(s)?
Were you going wide open throttle the whole way?

My first guess is that with the xtracycle setup is too much for a small motor and it was trying to work too hard for the speed you were going, but if you can answer the questions then maybe we can narrow it down.

Also

 

[peaceguru]

Thanks for responding to my post e-beach.

Is it a Currie Tech bike or kit?

It's a Currie Tech motor/battery. The bike is a Trek with an xtracycle

What is the model of the motor? TBA?
How many watts is it?
I know it's 24volts.

When the motor was smoking did you try to touch it? Was the body of the motor hot?

I don't remember it being very hot.

Was it making any kind of grinding or squealing noise as if a bearing was going bad?
No, however I have noticed that there seems to be some resistance when I pedal without the motor.

Exactly what type of batteries did you install?

2 x 12volt 12aH sealed lead acid.


Were you heavily loaded down with a bunch of stuff beside the kid(s)?
Just me, my kid and the bike.

Were you going wide open throttle the whole way?
I don't think so. I never usually had to go full throttle.

So I've removed the back wheel, motor and battery and I'm going to take it to an ebike shop in San Francisco. Wish me luck. I'm beginning to think that the motor/back wheel was giving me some resistance and that caused the motor to FAIL. Any other thoughts?

thanks, again.

-Peaceguru

 

[dogman dan]

At least new motors for those kits are relatively cheap. It could be that riding too slow up steep hills put the motor into an inefficent power RPM. That's common with hubmotors, but I know little about the currie setups. It looks to me like it's a brushed motor? If so, it's likely that the brushes fried, so you might be able to just have them replaced.

Two riders going there, that could have gotten things hotter than one rider. Lotta load for a smaller motor.

 

[docnjoj]

The Currrie motors I have dealt with were 450 watt 24 volt ones with a 9:1 gear ratio and steel gears. They have been robust and hard to break at 24V. I of course always overvolted them to 36 or 48 volts and kept the throttle down (most of the time). I'm guessing the bike plus the kid plus you would be around 350 lbs which is alot to pull up a hill of any kind. These motors are cheap as dogman stated, but you may need more power. It is possible brushes died but that usually results in very diminished or no power. Possibly adjust the chain, check the freewheel, lubricate the gears and test run with the rear wheel elevated and check the no-load amp draw with an ammeter. It should be around 1-2 amps. That is for starters.
otherDoc

 

[peaceguru]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Much appreciated.
-peaceguru

 

[dnmun]

you could not identify where the smoke came from? it could be a bad connection between the main power wires that overheated. do you have any sort of voltage monitoring device that you use while riding? a huge sag at the motor would be a clue.

 

[mlt34]

3 years ago on one of my first ebikes I had a currie motor, 48V of SLA's, a 200A kelly brushless controller and a steep hill. I got about half the way up before I let the magic smoke out of the motor. Chances are even with just the 24V setup you pulled too much current through the motor. The smoke came from your windings and there's no way to put that magic smoke back in, the motor is simply finished. Like dogman said, at least the new motors for this kit are pretty cheap.

My advice: hook up a new motor, get a controller with a safe current limit, something like 20A should be good for your motor, and hop back on the horse.

Oh and be careful at that ebike store. I've seen too many people get ripped off by shady ebike stores charging an arm and leg for repairs. Your case is simple: swap the motor and controller. one hour finding the best deal online, one hour doing the actual work, then you're done.

edit: forgot to mention the best part of that story, I had a CA hooked up and saw my peak current top out at about 110A. The funny thing to is just before I let the smoke out I was thinking, "gosh, should the current be getting that high?"

 

[sharinginfos]

The Currrie motors I have dealt with were 450 watt 24 volt ones with a 9:1 gear ratio and steel gears. They have been robust and hard to break at 24V. I of course always overvolted them to 36 or 48 volts and kept the throttle down (most of the time). I'm guessing the bike plus the kid plus you would be around 350 lbs which is alot to pull up a hill of any kind. These motors are cheap as dogman stated, but you may need more power. It is possible brushes died but that usually results in very diminished or no power. Possibly adjust the chain, check the freewheel, lubricate the gears and test run with the rear wheel elevated and check the no-load amp draw with an ammeter. It should be around 1-2 amps. That is for starters.
otherDoc

hi wich are the best currie motor to go up hill , i dont mind if it does not give high speed on flat

 

[Chalo]

hi wich are the best currie motor to go up hill , i dont mind if it does not give high speed on flat

You're barking up the wrong tree. A very old, sick tree.

 

[sharinginfos]

the post is old yes but the guy seems knowlegeable. and he is probably alive so why not ask

 

[Chalo]

The motor system you're asking about is just as old and incapable as the thread. Older, actually.

 

[glennb]

It’s not something I’d be investing time or money in, given the plethora of better options available today.

MY1018Z and XYD16 are still available, but no longer good value. That said, they enable an incredibly easy mid-drive conversion.

If you want to climb hills, unless you can find or make a >30t left hand threaded freewheel, use it as a mid-drive. They’re narrow enough that you only need to give the inner ring.