Play in hub motor

Without more scrutiny, there's no knowing whether your bearings are knackered or there's just some float between axle and bearings, or between bearings and motor housing. Any one of the three can interfere with brake adjustment, but only the first option is a result of progressive deterioration that will surely get worse over time.

Chalo said:

Without more scrutiny, there's no knowing whether your bearings are knackered or there's just some float between axle and bearings, or between bearings and motor housing. Any one of the three can interfere with brake adjustment, but only the first option is a result of progressive deterioration that will surely get worse over time.

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What would you suggest I do? I was thinking of finding an e-bike repair place, having the bearings checked and the gears regressed.

I found some info that suggested premature bearing wear can be caused by high lateral loads. Trikes subject the rear wheel to such loads when cornering. When I had the hub motor in a 26" wheel you could feel the entire rear section of the frame flex when cornering. The extra weight of the rear hub motor amplified this. It was so bad that I recently decided to go with a 20" rear wheel trike. Due to the shorter and stiffer rear frame, it flexes a lot less. Perhaps the possible bearing wear was accelerated while on the 26" trike?

What kind of motor do you have? ( make, model )
Some geared hub motors have a few mm of of side to side play built into them. DDs should not have play.

rocketman58 said:

What would you suggest I do?

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If it were mine, I'd inspect the bearings very closely if their inner races are visible, to see if there's movement of the inner race relative to the outer race or dust shield. Any visible movement is evidence of deterioration in the bearings. In that case I'd pop the covers off and replace the bearing cartridges.

If it seems like the movement is between axle and inner race, or between bearings and motor housing, then the bearings might be okay. You can use wicking Loctite to try to immobilize the loose fit, but be careful not to let any inside the bearings. You can also take it apart and use "slip fit assist" Loctite which is stronger than wicking grade and can fill wider gaps.

rocketman58 said:

I found some info that suggested premature bearing wear can be caused by high lateral loads. Trikes subject the rear wheel to such loads when cornering.

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The same loads could cause slip fits to wander around and even wear into a looser fit.

neptronix said:

What kind of motor do you have? ( make, model )
Some geared hub motors have a few mm of of side to side play built into them. DDs should not have play.

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The hub motor in question is a 500w Bafang G020 geared hub drive. I recently purchased another one and it has no play. I did not notice any play in this one until now.

Had a feeling it was a geared motor..

Yeah there are things like circlips and spring washers in these motors typically.. if that model had this play since the beginning, it might be missing those parts.

rocketman58 said:

The hub motor in question is a 500w Bafang G020 geared hub drive. I recently purchased another one and it has no play. I did not notice any play in this one until now.

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There are a lot of those things in circulation. The easiest remedy might be to pull a good core from another hub and transplant it into yours. Then you can dissect the old one, figure out where the movement is and whether you can fix it.

Or if it's not interfering with your brake, maybe it doesn't need addressing. End play isn't bad for cartridge bearings like it is for cup and cone bearings.

Chalo said:

... Or if it's not interfering with your brake, maybe it doesn't need addressing. End play isn't bad for cartridge bearings like it is for cup and cone bearings.

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This is what I decided to do, just keep it like it is and see what happens. Other than the play being there, it works fine with no brake interference. (thanks for your input)

rocketman58 said:

This is what I decided to do, just keep it like it is and see what happens. Other than the play being there, it works fine with no brake interference. (thanks for your input)

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Do you still have the same motor? How did it go?