Citycoco type threewheeler - what's the spline?

[erfwyl]

I have this Threewheeler motor scooter with a differential which has been nothing but grief since purchasing from Alibaba. Yes, I now know better...



The motor and controller burned out in the first week. They sent a replacement motor (with the faceplate where the ratings are filed off), but said the controller was unavailable.

Original controller is a Votol EM-70

Motor was supposed to be 3000W but said 1500W on the casing.

I have since purchased a Votol EM-150 2SP controller to go with the new motor.

My challenge:

The bike manufacturer has been unable to provide any specs on the motor, meaning I have no data on how to set up the new controller interface.

My angle of attack so far:

1) try to find software for old controller online so I can snapshot parameters of the original factory setup and use the same for the new controller. I cannot find anywhere to get the software interface for the EM-70. I have got the ones for EM-50, EM-100, Em-150 etc. Anyone can point me in the right direction?

2) Find a (better) QS motor to match the controller (rated for 3000w continuous). The problem is that the 14 tooth spline on the motor to match the differential seems to be at least uncommon, if not unique. Please see photos. Is there a name, part number or similar I can use for a search term?

Thanks in advance for anyone that can shine a light for me.

 

[amberwolf]

You could contact QSmotor directly to see if they carry any spline-shaft motors that match that spline. If not, they can probably custom-make the shaft for one of their existing motors to match it, if you can get them enough measurements of the shaft it drives on the diff (it will probably cost $$ to do it but....).

Optionally, they make spline couplers in various types, so if you find one of *those* that matches your diff's splines and size, and if you find a suitable motor with a solid shaft that sticks out far enough (like for a sprocket mount) that has at least the same or larger diameter than your diff's input shaft, you can either hand file or grind or machine the motor's shaft to match the diff's splines, then slide the coupler between them, and make whatever mounting adapter is then needed to secure your motor in place. Kind of a PITA, but it's been done before. (somewhere around here is a MC conversion thread where someone ground and hand filed a motor shaft to make splines that fit into the female splined input of their shaft drive).



If the motor and controller actually burned out, that usually indicates either an electrical failure of one or the other causing excessive current flow (like shorted windings in the motor or damaged phase wire cabling to the controller allowing a short), or a mechanical problem with the system causing overload and overheating, or a problem with the design of the system for your particular usage that leaves it unable to do the job. I would recommend defining the job it has to do, and the conditions it has to do it in, and then looking at the stuff on the trike (wheel size, diff gearing, etc), and going to simulators like the ones at ebikes.ca, and using the custom options for all the parts to put in at least guesstimates for what you've got there, and your worst case riding conditions, and see what it comes up with for power, current, etc, to make sure that you buy new parts that can handle those without stress.



Copied from my reply to your other post in another thread, some thoughts about the Votol:

If you use the Votol software and set it for other models, does it read anything consistent from the EM70 anyway? If there are any consistently-read parameters that are different from the defaults the software would show without reading a controller, they are probably the settings from the EM70.


Parameters from one controller might have different scales or ranges in another, depending on the value they are intended to represent, how the controller stores them, and how the software is written to display them. That's one reason that you would want to try to read it as multiple different controllers, so that anything that changes from one to the other can be eliminated as usable data.


However, Votol would have to tell you for sure, without testing these things.