eBay Hub Motors

[Ben]

Well, I was trawling the 'bay when I came across a couple of hub motors. Not much information is given about them and I doubt it's accuracy. Anyway, I need a bike so I was wondering if anyone recognized the motors or knew anything about them. They have certain characteristics in common with Nine Continent motors (maybe Mark can help?).

First Motor

Second Motor

Now compare those to:

JZ-RH154

And...

JZ-RH205

Any thoughts?

 

[Ted_Z]

350W and 250W respectively, they sound kind of weak.

 

[Ben]

That's true, but they're still over the legal limit here in Aus.

 

[Ben]

Well by looking at the seller's other motors and the Nine Continent website, I've come to the conclusion, based on motor design and the throttles and controllers being the same design, that these are Nine Continent motors.

 

[EMF]

They are nice looking motors too!

 

[jeff peterson]

Hello Everyone,
I bought a 48v brushless 500 watt SkyHawk front hub motor and bike kit. I’m told a better controller would increase the bikes speed and possibly power. But I don’t know anything about the controller except for a production number [HY060320].

Right now I’m using a cheap aluminum frame cruiser style Walmart bike. It works well but I’ll soon move everything to a large Trike frame and want to pull a heavier load from time to time. I do not expect the motor the do all the work, mainly want it to hold the speed once I get it going via peddles.

Other info:
Large Trike frame could weight 200lbs by it’s self.

The rear wheels are powered via peddle/chain. A second motor could be added to the chain if you think this is needed. Thus I was thinking a dual motor controller as a possibility?

I live in Delaware which is very flat in general and flatter along the beach where this Trike will be used.


As you can tell I need help…. I’d love to hear any information you can offer and other suggestion you might have as well. The end result of this project is an all purpose vehicle that could be ridden for pressure, pick up groceries, getting heavier items to repair home projects and haul yard waste to a recycle station 6 miles away. Though I’ll keep a car, I want to rely on the Trike for 90% of travel during retirement.

Thanks for any help
Jeff

 

[Drunkskunk]

Hello Everyone,
I bought a 48v brushless 500 watt SkyHawk front hub motor and bike kit. I’m told a better controller would increase the bikes speed and possibly power. But I don’t know anything about the controller except for a production number [HY060320].

Right now I’m using a cheap aluminum frame cruiser style Walmart bike. It works well but I’ll soon move everything to a large Trike frame and want to pull a heavier load from time to time. I do not expect the motor the do all the work, mainly want it to hold the speed once I get it going via peddles.

Other info:
Large Trike frame could weight 200lbs by it’s self.

The rear wheels are powered via peddle/chain. A second motor could be added to the chain if you think this is needed. Thus I was thinking a dual motor controller as a possibility?

I live in Delaware which is very flat in general and flatter along the beach where this Trike will be used.


As you can tell I need help…. I’d love to hear any information you can offer and other suggestion you might have as well. The end result of this project is an all purpose vehicle that could be ridden for pressure, pick up groceries, getting heavier items to repair home projects and haul yard waste to a recycle station 6 miles away. Though I’ll keep a car, I want to rely on the Trike for 90% of travel during retirement.

Thanks for any help
Jeff

Welcome to the forum Jeff.
Your post deserves a thread of it's own, but I'll answer what I can.

I looked for the Skyhawk motor on google, and came back with a couple diffrent motors using the same name, so if you have a link to your specific motor, it would help us to give better answers.

As for a better controller, its usualy possable, and many people use Crystalyte controlers to increase the voltage and amperage of the motor.

There are basicly 2 types of Hub motor, one is a direct drive, and one has internal gears. both do good for medium to light loads, but a heavy bike with a heavy load may need an internaly geared hub motor to make the extra torque.

 

[fechter]

I'm not familiar with that one. You might have to post up some pictures of the motor and controller to see if we can figure it out. Any motor will go faster if you increase the voltage.

The right controller will depend on what kind of motor it is.

Be real careful with mounting the motor, especially if your bike forks are aluminum. You might consider getting a steel fork. The motors are prone to tearing out the dropouts and self destructing. The main thing is to make sure the axle nuts on the motor are very tight.

 

[jeff peterson]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I tried to make a new thread but I did not have permission. So since I bought the Skyhawk kit, being bought from eBay….. Well, I thought this was the best place to add my post….

I do not know any more about the motor than I told you: [ 48v brushless 500 watt SkyHawk ] I requested more information from the vender. I have received nothing at this time. Please direct me towards a way to find out more about my setup.

Extra torque: That’s why I was thinking a dual motor controller. I could buy a chain drive style conversion also 500 watt and hope the two motors would match torque and speed. Otherwise at some point they would fight themselves and bleed power. I could re-gear and change motor curve via an easy sprocket change….. This hold idea could be foolish. That why I’m asking…

Oh, and one other problem. The Trike comes with either 24â€￾ or 27â€￾ rims. I was thinking of buying the 27â€￾ model and using the 26â€￾ rim on the front fork. Is this crazy? Or should I find a 26â€￾ fork?

 

[fechter]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I tried to make a new thread but I did not have permission.

No problem... I fixed that.

I don't think the fork length is very critical as long as the brakes line up with the rim.

Using a smaller wheel, like 24", will give you more torque. You can't run two controllers into one motor, but two motors and two controllers can work.

Check out the various bottom bracket drives. Most brushless motors can be reversed and you can use the sprocket from a rear drive model to power the chain.

 

[jeff peterson]

Safety concerns:
I read a little about aluminum forks and was told since this bike is not a thin metal racing frame it should be okay. And I did tighten those nuts really tight! Thanks for the heads up! I rather be safe……..

Please remember the end result will be a fat steel Trike. I’ve read turning a Trike at speed is a concern, I’ll slow down….



I was thinking one controller to power 2 motors [different motors, but both being 500 watts]
http://www.poweridestore.com/20A-Dual-Hub-Motor-Controller

Think 3 wheel drive for torque.
Front hub motor [existing Skyhawk]
Rear wheels [2] powered by peddles and/or inline chain motor.

Rear motor thought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/500w-Motorised-Electric-Motor-Bike-Bicycle-Kit-e-bike_W0QQitemZ310005161951QQihZ021QQcategoryZ98083QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This could be the dumbest idea ever. Thoughts? Are there other ways? Has this been done before?

 

[jeff peterson]

Interesting, the guy I bought the hub motor from is now gone. He has nothing for sale now… I don’t know what to do….. I got what I paid for and everything works fine… But I know nothing about the motor. This adds to the list of questions.

The closest thing I found while googling was this:
http://www.grubeeinc.com/USA/starfire.htm

It looks like the exact kit but not who I bought it from. does this help?

 

[Drunkskunk]

interesting. that kit looks like a rebadge of several diffrent company's parts. The motor looks like a Crystalyte, only an odd size. They do make a 50X series between the 40X and 530X, but no one realy imports them. That might be what this is. if you can post a close up pic of your motor, it might help.

the controller looks like a generic from several diffrent kit companies. Unknown wether its good or bad, but should be ok. the throttle is a generic type used by Crystalyte and a few others.

the battery packs are the real give away. the SLA pack they show looks like a standard pack from a Meridian 550 bike. The NiMH looks like the back from another brand who's name I can't remember right now, but it drops into the frame behind the seat.

if it does turn out to be a Crystalyte 500 watt motor, then it might be fine for what you need. the real question will be what the winding count is. the higher the winding count, the better it will be for hauling a trike. if you attach a speedometer calibrated for that wheel, and give us the unloaded speed and the voltage its at (unloaded just means hold the wheel in the air and give it full power) and we can figure out roughly which motor it is.

 

[Mark_A_W]

Back to the original topic...


They are Nine Continents motors. I have the smaller one, the JZ-RH154, and at 250w nominal (41v) it was ok, but kind of frustrating as the freewheel speed was only 36km/h - I want to cruise at 40.

But bumped up to 54v (with a 48v controller), it's pretty good - freewheel speed 47km/h. It's not a e-motorbike like Haydon's rig, but I can cruise at 40 with pedalling, and it's good up hills....and it's not flagrantly in violation of the law.


The bigger motor, the JZ-RH205, is the GL2 on Brett's website.

It would have more torque than mine at 54v. Be nice to try it at 82v, if an upgraded 48v controller would handle it (new caps and Fets at least).

The ebay ones may be variations with different windings (there's at least 3 windings of the smaller one, the seller of mine told me)

They are lighter and have less copper (so lower max power) than Crystalyte 4/5 series motors, from what I can tell.

I can't find them on Aussie Ebay, are they there now?


Mark

 

[Johnbear]

How many amps does this kit pull?

 

[Mark_A_W]

The controller is rated at max 18 amps.

This is all for the Aussie 200w market, it's all a bit low powered for everyone else..

 

[Johnbear]

How many amps does this kit pull?

 

[Ben]

One thing I noticed is that the 48V motor (first one) looks like it has a 36V controller. I presume the black controller in your thread Mark is 48V and the silver one is 36V?

I don't think I'd buy from eBay, looks risky, what with the lack of specs and support.

 

[Mark_A_W]

I'm not sure if the colour of the controller is incidental or not, but yes, by 36v one is silver, 48v one is black.

If the ebay seller is ruggedmachinery (Richard) I wouldn't hesitate. I've already got quite a few bits from him (48v controller, another throttle, motor, battery) and so has a friend from work. He has very good after sales support.

Mark

 

[tron]

I purchased a Skyhawk 24volt system. So far the system is very reliable and I don't baby it. I'm hauling my two kids in a trailer (under pedal assist of course) and the system accelerates to it's maximum speed with all the weight. I check out the Nine Continents and don't think this is the same motor. I would be ready to bet it's a rebadged Crystalyte. The housing says "Wan Lian". Heck we could all be wrong on this one. I'm sure China has tons of electric hub manufactures. The main distributor is Grubee of USA and claims they are desinged in the USA and manufactured in China. Here's some pic's.

My question is if anyone has successfully adapted a Crystalyte controller to this type of motor? I'm looking to add a 48volt 20 amp controller.

 

[Microbatman]

Looks like ebikes.ca is going to carry nine continent motors

Looked at them on the simulator and looks like they have the power close to an X5 with less weight.

That would be good.

Anyone know more about nine continent motors?

 

[Ben]

I think they're the same ones that are used in the Velectris Super Phantom