How do you get detailed specs on an outrunner?

[Desertprep]

The shops that sell them tell you the kV, wattage, etc but I am looking for things like does it have a skirt bearing, how many bearings does it have, etc? How does one go about finding this kind of information?

 

[spinningmagnets]

I certainly feel your frustration. I read many of the old posts, and I copy the links onto a document with a one-sentence description of whats in the link. I occasionally remember a good search word that will take me to a certain thread to answer a question, but I have only saved and indexed the posts that apply to what I am working on.

Concerning the motors from Hobby King, The only ones that I know of with the skirt bearing are the
63-74-200
63-54-250
63-64-280
80-85-170
80-100-130
Hyperion Z4045 10T 320-kV, (there may be others)


What would you like to end up with? a friction-drive with a separate motor and roller? a motor-shell friction-drive like Kepler/Drifter? or perhaps a left-side-drive like Matt/Bubba, where the motor drives a chain linked to the back wheel? How fast do you want to go, and what range do you need? Also what bike will you use and what is your budget?

 

[Desertprep]

Thanks! I have come to the conclusion that I need 2 ebikes...one will actually be an escooter. The smaller of the two will be based on my 7spd dahon folding bike with 16" wheels. It weighs 24 pounds now and I hope i can keep it under 30 pounds (not including the battery). I want to be able to use this to ride in the countryside and city to the subway, fold it and hop on the subway, and then unfold it when I get off and continue on my merry way. To that end, I need a quick disconnect/connect for my batteries. I either want to connect it into the bike's drive train or make it a left hand drive, outside of the gears. My hope was to tie it into the gears but i am hearing that doing that may significantly shorten the life of the gears. I want to be able to cruise at at least 25 mph - preferably 30. A lot of the traveling I do is through semi-rural areas and i want that to go quickly. I need the wheel to go at least 660 rpm to attain that speed. I was looking at the Turnigy 50-65 to get into the right weight ball park but I also realize that if I get a motor that is a pound or more heavier (the Turnigy 80-100B) I may be able to get a much lower kV rate (130 vs. 270) The lower kv rate of that motor, coupled with the 16" wheels of the folder would only require a 9-10x reduction (assuming I stay with 36v). When I build my e-scooter I would like to be able to use the same battery pack, so not sure if 36v will be realistic. The lower gear reduction might save me (more than) the 1.x pounds that the bigger motor weighs and would save in fabrication time and costs - also possibly the weight of the frame). If the motor has a skirt bearing that is something else that will simply the task of mounting the motor. I see that to meet my goals I am going to have to look at the total picture rather than just trying to minimize the weight of the motor.

I want to stay within $250 for the motor-controller combo. I also would like to use a standard ebike controller and one that is locally available, because that seems to be the piece of equipment that is likely to provide the most grief. I don't want to buy any piece of hardware that is going to leave me stranded if it fails or is damaged because it has to be ordered from the u.s., australia, etc.

For the batteries....I know that Lipo's are lightweight and are the usual way to go with an outrunner but, to be honest, I am a little concerned about the safety factor. I will be riding in the middle of congested city traffic and I am concerned that if I am in an accident and hurt, someone else may (mis)handle the bike and cause a serious problem. I am looking at A123's now - it seems I can get 10C rating of the battery and would have the benefit of relatively quick recharges. I am considering a 30ah pack, which would cost be about $750 but would give me serious range. If I did go with Lipo's - I am looking into ways to make them safe (maybe by installing them in an aluminum case??) - a 40ah pack would be totally awesome while still being light, and would let me cruise a country eternity on one charge

 

[Hillhater]

I want to be able to cruise at at least 25 mph - preferably 30. A lot of the traveling I do is through semi-rural areas and i want that to go quickly. I need the wheel to go at least 660 rpm to attain that speed. I was looking at the Turnigy 50-65 to get into the right weight ball park but I also realize that if I get a motor that is a pound or more heavier (the Turnigy 80-100B) I may be able to get a much lower kV rate (130 vs. 270)


- a 40ah pack would be totally awesome while still being light,

Hmm ? a 40Ah pack of LiPo will still weigh 11kg ... not exactly light !
and i think you would be lucky to get 30mph on the 50-65 motor.
you may want to consider the Aero drive 63-64 also. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7710&Product_Name=TGY_AerodriveXp_160_SK_Series_63-64_230Kv_/_3150W

 

[Desertprep]

Thanks! Yes, I know batteries will be heavy - that is why I want to fabricate some kind of quick disconnect cable for them, so that I can take the pack off when i fold the bike and carry the batteries in a back pack. The 30 pounds is ebike less the battery.

Do you know if that motor has skirt bearings?

 

[spinningmagnets]

The skirt bearing is the large diameter ring (second item from the right). The left end of this motor has a much smaller diameter shaft-bearing, though it is still adequate for that end.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=20428&p=300373#p298132

 

[Hillhater]

Do you know if that motor has skirt bearings?

If you mean the aerodrive 63-64 170kV...then no i dont think it has, but if you are going with a reduction drive system then the skirt bearing is not really necessary. Its only a benefit if you are going to build a direct friction drive using the motor casing as the traction surface.
But that motors power /weight ratio is one of the best together with a low kV.