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Leaf / leafmotor / leafbike high efficiency 1500w motor

I’ve just installed the motor for the first time.

The motor doesn’t spin, just shudders when I apply the throttle.

Could anyone suggest what is wrong and how to fix it?

The wheel spins fine when pedalling or spinning it by hand.

Any help would be appreciated. Is there any installation guide online?
 
Thanks heaps. It seems I’ve got things connected to the right place? That article is a little bit more detailed than my understanding level but I’ll get out the multimeter and do some tests.

Edit: the controller is a Sabvoton SVMC7260. Does the wiring at the motor look ok? Seems the shrink wrap has maybe come off in parts. I’ll start testing
 

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So the problem is that for this controller from Sabvoton the wiring goes

Black - Black

Blue - Green

Green - Blue


Yellow - Yellow

Red - Red
 
Thanks heaps. It seems I’ve got things connected to the right place? That article is a little bit more detailed than my understanding level but I’ll get out the multimeter and do some tests.
Focus on the chart with the flow diagram. Your in the “stuck” motor box.
 
All good, sorted now that the phase wires are connected in the correct (non colour matching) order.

I have a 30H communication error now so will troubleshoot that, but the motor is running. Wow. The power is no comparison to the BBSHD etc.
 
So the problem is that for this controller from Sabvoton the wiring goes
Does it have a self-learn or autotune function? Many controllers do these days. Some are a wire pair you use per the controller instructions, and some are activated by an app or computer program. If it has this it will find the correct wiring for you in most cases, changing internal settings so you don't have to mess with physically moving wires around.

Also, if it's an FOC controller, you probably have to use the app or computer program from that company to set up the controller for your specific motor, battery, etc, for it to perform correctly / as desired.


I have a 30H communication error now so will troubleshoot that, but the motor is running. Wow. The power is no comparison to the BBSHD etc.
Is the display you're using one that came with the sabvoton? If not, it may not be the right protocol or firmware version. Also, some controllers use a one-line / one-wire hardware wiring that is not compatible with the tx/rx wiring of the common displays like those that bafang/kt/lishui/etc usually use.
 
He's running 72V. There's really no speed or gearing for the BBSHD where the Leaf doesn't have a huge torque or power advantage. However on hills, the BBSHD can climb a 20% grade at 10mph all day long with the right gearing. The Leaf will climb the same hill at 25mph, but will need to stop to cool down after about 3/4 of a mile, or a mile at 20mph. On flat ground, the BBSHD is totally out gunned, especially since you lose a lot of time shifting.
 
Yea the power is wild on the leaf. After a lot of stop start on hills it got very hot though.

It didn’t display the 30h when I had the wrong phase wiring, but now it does. Just switched the phase wires over, but also unplugged and re-plugged a bunch of things. Still can ride with the 30h but no info (edit: no info displaying on screen, Only the 30H error message)

Sorted out the Error 30H message, one plug wasn’t connected. I don’t know how to get the temperature sensor to work, there is a white wire coming from the motor but no corresponding white wire on the controller side of the 6pin plug. I believe they installed a temp sensor at the factory, but maybe this isn’t supported by the controller. Will wait to hear from Leaf.
 
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^-- he's right

I hate playing guess the ~36 combinations so i will only use controllers with autodetect now ( phaserunner, vesc, others )
 
As i stated a bit above.. My winding = 645rpm / 49v = 13.16kv and about 95W no load.
A sine motor controller isn't necessarily more efficient. Nobody has ever tested that. The commutation may be more complex.. i suspect that it will be less efficient, or just equal in efficiency

Given that the phase wires fit in my wire cutter at the 18 gauge point, i'd say that what they're claiming is not matching up one bit ;) ( see pic above also )

What i will do is simply cut the phase wire at about 1.5 inches out of the axle and replace with 12 gauge, as i do with all other motors. Then i get 90% of the benefit of upgrading the entire length of wire. Good enough :)

I am wondering if i can order a stator with an additional turn. Leafbike does have a stator winding item for sale on their webpage, so maybe this is possible. But i do like this winding as it is..

More later.
Oh dude! They have this uh..wire at the big box hardware stores. Pretty sure it's for 220v applications and it's like 12 gauge fine buncha wires. It's good for e-bike stuff.
This:
I use green for the green, white for the yellow, and black for the blue..
 
Does the wiring at the motor look ok? Seems the shrink wrap has maybe come off in parts.
That plastic outer sleeve is somewhat protective but the main thing is to secure the cable so it cannot come into contact with the brake rotor screws, or any part of the rotating rotor for that matter.

Also, next time you remove/replace the wheel, orient the axle so the cable opening is facing downwards instead of upwards, to minimize any chance for water to drip down into the motor thru the axle opening. And leave a slight cable loop downwards (called a drip loop), so any water accumulating on the cable drips down from the lowest part of the drip loop instead of being carried into the axle

 
I'm still using this big roll of 12 ga and 10ga i bought a decade ago.
Every hub motor going significantly over the stock rating is getting the stock phase wires cut 1-2 inches out of the axle and beefed up.

Not sure what kind of wire gauge the leaf 1.5kw is packing, but it's probably not enough if you want to use the motor to it's full capability (4kw - 10kw peak watts)
 
I'm still using this big roll of 12 ga and 10ga i bought a decade ago.
Every hub motor going significantly over the stock rating is getting the stock phase wires cut 1-2 inches out of the axle and beefed up.

Not sure what kind of wire gauge the leaf 1.5kw is packing, but it's probably not enough if you want to use the motor to it's full capability (4kw - 10kw peak watts)
I was wondering how many amps I can put through the stock wiring and for how long roughly.. The wire upgrade sounds like a really good idea especially if you can just snip outside the motor and get most of the benefit
 
Samsung 50S cells are sagging heavily, def would go for a higher spec cell in future, particularly as they degrade badly if run down below 10% nominal capacity. Samsung 45T or other comparable cells would be a better option but no ready made high quality batteries out there that I’ve seen locally
 
If you give me a photo of the wires and connectors, i can provide a professional guesstimate 😅
Pic from before I switched the phase wires to correct setup.

The 6pin plug from the motor in the second pic* has a white wire going in but no wire coming out from the corresponding controller plug. Maybe that’s the temp sensor
 

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Yea the power is wild on the leaf. After a lot of stop start on hills it got very hot though.

It didn’t display the 30h when I had the wrong phase wiring, but now it does. Just switched the phase wires over, but also unplugged and re-plugged a bunch of things. Still can ride with the 30h but no info (edit: no info displaying on screen, Only the 30H error message)

Sorted out the Error 30H message, one plug wasn’t connected. I don’t know how to get the temperature sensor to work, there is a white wire coming from the motor but no corresponding white wire on the controller side of the 6pin plug. I believe they installed a temp sensor at the factory, but maybe this isn’t supported by the controller. Will wait to hear from Leaf.
The temp sensor Leaf installed in mine wasn’t compatible with my setup so (Cycle Analyst), so I replaced it with a more common ntc10
You need to decide what hardware you’ll be using to read it, but the two wires are the white and the ground/black. The ground is shared with the hall sensor grounds.
Im assuming you had them add Statorade or added it yourself. If you’re not, do that first thing or you’ll cook your motor pretty quickly running high power. If you’re not planning on running high power continuous, then you might want hubsinks, but Statorade does 90% of the cooling. I’d add the full 10cc’s because it will need topping off every year or two anyway.
 
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