Well, Steve Neu finally got around to finishing the 44-series motors. He started work on these several years ago. I used to play a prototype 4400 core he kept on his desk. When he did the 22-series, which is a bit smaller in diameter than the Astro 32xx, but longer. They were real beasts, though. We used to call them "BAMs", for Big-Ass Motor.
I still have a 2215, but the kV was pretty high (435?) so it has a huge P62 6.75:1 planetary gearbox. I was going to use it on a bike, but never got around to it. It was around then I got into the Astros.
I've known Steve for years. He's a great guy. I worked with him on the original 1900 series motors, which we called "ORKs", for OutRunner Killers. These had large diameter stators, like an outrunner, and were 8-poled, so they were real torque monsters. Like all of Steve's motors, these had extremely high efficiencies, and were perfect in high-power RC helicopters. We used to use the more traditional 4-poled 1500 series inrunners, but these required a gearbox to get the RPM down and the torque up. At the time, the cheap Chinese outrunners first started to appear, but they weren't very efficient, so they ran hotter than hell in our helicopters. The 1912/ORK was an instant hit, because it had more torque than the best of the outrunners, but were extremely efficient, so they ran cool as a cucumber.
When I first got into ebikes, I asked Steve about doing a bigger version of the 1900, but he already was doing the 2215 and 2230. these were really more like bigger versions of the 1500 series, having the same long 4-poled format. He did show me the 4400 test stator he was working on, which was intended for a giant 40%-scale Cessna 152. He said it would be 12-poled, and would be able to put out about 15-20,000W, I think.
Anyway, I'll give Steve a call tomorrow, and see what's up with these. He might have access to some different, controller options. He's real close with Patrick, at CastleCreations, and he has one of the 400A/SHV controller prototypes. He used this to run the 4400 test motor. Even though Castle didn't take the SHV series into production, the 4400 still needs something to run it. I'll definitely look into this.
-- Gary
