Desertprep
1 kW
How do non-hub motors fare in the elements? going through a puddle of water? etc. One of the strong selling points of hub motors is (they claim) to be impervious to weather and the elements.
Non hub motors and the elements
- Thread starter Desertprep
- Start date
Thud
1 MW
My outrunners will run under water...but I fear dirt & grit in an off road environment. proper shielding & an agresive PM/cleaning schedual are required if exposed to real crud...I also use seald bearings to keep out the big stuff. being Open is a disadvantage in this case.
An Astro is very well seald & prolly more weather proof than any hub motor currently available.
An Astro is very well seald & prolly more weather proof than any hub motor currently available.
gwhy!
100 kW
Im going to stick my neck out here and say rc outrunners would fair better to the elephants 
( general wetness that is, not sticks and stones as thud has said) because ...... there are no soldered connections within the motor itself unlike a hubby motor ...
( general wetness that is, not sticks and stones as thud has said) because ...... there are no soldered connections within the motor itself unlike a hubby motor ...elephants? lolgwhy! said:Im going to stick my neck out here and say rc outrunners would fair better to the elephants
Jeremy Harris
100 MW
There's plenty of hard evidence on here of hub motors that have corroded internally from water ingress. If anyone claims that hub motors are impervious to wet weather then they are being a bit disingenuous.
Any motor, whether in a hub or mounted externally, will be susceptible to damage from water, grit, dust etc. If you want a good reliable bike that needs minimum maintenance and will cope with bad weather then you need to pay attention to keeping water and dust/grit out whilst still allowing adequate cooling.
One, often overlooked, problem is that motors 'breathe', drawing in cool, damp air when they cool down and driving it back out again when they warm up. Some have suggested that this is one of the biggest causes of hub motor corrosion, which seems to make sense. The same would apply to any other motor equally, though, unless it's very well ventilated.
The approach I've taken with my boat motors (modified RC outrunners) is to replace the bearings with stainless steel ones (not good for high loads, but OK for my application) and seal the motor windings, Hall sensors etc in epoxy. I also coat the magnets and inside of the rotor with epoxy, and add a coat of paint to the magnets (they can corrode quite badly if they get wet). The exposed bits of the shaft are greased, but could be made from ground stainless bar if I was fanatical about preventing corrosion.
It would be harder to prevent a hub motor suffering from water damage, especially one with gears. It is quite easy to improve the waterproofing of a direct drive hub motor though, just by spraying the stator with silicone conformal coating and then heat curing it. This will do a very good job of keeping the elements at bay, although water damage to the bearings is still a possibility.
Jeremy
Any motor, whether in a hub or mounted externally, will be susceptible to damage from water, grit, dust etc. If you want a good reliable bike that needs minimum maintenance and will cope with bad weather then you need to pay attention to keeping water and dust/grit out whilst still allowing adequate cooling.
One, often overlooked, problem is that motors 'breathe', drawing in cool, damp air when they cool down and driving it back out again when they warm up. Some have suggested that this is one of the biggest causes of hub motor corrosion, which seems to make sense. The same would apply to any other motor equally, though, unless it's very well ventilated.
The approach I've taken with my boat motors (modified RC outrunners) is to replace the bearings with stainless steel ones (not good for high loads, but OK for my application) and seal the motor windings, Hall sensors etc in epoxy. I also coat the magnets and inside of the rotor with epoxy, and add a coat of paint to the magnets (they can corrode quite badly if they get wet). The exposed bits of the shaft are greased, but could be made from ground stainless bar if I was fanatical about preventing corrosion.
It would be harder to prevent a hub motor suffering from water damage, especially one with gears. It is quite easy to improve the waterproofing of a direct drive hub motor though, just by spraying the stator with silicone conformal coating and then heat curing it. This will do a very good job of keeping the elements at bay, although water damage to the bearings is still a possibility.
Jeremy
thank you, Jeremry.
when i have open my Conhismotor Hub motor 1000watts, to my surprised. 4months of using, it had actually rust 10% , our country is very high for humidity. i sand paper abit away the rust areas, and spray them with hi- heat temperture paint. i wasn't very sure if this will stop the rust to re appear or not, so i have also smoothen the metal areas with some engine oil to further prevent rusty grow. i had also spray some W4d oil and those possible rust areas. :wink: i hope it will work. if my next opening up the hub motor. I will certainly used your method. with Good protection on the hub motors, im sure it can run them during the wet seasons.
edit..: with good protection on the hub motors, it can still run them during wet seasons.
cheers.
kentlim
when i have open my Conhismotor Hub motor 1000watts, to my surprised. 4months of using, it had actually rust 10% , our country is very high for humidity. i sand paper abit away the rust areas, and spray them with hi- heat temperture paint. i wasn't very sure if this will stop the rust to re appear or not, so i have also smoothen the metal areas with some engine oil to further prevent rusty grow. i had also spray some W4d oil and those possible rust areas. :wink: i hope it will work. if my next opening up the hub motor. I will certainly used your method. with Good protection on the hub motors, im sure it can run them during the wet seasons.
edit..: with good protection on the hub motors, it can still run them during wet seasons.
cheers.
kentlim
johnrobholmes
10 MW
Treating a motor with corrosion X is a good way to fend off the water and rust. Other particulates, that is another battle.
