Kevin Crawford
10 mW
Hey everyone. I have a Q100H front hub motor on one of my bikes that is almost exclusively used for commuting, about 100 miles per week. I have used this build for many thousands of miles - maybe as many as 40,000! It's been rock solid and I'm very happy with it. I've almost always ran it, with a 48V battery, at 5A or less - I've found that any more current just doesn't seem to do much other than help with climbing a little, and is not worth additional wear and tear on the battery (or any other component). I'd probably be just fine with running it at even 4A (~200W) or even as low as 3A (~150) to eek out the last bit of use out of my battery packs.
Up until about two years ago I stored the bike indoors, but there was a period of about 15 months where I had to keep it outside.
I just started having an intermittent problem that seems to me like single-phasing. The power will suddenly drop off dramatically, and I've noticed that my power output (I'm using a Cycle Analyst from Grin Tech) indicates exactly a third of the normal power. It seems like vibration may cause the issue. But every time I do any testing, I can't find anything wrong. I'm getting 39VAC out of my controller on each phase-to-phase connection, and I'm getting near-zero resistance across each pair of phase wires on the motor, which seems to be normal. Then again, it's difficult to tell if the problem is occurring with the bike in a stand, because I don't get normal power readings with the wheel spinning in the air.
I suspect that one phase lead is losing connection inside the motor. The motor is older than my controller. I've never done anything to the inside of the motor. I've been trying to find out how to take the thing apart, but all I've found so far is how to take off the side opposite of the wires, where the gears are. I'm wondering whether replacing or reterminating a wire is even possible inside the motor.
Anyone else ever have an issue like this or have any tips? I suppose I could also take my controller apart and have a look to see if there's an intermittent connection somewhere. The only other idea I have is to check for a short to the hub shell - does anyone know where I could put my meter lead on the shell to detect such a short?
Thank you.
Up until about two years ago I stored the bike indoors, but there was a period of about 15 months where I had to keep it outside.
I just started having an intermittent problem that seems to me like single-phasing. The power will suddenly drop off dramatically, and I've noticed that my power output (I'm using a Cycle Analyst from Grin Tech) indicates exactly a third of the normal power. It seems like vibration may cause the issue. But every time I do any testing, I can't find anything wrong. I'm getting 39VAC out of my controller on each phase-to-phase connection, and I'm getting near-zero resistance across each pair of phase wires on the motor, which seems to be normal. Then again, it's difficult to tell if the problem is occurring with the bike in a stand, because I don't get normal power readings with the wheel spinning in the air.
I suspect that one phase lead is losing connection inside the motor. The motor is older than my controller. I've never done anything to the inside of the motor. I've been trying to find out how to take the thing apart, but all I've found so far is how to take off the side opposite of the wires, where the gears are. I'm wondering whether replacing or reterminating a wire is even possible inside the motor.
Anyone else ever have an issue like this or have any tips? I suppose I could also take my controller apart and have a look to see if there's an intermittent connection somewhere. The only other idea I have is to check for a short to the hub shell - does anyone know where I could put my meter lead on the shell to detect such a short?
Thank you.