E-HP said:
Do they all have the internal controller, and if not, is there a way to tell?
I don't know.
Regarding the wires, mine had three thick wires and some smaller ones, but it did have the internal controller. There are no brushed Ultramotors that I am aware of.
There's a number of A2B / Metro / Ultramotor / Umotor / Stromer posts and threads with info; I haven't read them all, but I skimmed a fair bit when looking for info on how I might be able to use the internal controller and LCD from the Stromer.
But I found tHe catch iwth the internal controller is that it apparently wont' run without the original battery and display and other controls/sensors. So you'll probably have to take the wheel apart (the motor only comes apart between the flanges), and remove the internal controller, and add your own phase and hall wires (you could skp the halls if you use a sensorless controller).
However, I'm not the first one to run an external controller on there; you can check out various people that did that (I think Fechter's A2B Metro thread has some of that, and maybe GCinDC's Stromer thread).
It might be nice to have a couple of extra/faster motors to experiment with. Can the motors handle much more than 500 watts. Ideally it would be good if they could run at 52 volts, so I can just swap out wheels.
THe motors (sans internal controllers, if present) can run at any voltage. They're probably generally going to be wound for a top speed of something around 20MPH at 36v, though, at a guess, in whatever wheel they're in (assuming they are still in the OEM wheels) So the speed they'll have in the same wheel at a higher voltage will be proportionally faster. (I base my guess on the Mountan 33 motor being for 33km/h which is 20mph, as a 36v system, for instance).
I expect the power ratings are conservative, what they could guarantee they'd work at without any significant heating (because of the internal controller thing, making it's own heat to add to it).
After I get some sort of torque arm setup on my fork, I'll wire up the motor I have to an external controller (already have the wiring at the motor done), and test it on my own 14s pack on the SB Cruiser trike. Dunno for sure when this will happen, but hopefully in the next week or two. Not soon enough for you to decide on these, but I'll post feedback in my Hacking a stromer motor... thread, and my SB Cruiser thread.
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