Any advice on cause of bike hub motor not working appreciated

[Shropshire Fred]

Hi Everyone

I have a problem with my electric bike conversion kit. When I went to ride the bike today, all the lights on the controller came on as normal, but when I started to pedal, instead of the front wheel turning under power, there was just an electrical clicking sound coming from inside the hub housing the motor. When I put it up to number 2, the sound increased. The wheel turns ok without power. So it seems that power is getting to the hub, but is not turning the wheel. The kit is now about 14 months old, and is only used once a week maximum. I have contacted the company I bought it from (in Holland) but as it is out of warranty would appreciate any pointers to the likely cause.

Many thanks

 

[El Champiero]

Could you let us know the manufacturer and model of the motor and controller? A photo might also help.

 

[Shropshire Fred]

Hi

I purchased the kit from FMH Motor in Holland

The spec is as follows:
• Brushless Front Mini Motor 250 Watt, 36 Volt complete with laced 28 "700c wheel with CST Anti leak band
• Li-PO Panasonic Battery 10Ah, 36V
• Charger 2AH
• pedelec sensor
• 5-stage LED display controller
• Sine Wave Control Unit 36V

The clicking sound I described is actually more like a buzzing sound that gets louder with each power increase on the handlebar controller.

The link to the installation manual which has some diagrams is http://www.ombouwsetelektrischefiets.nl/handleiding.pdf

It has behaved faultlessly up to now and was working properly when I last used it, ie the fault did not develop on the road.

Cheers

 

[flecc]

Very likely to be just a connection problem Fred, a loss of connection of one of the motor wires can cause exactly this. Unplug and replug the connectors shown as motor that are shown in your wiring diagrams. To make sure sure you reconnect them the same way, do one at a time.

Remaking the connections in that way often does the trick.

 

[El Champiero]

I also had this problem with my old e bike and it was down to a corroded connector.

Water ingress can also cause the motor to spin erratically or stop working. This happened to me on my old e bike as the hub was pretty poor quality and subsequently very poorly sealed against the elements.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Do not give it full throttle or high PAS setting while it's like that or you'll damage the controller. Use the minimum you can to test it.

The problem is a sync issue, which is probably caused by a faulty hall sensor in the motor, a connection to it, or possibly a faulty phase wire connection. If you have a multi-pin connector near the motor, check that out first.

How many wires come from the motor - three or eight?

 

[Shropshire Fred]

Do not give it full throttle or high PAS setting while it's like that or you'll damage the controller. Use the minimum you can to test it.

The problem is a sync issue, which is probably caused by a faulty hall sensor in the motor, a connection to it, or possibly a faulty phase wire connection. If you have a multi-pin connector near the motor, check that out first.

How many wires come from the motor - three or eight?

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. There are eight wires coming out of the motor according to the diagram. I'll check the connectors first to see if it is just a faulty connection.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Where about are you exactly, Fred?I've got loads of bits and pieces that will get you sorted one way or another, so don't go buying expensive parts before you've spoken with me about it. Hopefully, It's a simple connection fault.

 

[Shropshire Fred]

Where about are you exactly, Fred?I've got loads of bits and pieces that will get you sorted one way or another, so don't go buying expensive parts before you've spoken with me about it. Hopefully, It's a simple connection fault.

Thanks very much. Will do if it turns out to not be a connection problem.

 

[Shropshire Fred]

Turned out to be a broken wire going to a push-fit crimped connector.

 

[endless ions]

I have the same or similar problem and i would love if d8veh or anyone else could assist.

I too have a cheap chinese ebike that started to behave funny when it got wet:

i have checked the battery, controller, and all cables seems intact.

The light are working AND when i spin the front wheel when the battery is of it powers the light!

I too have narrowed it down too the multi-pin connector or the hubmotor. I have nine pins. the middle one gives ca 41V, 1 of the other eight gives about same; 41.1V, 1 gives zero and the other 6 gives around 39.5V. I have NO idea how to interpreting this.

see more details here:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=57549

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Something is seriously wrong. The three bigger pins are the phase wires. They carry AC, so you shouldn't be able to measure any voltage on them. The other pins shouldn't have anything more than 5v on them because they're for the hall sensors.

You should check it at the controller end after unplugging it. You should have 5v between the red and black, and nothing on the others because they're all return 5v signals from the sensors, which you disconnected. The ninth white wire is often redundant, but sometimes used for a 5v speed or temperature sensor.