anyone know what noise this is?

[ady347]

my powabyke euro has developed a strange noise from front wheel area. It doesnt do it all the time and when it does its a bit intermitant. whether its going up incline or on the flat, pedal assist or not it seems to do it.
soz about poor video quality, it was with a iphone held by the wheel.

you can hear it right at the start and end of video.

Electric bike fault ref only - YouTube

 

[oigoi]

Sounds to me like the gears in the hub motor are a bit dry and maybe need greasing

I have had electric motors make a noise like this when the brushes get worn but not sure if your motor is brushless

 

[Jeremy]

Sounds to me like a gear problem, too, or perhaps a loose magnet in the motor. Might even just be a bearing on the way out, or a bit of internal rust inside the motor.

Hard to tell without looking into it further, but I'd suggest you'll need to whip the wheel out and pull the covers off the motor to find the cause. If it's a lack of grease, a damaged gear or water ingress having caused rust or bearing damage, then the chances are this will be fairly obvious as soon as you open the motor up. If it's something more serious, like a loose magnet, then it may only be visible when the motor is stripped out for a check.

 

[jackhandy]

Spokes skimming the disc brake caliper when the wheel flexes?

My caliper only has a fag-paper clearance & did this occasionally.

 

[ady347]

Thanks for replies, I took side cover off motor and this is all I could see??

I'm wondering wether to find a bike shop to look at it as I ain't that good with bikes lol

I think it has a brushed motor, it has covered about 800 miles to now

 

[flecc]

Have a word with Frank Curran at Powabyke and he will be able to recommend your nearest Powabyke dealer with the skills to repair it. It is a brush motor and has a single drive gear wheel on an orbital toothed ring. I doubt there will be a serious fault at that mileage:

Frank Curran
Powabyke
Gate 1 Trident Works
Marsh Lane
Temple Cloud
Bristol
BS39 5AZ

01761 568085

Powabyke, Electrically powered bikes : Electric Bikes & Electric Scooters

fcurran@powabyke.com

 

[RobF]

Have a word with Frank Curran at Powabyke and he will be able to recommend your nearest Powabyke dealer with the skills to repair it. It is a brush motor and has a single drive gear wheel on an orbital toothed ring. I doubt there will be a serious fault at that mileage:

Frank Curran
Powabyke
Gate 1 Trident Works
Marsh Lane
Temple Cloud
Bristol
BS39 5AZ

01761 568085

Powabyke, Electrically powered bikes : Electric Bikes & Electric Scooters

fcurran@powabyke.com

Clearly, Frank must be the man who knows, or who knows a man who knows.

But before contacting him, I would check all the little screws on the motor are nipped up.

I had a similarish noise on the Brompton Nano which was all but cured by tightening the screws on the motor's casing.

A couple of them took half a turn or more with very little effort.

You also need to do each a couple of times, because tightening one may produce slack in another,

 

[flecc]

This Powabyke motor design is unusual in that it's freewheel is a pawl type rather than the usual ball and ramp. Above maximum assist speed the pawls can sometimes be heard clicking. Since your test appears to be a wheel lifted off the ground type rather than being under load, the noise may be the pawls intermittently vibrating at above the assist speed rotation. If so, that isn't a fault, just a normal part of the design which probably won't be heard when riding, and never while the motor is under load at up to 15 mph.

 

[ady347]

Hi the test is done with me riding, and the noise is their below max speed, I got a feeling it is doin it more under load.
It started making noise couple of weeks ago, I have put it back together now (I felt abit out of my depth taking it apart, it was a pain just to get that one cover on and off properly

I have emailed the powabyke to find local company, I use it alot for work so if I can't get a shop to fix it I will just have to keep running it (not much choice) or walk the 18mile round trip!

money is a issue to upgrade bike so may see about converting my mountain bike

 

[flecc]

Definitely not the pawls then, could be just the gears needing grease. Hopefully Frank will be able to help, he knows these bikes in depth over the years.

 

[ady347]

Frank has given me details for a local bike shop that can look at it, it's booked in so will post outcome incase it helps others as to what is causing fault.

 

[neptune]

Some models of Powayke wheel have a hollow spindle, that permits greasing with a grease gun without stripping the hub. I notice that yours has a screw in the end of the axle.Remove the screw, and apply a greasegun to the hole, and give it up to six shots of grease. Don`t overdo it. Worth a try?

 

[ady347]

I did wonder if that screw was for greasing. Unfortunately I don't have a grease gun lol

Would this gun do? What grease should I use

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=181415&categoryId=255216&langId=-1

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I did wonder if that screw was for greasing. Unfortunately I don't have a grease gun lol

Would this gun do? What grease should I use

Halfords | Wesco 120cc Grease Gun

Before spending lot's of money, I'd check the simple things first. If it only happens at high torque, it could well be the wheel twisting a little and touching a mudguard stay or something like that. I bet when you put it back together the noise will have gone.

 

[ady347]

Lol I wish it had! Just got to work and its still their, I have tried holding mudguard But it didn't stop it. After tonites run it is deffo when u go up any hill and the motor has to work more, I thought it nite be a lose spoke but they seem to have the same tension all round,
Disconnected front brake completely but it still did it

 

[johnc461165]

A few photos of the motor on my euro which may be of help to you the motor has done a lot more than 800 miles and had plenty grease inside.

 

[johnc461165]

Having listened to to video a few times I feel pretty sure you have a dry bearing.