Brompton Nano - Increase speed?

[willtuckett]

Hi

I recently purchased the Brompton Nano conversion kit and fitted it. It works well, but was wondering if there's any way of speeding it up (not for use on the road, of course...)

Is there any way of modifying/replacing the controller to feed more power to the motor? If the power output of the motor is 200W I suspect it can achieve a greater speed than 14-15mph.

I'm well within the range of my motor/battery so I'm happy to sacrifice distance for speed.

Thanks,
Will

 

[patpatbut]

Yea that is possible by overvolting. However I have been told it would damage this nano motor in long term.

 

[flecc]

I'm afraid there's little possibility with that motor. Even the creators of the Nano-Brompton, A to B and Tony Castle, acknowledged it's limitation in speed terms. Its design is all about being as light as possible for an e-folder, at the cost of compromise elsewhere.

The motor is the highest rev version Nano and as patpatbut says, over-volting will be at the cost of reliability since they can be frail when stressed.
.

 

[KirstinS]

You could buy a replacement motor that is more powerful and still fits a Brompton

I believe keyde are popular choice

Otherwise perhaps increasing volts but decreasing the amps is an option

You can then keep watts about the same as now

You will lose torque but gain Speed

You would need a booster battery of 7.4v and need to make a modification to the controller (file/notch the shunt)

I don't have direct experience with the nano (aka tongxin) motor I should add

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The Q85 is probably a good replacement motor. If you don't mind stetching the forks, you can fit any small motor like the Q100 or Bafang SWX, that both can give a lot more power. Basically, you bought a low power kit. You probably need a new controller and battery as well, so it would be better to start afresh with a used Brompton.

 

[RobF]

I can confirm the Nano is not a speedy device, not least because there is some resistance when you pedal above the cut off speed.

The motor's nice and quiet, it accelerates briskly, and mine has been reliable, so it's not all bad.

Given the Brommie's twitchy small wheel steering, I wouldn't want to hammer along at 20mph+.

Fine on a billiard table surface, but asking for trouble over road imperfections.