Ezee conversion kit advice

[wehey]

Hiya all
I have had my Ezee MK2 kit on my bike for coming up to 6 years now.
It has been faultless and I have covered 1000’s of miles on it. Even the cheapo 48v battery is still performing well after all this time.

I have however noticed a noise coming from the hub in the last few months.
It sounds like a brake pad that’s just catching as the wheel rotates.
It’s only noticeable when cruising under a light load and goes away when you add power.

I would imagine that the gears are wearing. Before I take it apart to inspect is there anything I should be looking for??

Also can anyone confirm the max amps that the controller can handle. I have found a few references online, but some say 20 Amps and others say 25 Amps.

And lastly, if I decided to upgrade the battery and controller at some point, what’s the max wattage the motor could produce without causing problems?

Thanks in advance

 

[flecc]

Also can anyone confirm the max amps that the controller can handle. I have found a few references online, but some say 20 Amps and others say 25 Amps.

The Ezee controller on kit and bikes is 20 Amps. Over a decade ago they could deliver about 28 amps but not since about 2008.

Your trouble sounds like the internal gears may be running dry of grease or worn. The new Ezee importer should be able to supply the spares:

Greentech eBikes: https://greentechebikes.com
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[flecc]

On the power potential, they are strong hubs so I'd guess at around 1000 watts actual. That should be no problem electrically but of course that will create higher gear wear and perhaps need for more regular opening up to regrease them.
.

 

[wehey]

On the power potential, they are strong hubs so I'd guess at around 1000 watts actual. That should be no problem electrically but of course that will create higher gear wear and perhaps need for more regular opening up to regrease them.
.

Thanks mate.
So what sort of power would the motor be producing now with my current setup?
48v 10.5ah battery with everything else standard?

 

[flecc]

Thanks mate.
So what sort of power would the motor be producing now with my current setup?
48v 10.5ah battery with everything else standard?

The gross at that voltage with a 20 Amp controller is 960 watts peak consumption, so at around 70% efficiency say, perhaps some 670 watts maximum. That's not right through the rev range of course, the maximum delivered will be in the 50 to 60% operating speed zone, which will also be your optimum climb speed.
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[wehey]

The gross at that voltage with a 20 Amp controller is 960 watts peak consumption, so at around 70% efficiency say, perhaps some 670 watts maximum. That's not right through the rev range of course, the maximum delivered will be in the 50 to 60% operating speed zone, which will also be your optimum climb speed.
.

Ok cool. That makes sense.

So if I come to a steep hill I am better off (battery efficiency wise) to tackle it at about 50% max speed rather than crawl up it on the lowest assistance level??

 

[flecc]

Ok cool. That makes sense.

So if I come to a steep hill I am better off (battery efficiency wise) to tackle it at about 50% max speed rather than crawl up it on the lowest assistance level??

Yes, you'll soon find the optimum climb speed point. On legal 15.5 mph pedelecs it's usually at around 8 mph where the optimum coincidence of power and torque occurs.

A few legal hub motor designs vary, so it can be as low as 7 mph or as high as 10 mph, but they are the exceptions.
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[wehey]

Yes, you'll soon find the optimum climb speed point. On legal 15.5 mph pedelecs it's usually at around 8 mph where the optimum coincidence of power and torque occurs.

A few legal hub motor designs vary, so it can be as low as 7 mph or as high as 10 mph, but they are the exceptions.
.

As my top speed is about 27mph, would that mean the best climbing speed is about half that??

 

[flecc]

As my top speed is about 27mph, would that mean the best climbing speed is about half that??

Yes, that would be the optimum, so long as you are a strong enough cyclist to provide your part to match that speed.
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[Benjahmin]

The rub you speak of is almost certainly dry gears. Mine does it intermittantly. The Ezee motors are easy to strip down, no nasty surprises. Just remove the screws from the face plate and ease it out. You'll need grease suitable for nylon gears. I used Plumbers Mait as a gasket when I put it back together.

These motors are prodigious hill climbers and I'm not sure that increasing amperage would gain you much unless your battery is capable of delivering the extra without sag. Also, I seem to remember D8veh once saying that there was something odd about Ezee wiring and you couldn't use just any controller.
Don't know if yours is the same but mine doesn't seem to have a cutoff speed. On the stand it reads 19-20mph, think that's probably magnetic saturation. On the road in setting 5 (rarely used) it will reach 18mph and is still driving. If I go down hill at 25-30mph and peddle I can hear the motor kick in. It only stops when I stop pedalling or pull the brake.
Mine climbs well at anything from 6mph (growls a bit) upwards, generally try to keep it at 8mph minimum.
If it's the origional battery it may be time for a recell. What voltage does it charge too? The alternative is, get Jimmy to build a soft case battery and run it in parrallel to your existing one. I do this (carried in a pannier) and the lack of voltage sag on the west Wales hills is a joy. Less stress on each battery as the current draw is halved.
Ezee motors may not be the cheapest but they do seem to be pretty bombproof.

 

[wehey]

The rub you speak of is almost certainly dry gears. Mine does it intermittantly. The Ezee motors are easy to strip down, no nasty surprises. Just remove the screws from the face plate and ease it out. You'll need grease suitable for nylon gears. I used Plumbers Mait as a gasket when I put it back together.

These motors are prodigious hill climbers and I'm not sure that increasing amperage would gain you much unless your battery is capable of delivering the extra without sag. Also, I seem to remember D8veh once saying that there was something odd about Ezee wiring and you couldn't use just any controller.
Don't know if yours is the same but mine doesn't seem to have a cutoff speed. On the stand it reads 19-20mph, think that's probably magnetic saturation. On the road in setting 5 (rarely used) it will reach 18mph and is still driving. If I go down hill at 25-30mph and peddle I can hear the motor kick in. It only stops when I stop pedalling or pull the brake.
Mine climbs well at anything from 6mph (growls a bit) upwards, generally try to keep it at 8mph minimum.
If it's the origional battery it may be time for a recell. What voltage does it charge too? The alternative is, get Jimmy to build a soft case battery and run it in parrallel to your existing one. I do this (carried in a pannier) and the lack of voltage sag on the west Wales hills is a joy. Less stress on each battery as the current draw is halved.
Ezee motors may not be the cheapest but they do seem to be pretty bombproof.

Yeah your right there, they are superb motors and I haven’t found anything that it can’t climb.
Mine runs on a 48volt battery and runs out of steam at about 26-27mph.
Amazingly the battery charges to 54.3 volts and considering its 6 years old, was a cheapo and has done 1000’s of miles, it’s holding up well.
I do notice a bit of a lack of performance after the first 5 miles or so now so I’m sure it’s getting a little tired.

 

[wehey]

Could I use silicone grease??
Or lithium white grease maybe??

 

[wehey]

Rather than starting another thread......

I would like to add a hydraulic brake to the front wheel (can’t put one on the rear)
Is there anything available that would work with the ezee kit whilst keeping the brake motor cutout switch ?

 

[Benjahmin]

I put a hydraulic on the front and kept the standard mech on the back, so just the back brake has the cutout switch. Works fine for me.
Not sure about the grease, when I needed some Cyclezee sent me some, but he's retired. Any nhub motor supplier should know.

On your original inquiry, I found this from another thread. It needs you to have an lcd display, mine is just the led so I won't be going there.




Hi Ben, to change the from 36 to 48 v you need to enter the advanced menu as shown below:

Advanced Menu
Hold the ‘Up▲’ and ‘Down▼’ button together during power up to enter setup menu.
Use Up▲ or Down▼ button to select the appropriate settings.
In menu setup, hold the ‘Down▼’ button for about 3 seconds to save and switch to the next menu

Menu 1: Voltage Selection
1 – 36V (Default)
2 – 48V

Menu 2: Shunt Resistance
The battery gauge is calibrated to the controller’s current sensing shunt by programming the shunt resistance value. This will be preset in the factory to match the controller on the bike or kit.

Shunt Value (mOhms)
1 – 0.89 – 1.13
2 – 1.14 – 1.38
3 – 1.39 – 1.63 (Default)
4 – 1.64 – 1.88
5 – 1.89 – 2.13

Menu 3: Current Limit
Set the upper current limit. The battery gauge will scale down the amperage drawn when it senses that it exceeds the current limit.
Current Limit Value (Amps)
1 - 4.0
2 - 8.0
3 - 12.0
4 - 16.0
5 - Disabled (Default)

#12 Cyclezee, Apr 28, 2018

In a later post he recommends only altering menu 1.

 

[flecc]

Could I use silicone grease??
Or lithium white grease maybe??

Cyclezee recommended MolyKote PG21 as the best for greasing the gears, but warns on this link that it's expensive.

Any molybdenum grease will be ok, just enter moly grease into Google and you'll see plenty, right down to 500 gram containers.

Some have used white lithium grease without problems, there's one example on this link
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[wehey]

Thanks for all the help guys. Mucho appreciated.

I have grease and will be (hopefully) be back to smooth and quite riding again today

 

[wehey]

Sometîmes I think the gods are watching over us lol

I took the wheel out of the forks and heard something metalic hit the floor.
My forks are fooked, mind you, they are nearly 20 years old and I was planning to upgrade them anyways.. I'm feeling lucky, I may buy a lottery ticket tonight

 

[wheeliepete]

Great that your motor noise helped you find that! Think about fitting a torque arm on your new forks. you will need to measure the spindle diameter, either 12mm or 14mm.

 

[wehey]

Great that your motor noise helped you find that! Think about fitting a torque arm on your new forks.

I know, I feel very lucky. It must have happened in the last 3-4 weeks as that's the last time I had the wheel out.
There is a torque arm fitted to the other side of the forks.

 

[wheeliepete]

Might be best to fit one both sides with that big motor.