Noisy Motor

[tomtag]

Morning All,

I have been having my first few test rides on a newly fitted rear hub conversion kit (MXUS XF08C, 36V, 250V). It seems that the motor has become more noisy over the first few rides (ie. nearly silent when first ridden, but increasing since.) It is very hard to describe the noise, maybe a dry gear whine, or a loose part vibrating, rattling. It happens when the motor is driving or not, and whether I am pedaling or not. I am fairly sure it is from the motor/hub or freewheel as it is always there when the wheel is turning. Does anybody know what this may be? Is there any way to lubricate these motors or should they need it?

Thanks.

 

[Nealh]

Only the planet gears which are nylon and run on the casing's metal sun gear is lubed, some hubs have sparse lubing so you need to open it to see if it needs a tad more grease. Dark moly grease is ok to use.

 

[tomtag]

Thanks Nealh, I took the wheel off to see what was involved in opening the motor and there was a strange rattling noise. I soon realised that a LOT of the spokes were very loose. Also one of the spoke nipples had completely unthreaded and was running around inside the rim. After re-tensioning them all and going for a quick test run, it seems that was the cause of the noise, so seems to be back to how it should be. I'm happy that it wasn't the motor, and something much simpler. These motors are mass produced units so would be a bit upset if it had issues so soon. Just a shame that the supplier of the kit did such a bad job of building the wheel. I should have noticed when putting it together in the first place.

 

[sjpt]

Just a shame that the supplier of the kit did such a bad job of building the wheel.

It would help the community to know the supplier of the kit. (It might even help the supplier, have you queried with them?)

 

[tomtag]

Is that ok to put their name on here? I wasn't sure if it was allowed or not? I have contacted them about what I thought was the motor noise & they have asked for photos of the motor. I am going to go back & discuss the wheel build; but haven't yet.

 

[Woosh]

give them a chance to work with you.

 

[tomtag]

Well, have discussed with vendor and they are not interested in helping unfortunately. They quoted the terms of the warranty, which is fair enough I suppose. Any repairs are in China and buyer covers return post. (Even though was supplied from a German warehpuse) Obviously nowhere near economical to do that for a wheel rebuild so will sort myself. Seems fine now all spokes are tensioned correctly.

 

[Nealh]

A lot of the China German warehouse sellers do in the small print say that any returns or defects are to be sent to mainland China. I think Yose might be one exception.