Author Topic: Testing motor  (Read 4182 times)

Offline Robl2k

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Testing motor
« on: January 15, 2016, 05:51:41 PM »
Hi guys n gals,
I've got a working 36v battery, a possibly faulty control box and a 36v 250w hub motor which should be working.
I just want to test the motor before proceeding.
It's got 3 thick blue, green and yellow wires and a further 5 thin wires of the same colours plus red and black.
Is it possible to put 36v through any 2 of the thicker wires to test the motor?
Thanks for any advice.

Offline Bikemad

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Re: Testing motor
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2016, 11:42:19 PM »
Hi andto the forum.

Unfortunately, you cannot make a brushless motor run by simply connecting any two of the phase wires (the three thick wires) to a battery, as the very low resistance of the coil windings will quickly draw a very high current from the battery if they are energised directly from the battery for anything more than a split second.

Unless the motor has been excessively overheated, it is very unlikely that the phase wires (or the motor's stator windings) will be damaged, and it is far more likely to be a problem with either the controller itself or the Hall sensors.

You can perform a simple test on the phase wires and stator windings by touching each pair of phase wires together and then trying to spin the wheel.
If the phase wires are all OK, the wheel should refuse to spin as the shorted phase wires will cause an electromagnetic dynamic braking effect.
The level of resistance should be identical with all three combinations of pairs touched together (Yellow/Blue, Blue/Green and Green/Yellow).
If it is a geared motor with an internal freewheel device (called a unidirectional clutch) you will have to spin the wheel in the reverse direction to feel the strong resistance when each pair of phase wires are touched together.

I am puzzled by the "5 thin wires of the same colours plus red and black", as all of the GM hubmotors with external controllers only have five thin wires in total (Red, Black, Yellow, Green and Blue).

You may need to do some further research on your motor in order to determine what the "5 thin wires of the same colours" are for.

Alan
 

Offline OCD

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Re: Testing motor
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2016, 10:28:42 PM »
Quote
I am puzzled by the "5 thin wires of the same colours plus red and black"
I think he means 5 in total; three thin wires the same colour as the phase wires (hall sensors)+ red and black. He never actually said it was a GM product but most Chinese made hub motors connect the same way. If he has a multi meter he can measure the various connections, see if there is voltage at the throttle and check the halls before replacing the controller needlessly. :)