Author Topic: How reliable are they??  (Read 9764 times)

Offline Andrew

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How reliable are they??
« on: September 25, 2010, 08:15:20 PM »
From doing a bit of searching it seems that other some what 'stuffy' forums moan about MP's being unreliable and being problematic.  what are your opinions and thoughts on this?  I see that a Alien Ocean the electric bike seller has become a UK distributor for GM.


Andrew

Offline Hardcore

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2010, 09:13:52 PM »
In my point of view:
Only peopl with problems come to visit the forums for help, not all but most.
If there are no problems why bother searching for answers as there are no questions to be answered.
I myself wanted to learn more, and I did but not enough to give a full review about the reliability of the mp.
But I like my mp and it has performed better then expected.
Hope this helps

Offline Sundsvall

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2010, 10:03:32 PM »
I have bought a mini-motor, a frog style battery pack and a Magic Pie and none of them has disappointed me. The mini-motor is mounted on a 28” rim which is too large for that motors torque but the size does matter when you’re drive in deep snow so that choice was deliberate. The frog style battery is an improvement to my winter bike as it doesn’t have the same voltage droop as the SLA’s had under strain plus it saved me a lot of unnecessary weight. The Magic Pie is a killer as long it’s fed by a controller that can handle high amps. Most issues seems to be with the magic controller but again mine haven’t give me any hard times.
Midsummer sun = up 02:54   down 22:51   angle 51,0° :)
Midwinter sun =    up 09:19   down14:18   angle 4,2° :(
Mean annual temperature = 3,1°C

Offline MonkeyMagic

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2010, 06:14:29 AM »
I have been absent from this forum alot too busy riding my dual drive haha
No product is perfect, and I would put most problems down to the operator anyways...

You should totally buy a pie or 2 :D

Offline Andrew

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2010, 07:28:13 AM »
I have been absent from this forum alot too busy riding my dual drive haha
No product is perfect, and I would put most problems down to the operator anyways...

You should totally buy a pie or 2 :D


Thanks for all the above replies. I'm making fianl preparations at present on ordering a MP from China. So o vewr the next few weeks I'm sure i'll have a whole host of questions but hopefully no major issues.
The forum member 'bike mad' (aka Alan) has already answered many of my queries and put my mind at rest a bit.

Is having an internal controller  potentially problematical if there are controller issues?  Or is the controller still easily accessible?

Thanks again

Andrew

Offline Spacey

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2010, 04:59:37 PM »
The Magic Pie motor itself has taken all the abuse of me putting 70amps peak through it when accelerating and is holding up nicely. I use a separate controller and battery though. But the motor can take some abuse.

Offline MonkeyMagic

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2010, 06:33:07 AM »
hey spacey what top speed are you getting mate?

cheers

Offline Spacey

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2010, 09:15:12 AM »
Top speed is 24mph and that is the absolute top speed on the flat with no wind. Usually it's around 22mph  :(   Not sure if I was sent a slow one lol I use Headway 48v which is usually 54v for most of the ride.

Offline MonkeyMagic

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2010, 01:05:42 PM »
Hmmm okay sounds like what I was getting with dual 20" cast...
I say was because today stopping at the lights my rear wheels spat it and gave the 5 beeps of death!!

Noooo. It wasn't on a hill or anything, around a 23degC day and was just out for a ride. Walked the bike home cogging wahhhh
So I emailed Tom lol I'll see what happens but I might be making the rear wheel 72v @ 30A with external. I think it should be okay.


Any doubts on this fellas?

Offline Bikemad

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2010, 01:53:01 PM »
today stopping at the lights my rear wheels spat it and gave the 5 beeps of death!!

Noooo. It wasn't on a hill or anything, around a 23degC day and was just out for a ride. Walked the bike home cogging wahhhh

It sounds like it could be your hall sensor problem has returned, causing a couple of FETs to fail at the same time. It would be worth checking the hall sensors before fitting another controller.

Alan
 

Offline MonkeyMagic

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2010, 05:21:19 PM »
Thanks for the tip Alan. I thought about that, and that since the hall sensor initial problem the wheel never seemed to have any power compared to the front motor I received.

Luckily when I bought the front motor I also purchased 3 GM hall sensors just in case :)
I also have a few throttles, do you think they are the same sensor?

Tonight I removed the rear wheel and changed it with a bmx rear, I guess that's another bonus of having dual drive is you can change the wheel not working for a standard one and at least have some pie enjoyment. I must say it is SUCH a massive difference now with just one motor now!! lol

Tomorrow I'll pull the 20" apart and hunt around for any signs of grief.

Can you Alan, (or anyone) tell me a good way to test the FET's to see which is failed. I was thinking continuity and checking between the pins? I did this on the blown 16" wheel controller and found all but 2 FET's had continuity between the PINS.

So that springs another question, if the 20" wheel when I open it has blown FET's, and hopefully just 1 or 2 at the worst... Should I be best to remove the FET's I think are good from the old blown controller from the other wheel and install them in the 20" controller? I think that should be a go-er

":) thanks again

Offline Bikemad

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Re: Hall sensors and Field Effect Transistors (FETs)
« Reply #11 on: October 05, 2010, 12:16:48 AM »
Luckily when I bought the front motor I also purchased 3 GM hall sensors just in case :)
I also have a few throttles, do you think they are the same sensor?

I don't know if the hall sensors are the same, but this is what's inside the twist throttle:


                   Click image to view the original thread.                   


Can you Alan, (or anyone) tell me a good way to test the FET's to see which is failed. I was thinking continuity and checking between the pins? I did this on the blown 16" wheel controller and found all but 2 FET's had continuity between the PINS.

So that springs another question, if the 20" wheel when I open it has blown FET's, and hopefully just 1 or 2 at the worst... Should I be best to remove the FET's I think are good from the old blown controller from the other wheel and install them in the 20" controller? I think that should be a go-er

I'm assuming at least two FETs must have failed to cause a complete circuit, producing the electrodynamic braking braking effect (wheel difficult to turn) with the controller turned off, but I could be wrong.

If it is just a failed  FET you may be able to simply replace it, but there's a possibility that it might have done further damage to other components within the controller.
Check out this post for more information regarding checking the FETs.

Alan
 

Offline MonkeyMagic

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Re: How reliable are they??
« Reply #12 on: October 05, 2010, 01:30:40 AM »
Thanks Alan, I'll look into that

You have nice nails btw haha