Got my motor kit, need help! Please.

wyoplinker

1 µW
Joined
Feb 23, 2015
Messages
4
Location
Buffalo, Wyoming
Hello everybody, longtime peruser, first time poster. I just received my motor kit from EM3EV and have several questions. I would like to do this right the first time. First of all, I got the MAC 12T motor, with the 9FET30A (36-52V, IRFB3077) controller. I bought everything, including the battery (the 25R), from EM3EV so it would pretty much be plug and play. The kit arrived and there is nothing for instructions or directions so I was hoping you guys could help me out.

First off, the motor itself was not in the hub as I thought it would be. I put it in the hub and was about to button it up when I noticed that there was some extra grease packed with it. What should I make sure and grease well before I put the other cover on? I did line up the marks on the motor housing and side case on the other side and will do the same on this side, but these don't need to correspond to anything on the motor itself, do they?



The next question involves the hall sensors. I believe they are the thin colored wires that are all terminated in shrink wrap coming from the motor, correct? There is an extra white plug included in the kit and I think this is to wire the hall sensors into if I want to connect them to the controller. Is this worth the effort? There is a corresponding plug on the controller. The only thing is there is an extra white wire on the group of wires coming from the motor. What do I do with the white wire if I do have to wire up the hall sensors? Also in this photo is the black "cap" with a hole in the side. It seems that this is supposed to protect the wiring coming from the motor where it exits the axle, but the hole is too small to feed the wires through to get it down to the axle. Am I missing something? What is this thing actually for? Do the motor wires come straight out the end of the axle, or are they suppose to make an abrupt 90 degree turn?


In this next photo you can see the black cap again. What is the deal with the 2 washers with tabs on them? My bikes original front tire had similar, but they fit into slots in the forks. What are these slots supposed to fit into? I do have a Grin Tech rev 3 torque arm I will be using, by the way.


The throttle and the HWBS sensor plugged into the controller pretty easily. There is also this switch. Do I need it? I'm not running a light or a horn.

Here's a photo of the controller with the throttle and HWBS sensor plugged in and a closeup of the throttle.



And finally this brings us to the HWBS sensor. I get that the brake cable needs to run through it, but how exactly is it hooked up? I've included photos of the front brake on my bike, any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated.




Sorry for the monster post, but I thought it would be better to get everything out there all at once. Thank you in advance for any help you might send my way. Any help on any of these questions is greatly appreciated. If you need a better view of anything I can take more photos. Oh yeah, one last thing. Should I charge up the battery fully before hooking it all up for the first time? Do I need an inline fuse anywhere for the initial hook up?

Thanks again!
Chris
 
Didn't they send you instructions?
 
hi chris
the em3ev kits are awsome and no they dont come with instructions but generally you can find everything you need here,
paul is very helplfull via email but he is only one person with lots of emails...
to answer a few of your questions but not all ...sorry.

-the marks on the side covers are to make sure it is put back together with th same orientation, just line them up with the ones on the motor to get the right bolt holes. they come seperate for shipping. the tolerances are fine and bits can rub inside etc if not realigned.
- the hall sensors come seperated from their plug so you can get them all back together inside the battery bag.
they absolutely need putting together otherwise your motor wont run. match the colours exactly. red and black are pos/neg and the three colours are the signal wires. the heat shrink is just to protect them during transport.
- the plastic cap i think is a protector for the wires, yes thread them through and slide it down (be carefull with the hall sensor wires)
-the extra white wire coming from the motor is a temp probe are you using a cycle analyst computer? if not you'll have to leave it out (it think)
-the tabbed washers i dont use much, they are usefull as spacers,and as lugged washers the lugs prevent twisting when tightening nuts etc. if you have a grin TA then that will take care of torque. id say they are primarily for use between your frame and nut.
-the switch is used as an on/off for your controller(and/or CA if you're using one) put it on otherwise you cant turn your controller ON=no go
the horn button is prob not necessary for you but usefull with other applications, IIRC green/red is the on/off plug but not sure
-three speed switch adjusts power levels on the fly and green button is cruise control
-cant help with the HWBS- never used one.
a few other points
once all running and working tape bullet connectors so they dont slide apart when riding.
-big 6 plug connector from battery is main make/break connection as it includes precharge circuit. (ie connect last)
- two white single wires coming from controller are for enabling regen (ebraking) connect together if desired
have fun
K
 
It wouldn't kill Paul to put a tiny slip of paper in the box, Web page for on line manual is.....
 
Thanks for the help guys! I agree that a slip of paper in with the parts with a nudge in the right direction wouldn't seem like too much to ask. Even better, those two pdf's should be put up on his website in the Product Support and Info page. Doesn't seem like that would be too difficult. Right now that section just says "Info to be added soon". Those two linked pdf's should be enough for me to get everything straightened out. I also emailed Paul last night looking for instructions and he answered a couple of my specific questions by this morning, so I am in no way bashing EMV3ev. I'm happy with his customer service and didn't expect step by step instructions with this kit.

What battery bag is a good one to use and should I get one with an extra "pocket" to put the controller in? Will that work? Should the controller be mounted more securely to the rack? Once the battery is mounted on the rack, is it more beneficial to recharge it while it is on the bike? Should it be recharged while still being plugged into the controller? It seems like I've read that plugging it into the controller is the touchy situation and that's why Paul ships his batteries with a "pre-charge" and that there still could be a spark, so it seems like you should minimize the number of times you have to do this.

Thanks!
Chris
 
Where you mount the battery depends on tyhe battery you chose. In general, if you can mount the battery in the frame triangle area, you will have a much better handling bike. That might be tricky on your bike with the curved frame.You would likely need to build something custom.
Second best would be a bag on the rear rack. What bag works best depends on the size and shape of the battery, and there is a near infinite selection of battery sizes and shapes, so it's hard to recommend one specific bag.

On the cheap end, a soft sided cooler from any supermarket is realy all you need. Like this one: https://www.google.com/search?q=sof...ided+cooler&tbm=shop&spd=16252510903807521639 there are much better bags, too. the advantage with these over just a canvas bag is they have padding in the insulated sides, offering protection to the battery, and holding in the warmth if you happen to live someplace cold.
Hold it down with 3 bungee cords (2 from the side, one front to back) and you're rolling.

On the high end are bags on locking rails like this one: -longass-url-cut-short-
The look much nicer, and clip on to an MTX rail style rack, making the battery easy to remove and carry inside.

There are several dedicated rear rack battery bags out there. the only advantage with those is a small hole pre-cut in the bag for the battery cables. Their quality is usually closer to the $3 cooler's but their price is closer to the dedicated bike bag's. And they usually have some advertising on the side. Mine boldly advertise Crystalyte in reflective letters. All 3 that I have had came with velcro straps to hold them to the rack. all 3 eventualy fell off at some point, and I began securing them with 3 thin gauge bungee cords like I described earlier.

What ever you chose, it's a good idea to fill in the rest of the bag with some kind of spacer, like seat cushion foam, packing foam, or styrofoam, to keep the battery from sliding and bouncing around in the bag.

As for the controller, No. Don't put it in the bag. it's rare, but in normal operation the controller can get hot enough to cause a fire. it needs air to keep cool. those grooves are cooling fins, and it's in a metal case for a reason.
 
Depending on which size battery you bought from Paul, the handlebar bag linked below has been used by several people with success. The bag has a quick release mount and can become a fanny pack or shoulder bag when removed from the bike. I just received mine and it is exactly the right size and very discreet:

http://www.topeak.com/products/bags/Compact_Handlebar_Bag
 
Thanks again for the help everybody! Got everything together and up and running last night, including the HWBS. If anybody needs any advice for the HWBS, I'd be glad to help, but it's really pretty simple. I still need to get everything located, mounted, and cleaned up. The email I got from Paul said the light/horn switch was only necessary if I was using the thumb throttle, but after I got everything put together there was no juice anywhere. I hooked up that switch and voila!, everything worked. It's kind of a dorky looking switch, so I might try to change it out with something nicer. I'll post a couple of photos when I get everything mounted and the wires cleaned up. I'm still contemplating trying the controller in a pocket of the battery bag. The one I'm looking at has vents in the side and I live in a small town so I'll never be riding more than 2 or 3 miles at a time. The only problem is that it's all uphill all the way back to my house. Nothing terribly steep, just continuous. I see where other people have mounted the controller in a closed space, is this something I really need to avoid? I might try it for awhile and just keep an eye on it to make sure it's not getting too hot. It would sure look better than having the controller mounted on the frame somewhere, but I'm looking at those options as well.

Oh, and as far as not hooking up the throttle wire. I think I'd rather just ride it for 3-4 years and then replace the composite gears for $30 if needed. Thanks for your help though.
 
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