Cooling a Mac hub motor

[ebikedelight]

Has anyone ever done something like this? Am I the first?

I would suggest to remove 2 of them (heat-sink) in your chain, and to finalize the two wire ends, so to look as close loop, and both ends will be connected by a tensioned spring.

but what about that 180 watt mid drive bike motor you have ? :wink:

jus teasin ya pal...

but you are correct..if he didnt use electrical adhesive, your idea with the spring is a good one.

 

[ebikedelight]

I would suggest to remove 2 of them (heat-sink) in your chain, and to finalize the two wire ends, so to look as close loop, and both ends will be connected by a tensioned spring.[/quote]


but what about that 180 watt mid drive bike motor you have ? :wink:

jus teasin ya pal...

but you are correct..if he didnt use electrical adhesive, your idea with the spring is a good one.[/quote]

Teasing is not accepted by me when it comes from totally anonymous and faceless people.
Possibly you have the false feeling of equality with me, well we are not equal.[/quote]


yes my greek friend..you are much better then me...I envy you immensely...in fact, I want to have your baby. LOL

now tell us about your 180 watt mid drive motor, for the 10,000th time.

 

[ebikedelight]

as far as cutting holes in the hub , and then trying to keep mositure out by using plugs when its wet outside..or avoiding puddles, etc...that wont be good enough. You will still have to deal with the humidity and mositure in the air during the summer months ,which will build up in the hub motor.

I would think, if you are going to drill holes in the side covers, it would be mandatory to use the CRC Red Urethane Seal Coating to provide moisture protection of all internal components....not doing this, would probably result in the motor failing as it builds up moisture inside and causes problems.

I wonder if it is really needed to drill so many large holes in both sides of the cover. I would think the air cooling could work fine, by just drilling 1 hole on the freewheel side near the outer hub area , about 1-2 inchs wide at the 12 o clock area and then place a 90 degree elbow in that hole, so it fits snugly in the hole and epoxy it in permanently so it faces towards the front of the bike , then drill another hole of the same size at the 6 oclock position ...as the wheel turns, air would be forced in the hub at the elbow hole and forced out at the normal hole .

 

[ebikedelight]

after inspecting my yescomusa 1000 watt motor....it seems that using the aluminum heat fins on the sides, is the best place { as someone else mentioned} ....the center area where Veloman used his cooling fins, is steel { on my motor } but the sides are aluminum and since aluminum dissipates heat better , it should be a better option to attach the aluminum heatsink fins on the aluminum side covers . I really dont like the idea of drilling holes in the side plates , even if the CRC Red Urethane Seal Coat is used on the interior components. I would think that proper placement/ and number of aluminum cooling fins on both aluminum side covers , would have to help dissipate enough heat, to alleviate the majority of heat problems most of us would face { as long as we arent using our ebikes to do trial races and climb mountains } . Just being able to knock off 10-20 degrees fareneheit with the aluminum cooling fin mods, should be enough to keep the motor from being in the " heat danger zone" for most applications. Being able to accomplish the heat dissipation this way is the easiest and simpliest mod and keeps the motor a sealed unit , free from water/ dirt entry . ...it also alleviates the compexity and problems of using things like cooling fans .

I think the big key to getting the most heat dissipation from the aluminum cooling fins attached to both side covers, is figuring out how to configure them properly to make the most of the " wind chill effect " that is created from the wheel/ hub spinning during movement of the bike.

 

[ebikedelight]

I am pushing my yescomusa 1000 watt motor,. to the limits by running a max of 50 amps at 50 volts...and my motor is getting very warm to the touch, even though its only 60 degrees in my area...once summer arrives and we have the 98 degree summer heat, im sure my motor will be getting uncomfortably hot . I will be doing the aluminum fin mod , on both side covers before then . I figure if im unable to hold my hand on the side covers of the hub motor , in the summertime riding , then the heat sink fin modification was not a a success. Luckily I have a metal yard 5 minutes from my house...and he sells aluminum ...I just dont know if I should use

aluminum 90 degree angle...aluminum U angle....or maybe 2 " round aluminum tubing and use my pipe bender to bend it in a circular shape to fit the outside edge of the hub covers , fasten it with adhesive, then drill holes in it , to allow the wind chill effect to drive forced air thru the inside of the tubing ...which should result in 2 effective types of cooling working together...heatsink cooling and wind chill effect cooling.

So many variables....to try and get the best cooling, with the simpliest mod .

 

[ebikedelight]

decided to purchase some premade heat sinks off ebay :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131316806456?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


I will cut these into 3 " lengths...then attach them to the outer edges of the hub sidecovers , which is where most of the heat is generated. I will first try attaching 4 pieces to each side with conductive adhesive . Hopefully having the advantages of both a heatsink and windchill cooling effect , will dissipate more heat. Even if it only results in a 10 degree drop , that still can be quite helpful over the longterm. I hope this idea works, because I think its better to keep the hub a closed system , and not have to worry about water/ humidity, dust/ dirt entering the inside of the hub motor.

 

[999zip999]

I want to see pictures of the baby.
Lover's.
Who worried about motors heating up now.
When a motor is heating up it not working very efficiently.

 

[Bullfrog]

Adding fins to a geared hub motor like a MAC will not do any good if you don't thermally connect the windings to the fins.

There is an air gap that works as a really good insulator between the windings and the outer shell where you would attach fins. The heat won't jump the air gap unless you add some sort of fluid and you need to add enough to bridge the gap.

About 4.5 ounces is required for a MAC motor.

Nothing wrong with adding fins...just didn't want anybody to do it thinking it would help. Don't misunderstand, it will help a tiny bit but not enough to make it worth the effort.

IMO two ways to cool a MAC that will actually work...

A. Convection...which is forced air flow whether from the bike moving or from a fan.

B. Bridge the stator/housing gap with a liquid...I have tried Low Viscosity Automatic Transmission Fluid and Distilled Water 5% by volume Motul brand MoCool which is a corrosion inhibitor.

Both fluids helped immensely but have their own unique advantages and disadvantages.

Yep, I know this is an old thread...just trying to help newbies doing research on how to cool their geared hub motor .