CUTE geared hub motors from bmsbattery/ecitypower

[drewdiller]

Well, took my first non break-in ride to work this morning. 7 miles. Power cut out just shy of the parking lot. I switched the battery off then on again, and the CA came up, so wiring doesn't appear to be damaged or dislodged.

Re-reading Ypedal's review of a Headway pack, I may have a piece of crap BMS on my hands. I was pedaling a fair amount, I expected to get a lot more range than just 7 miles.

My stupid self hit the "reset" button after the ride, bad habit. Will try to avoid that next time so I can at least have some data.

 

[DAND214]

drewdiller ;
did it just quit qnd what was the voltage? Would it restart?
I just came in from a 8 mile ride to DENNY'S for lunch, it's normaly 4 miles but since we had the foot of snow the only way I could gt there was 2 miles out of the way both ways. Top speed with wind and pedaling was 26.4 mph into the wind was 22 mph. max amps was 28 and at substained 20mph at about 8 amps draw or 25 watts/mile so about 2 miles an amp so that says I can go about 27 to 30 miles on this pack before low voltage shut off. i do expect more in warmer weather. I don't think studded tires would help me in this deep snow with the packed snowand & ice on the walks so I went the long way. So far the CUTE hub is doing ok.
Dan

 

[drewdiller]

It would restart, but would only go a short distance before cutting again.

I strolled over to the store room just now, flipped the battery on and the CA read 39.2V (it's a 36V pack).

I'll see what the ride home is like and post later tonight.

 

[drewdiller]

(Yow. This is well off topic by now, so I'll try to shut up after this, but I couldn't get the motor to move me more than 20 feet! It was a test of willpower to motivate my heavier than normal single gear bike home on zero calories. Bad day. At least the battery is still charging, hopefully won't have to tear into it.)

 

[DAND214]

drewdiller,
I always check my CA before I clear it, it's the most important piece of information you will ever need for this type of fun. Hope you have better luck tomorrow with your ride to work. I hope to get in a few more miles tomorrow also. Were having a heat wave here in Chicago, it's going to hit freezing tomorrow!!! Almost time to put the shorts on? :?
Dan

 

[Hyena]

the CA read 39.2V (it's a 36V pack).

If it doesnt drop suddenly when you hit the throttle I'd bet a large sum of money its a dodgy BMS

 

[DAND214]

drewdiller,
did you get to ride today?
I got 13.6 miles in today, mostly WOT with top speed of 26.4mph and 7.4amps consumed. The amp draw was really high Wot like 16 amps at 22 mph but about 3.5 at 12mph. Most of the ride home was WOT about the last 5 miles so I could check temp of hub and controller. Cold on both next to no heat on the hub and the controller was cold. I guess it's too cold to generate enough heat to tell. I would think if the controller was overloaded it would of shut down, 28.9 max draw on a 6 fet controller with mods. I rhink I'm starting to like these CUTE things after all.Not as fats or as strong as my DD hubs but they sure pedal nice, no drag or cogging as we call it. The sticker from ECITY says it's a 128mm rear 500w 36v for 20" wheel, I did tell them that it was for a 20" wheel so I would get a lower wind, if that makes any sense. So far so good more miles tomorrow I hope, it's going to be above freezing to morrow 33F!!

 

[drewdiller]

drewdiller,
did you get to ride today?
I got 13.6 miles in today, mostly WOT with top speed of 26.4mph and 7.4amps consumed. The amp draw was really high Wot like 16 amps at 22 mph but about 3.5 at 12mph. Most of the ride home was WOT about the last 5 miles so I could check temp of hub and controller. Cold on both next to no heat on the hub and the controller was cold. I guess it's too cold to generate enough heat to tell. I would think if the controller was overloaded it would of shut down, 28.9 max draw on a 6 fet controller with mods. I rhink I'm starting to like these CUTE things after all.Not as fats or as strong as my DD hubs but they sure pedal nice, no drag or cogging as we call it. The sticker from ECITY says it's a 128mm rear 500w 36v for 20" wheel, I did tell them that it was for a 20" wheel so I would get a lower wind, if that makes any sense. So far so good more miles tomorrow I hope, it's going to be above freezing to morrow 33F!!

I did go for a ride over lunch today. I'm sketchy about driving my Cute hub very hard as they really, really look like the Ananda 200W motors, but I've been putting an average of 450W through them and they never get hot to the touch. Maybe it is too cold outside as you've suggested.

I'm going to divert my next posts to the Headway pack thread, I got 7.25mi / 3.62Ah out of my pack before it cut out. WTF.

 

[The Stig]

drew do you have the 108mm or the 128 mm motor?

 

[drewdiller]

128.

 

[evblazer]

Does anyone know or care to make an educated guess if the weight limit which was on the now blank bms site, I think 85kg and 100kg, was axle strength limits or suggested due to limited power output?

 

[DAND214]

EV,
here is a link http://www.ecitypower.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=42&Itemid=66 E CITY is the source for BMSBATT. I don't see a suggested weight limit there.
Dan

 

[Kevinator]

weird, bmsbattery.com is empty...no products listed. Bummer because I was going to order a cute motor.

 

[drewdiller]

weird, bmsbattery.com is empty...no products listed. Bummer because I was going to order a cute motor.

The Chinese lunar new year is going on, that's why. Supposed to be coming to a close relatively soon, so I'd check back every week or so.

 

[DAND214]

Kevinator, if you want to order email Miss Annie lei at sales@ecitypower.com or at
http://www.ecitypower.com/index.php?option=com_contact&view=category&catid=12&Itemid=48&5a8729d658601922ad7447e28083cf65=73f977a38180d9b1abf7f75275e808c0 that is ECITY which is also BMS as all sales are thru them and I have much contacts with Annie. Even if you ordered it thru BMS you would get an email from one of the contacts from ECITY to determine what and which one you are after. She also said it cuts time and maybe cost.

I did ride mine Friday for about 5 miles after I road my Dd hub, I'm not too sure that the DD hubs are any quieter that the CUTE hubs as my Dd's all growl with any major throttle power. It was 42f and the hub was at 68f at the axle ofter the Wot 5 mile run. I am putting my other Cute one on my Recumbant this week but we are going to get another 5 to 7 inches of snow so it will be a while before I can ride it. 7 Ebikes and counting! Can you tell that I hooked.
Dan

 

[The Stig]

So far does anyone have an opinion as to which one is better: a bafang or a Cute 128? At the moment I have what I believe to be a bafang which is run at 24V and goes almost 20mph. 350W.

I'm more interested in the cute 108 motor myself so I'm wondering whats the most power you can run through these things? I'm thinking of running dual cute 128 at 55V and 20A each. Not sure which winding.

 

[Hyena]

The site is back up and running for those who were looking to place orders

 

[Kevinator]

So far does anyone have an opinion as to which one is better: a bafang or a Cute 128? At the moment I have what I believe to be a bafang which is run at 24V and goes almost 20mph. 350W.

I'm more interested in the cute 108 motor myself so I'm wondering whats the most power you can run through these things? I'm thinking of running dual cute 128 at 55V and 20A each. Not sure which winding.

wow 20mph at 24v is impressive. I'm also intersted in the 108 and would like to know how fast it realistically will go at 24v.

 

[Kevinator]

I ended up ordering the 128R and 100R models from bmsbattery. Its been almost 2 weeks so maybe they'll show up sometime soon.

 

[DAND214]

Kevin, did you get a ship date? They told me it would be 5 weeks to build the hubs as they are not stock items! Hope you have better luck than I did.
I have both of my 128 hubs up and running, but don't think I will be out riding for a while. I broke it yesterday, not the bike, my ANKLE!!! OCHYOCHY boy does it hurt. Good news, the bike is fine, bad news is I need surgery next week. Will try to post more in a new thread and hope to post pics, if I get lucky on how to do it. Maybe tomorrow as I need to lay down and rest my ankle. Both hubs run great and very quiet.
Dan

 

[Kevinator]

Hi Dan, unfortunately it looks like my order won't even ship for at least another week so it will probably end up being a 5 week wait in total. I sent an email asking about my order, and according to Jack, they're waiting on the 100sx motor. It would have been nice if they had mentioned any delays, since shipping alone normally takes 2 weeks. I probably won't see my order until the end of the month.

What speeds are you getting without pedaling on your cute motor? I'm curious to know how long it takes to accelerate to full speed. With my cyclone 360w and Nexus 8 internal hub in a 20" wheel, I get 21-22mph on flat roads, but it takes about 3/4ths of a block to reach that speed if I am not pedaling.

BTW, I'm really sorry to hear about your broken ankle! I haven't broken one yet, but I know that spraining one hurts like a mofo. I hope your surgery goes well and that you have a quick recovery.

 

[DAND214]

Kevin, I have seen 30mph 48v on both bikes, pedaling hard, 21 on 36v. Top speed no assist is 26 to 28 mph no wind. It appears they get about 2 miles per amp if assisted at all. I have the first one on a Wallworld POS, which turned out not to bad and my other is on a BURLEY LIMBO recumbant. The recumbant is very misleading on how fast you are really going. Both bikes have controllers from BMS the POS has the 6 fet reworked which pulls as hard as the stock 12 fet unit. Heat has not been a problem yet but they are getting warm. This is my first attempt to upload pics, hope it works.
As for the wait for your motors, I started to place another order for 2 hubs and 8 controllers and they told me it would be 5 week wait for the hub motors!.
When you get them I think you will like them, I think they pull almost as good as my Goldens, conhis 24v 500w hub 26" wheel with 48v, 12 fet Infinion stock. As fast but not a strong as my 9C.
Sitting up too long, foot hurts, will look later.
Dan

 

[Kevinator]

Thanks for posting the pics Dan! The "cute" motors look great on both bikes. Very low-key and shiney at the same time.

26-28mph at 48v would be fine with me, but I'll probably be using them at 24v most of the time. If you're only getting 21mph at 36v, I really hope the 100 and 128 motors can put out a decent unassisted speed at 24v.

I'm looking forward to trying those motors out. I also got throttle and brake levers, as well as 6-fet and 12-fet controllers with my order....just need to wait about another 3 weeks until they arrive.



I would really like to try dual motors like TheStig mentioned, but I don't want to risk a broken suspension fork on that experiment, and don't have much desire to ride at dual-motor speeds on a rigid fork.

 

[DAND214]

Thank Kevin, They are both 128 hubs, when I ordered them I told Jack that they would be on 20" so I would get more speed. Sticker was 36v 500w 20" wheel.
I did think they were kinda stealthy due to the small size and the larger wheels. It was the recumbant that I layed down due to low traction in the front. Freiend told me to lower the psi so I would get more grip in the turns, makes sense to me.
As for the 6 fet controller, I changed trhe fets to the 4110 fets and half soldered the shunt and it performs a good as the stock 12 fet unit. It has been too cold to really get an indication of overheating or any heat at all from the controllers but the hubs are getting warm if I pound them hard. Last ride before the crash the POS was rather warm after 23 miles of running and the last 12 were mostly WOT from stop signs too.
Please ignore my spelling at this time as I am not all here right now.
Good luck on your project and I'm rather sure you will be impressed, I am.
Dan

 

[Kevinator]

Well, I ended up cancelling my order with bmsbattery/ecitypower after 5 weeks of waiting. They still hadn't shipped my order yet, and it was already a week beyond when they said they'd have the motors in stock. Jack promptly refunded my money, but that was a lot of wasted time. Having all my money tied up for 5 weeks really set my projects back. Now I need to find a reliable source for another mini-motor.