Problems with Lashout Planetary

[DrInnovation]

Hi.. looking on advice for dealing with my Lashout ebike (synergy/rayous parent, Currie cousin). It has a 600w MAC motor with integrated controller and a plantary gearing system that drives the #25 chain that is attached on the disk mounting.

Bougth it used.. had a problem when the bolts fell off and the motor came loose -- motor was hanging by its wires. I think some dirt got in, so I cleaned out the gears (wd40) and then I repacked it with lithium grease. Been working smoothly but yesterday it was working the battery super hard (though maybe I lost a pack in series). and when I got home it would not backup at all and would not freewheel properly either.

So I took it appart and the grease was silver from the number of metal particles in it. Given the volume of metal i knew it was serious so I totally disassbled the planetary. No missing teeth but the plate that holds the gears was highly worn.. look at the sections point to by the red arrow and you can see the missing metal worn off the alignment posts.




You can also see the wearing it did on the motor face



Cleaned it up and reassembled and repacked it with grease..


but now its making a horrible noise when under load.. you can hear it in the following movies.

View attachment Lashout-Grind.mp4

Is it possible I repacked something wrong which lead to the grinding? Any ideas how to fix it?So.. Is the existing planetary gear just toast? Is it something else?

There is a fair amount of play in the sprock (in and out).. could that mean I lost something else (a spacer or something?).


I'm heavy (235lb with pack) and taking this up steep hills (8%, 10%).. the hills are too steep for the bike on its own.. I have to pedal). Is that just too much stress for this old unit..

If I buy a replacement planetary is it likely it will die the same type of death (I've been riding 5x a week since june..

 

[amberwolf]

If it's been grinding stuff off the posts, it means the gears are wobbling about in their mounting holes, because their axles are smaller than the holes, most likely.

You'd either need to make a new plate with holes of teh right size for those axles, or install some sort of spacer in the holes (washer) that A) can't come out of hte holes and B) has an outer diameter exactly teh same as the hole and inner diameter exactly teh same as the axles, and C) has the holes centered so the planetaries are lined up correctly in the center of the sun and ring.

It's probably easier to get a new planetary, but if hte gears are not damaged, you could make the new plate based on the old one, but more precisely and out of something unlikely to wear like it did.



As for the noise, it could be something missing, or just the alignment of things inside the gearbox.


For load, well, these things aren't generally high-wattage, and up steep hills with a lot of weight they probably will bog down, unless you change the gearing ratio between gearbox output and wheel for more torque and less speed. (might bog even then).

 

[DrInnovation]

Thanks for the answers.. disassembled checkeverything out.. flipped a few gears to improve the meshing.. and it did reduce the noice. only lastes about 200yards before it seized up again..
Seems I not only ate the alignment posts but looking for replacement parts I realized that there are supposed to be rivets that hold the plates together but mine are are gone..

I've ordered a new plate..



With respect to the hills, I don't mind if it bogs down and I have to pedal (I expect to).. just don't want to break the unit. I could look at getting a hub system for me and make this into the wife's bike (though she says she does not really want one). The real question is if the stress I'm putting on this riding the hills with my heavy load is going to destroy the next one.. so I'll be replacing parts frequently
At least I found the part for $28, so if I do replace it again its not a killer.

And after I get the new one maybe I'll try to reassemble the old one with something to hold the plates together.