Small geared front hub motors that can run in reverse?

[Santa'sLittleHelper]

Looking for about a 5” or smaller diameter geared front hub motor that can run in reverse and still freewheel properly. I have heard some motors like the Q100/Q100H/Q128 can have the free wheel mechanism flipped or changed in some way that you can run it as a mid-drive with a right side gear on the disc brake mount to the crank. Is this true?

How about the Bafang Mini Geared GS01-STD? This motor has the wiring coming out of the side of the motor instead of the axle, which is preferred.

In short , looking for the smallest, lightest weight, quietest geared disc brake front hub motor with the wires coming out of the hub not the axle, that can be run in reverse as a mid-drive and free wheel properly.

What other issues are there with running a geared front hub motor in reverse? Sensors?

 

[motomech]

No such animal exists.
Geared motors use a Sprag or "ramp and roller" clutch and by nature of their design, do not function in counter rotation.

 

[d8veh]

All the Q-series motors can be reversed : Q75, Q85, Q100, and, Q128. The clutches are completely symmetrical, so you can flip them.

The last one I flipped was a Q128. I guess that the hall sensors are not completely symmetrical because the controllers with auto phase/hall detection couldn't be made to run the motor in reverse. I tried the 09 case controller (Kunteng) that doesn't have auto detection, but it would only run rough after trying all 36 wire combinations; however, the motor ran perfectly with an aluminium case KT controller after finding the correct sequence. Q-series motors have always been a bit fussy about which controller they want to work with. As a guess, I reckon that a reversed Q85 or Q100 would be OK with a S06S controller, which is very similar to the one I used with the Q128.

Here's the clutch. Just pull the middle bit out and flip it over. It's a bit fiddly to get the rollers and sprongs back in. be careful not to lose a spring:

 

[LewTwo]

All the Q-series motors can be reversed : Q75, Q85, Q100, and, Q128. The clutches are completely symmetrical, so you can flip them.

The last one I flipped was a Q128. I guess that the hall sensors are not completely symmetrical because the controllers with auto phase/hall detection couldn't be made to run the motor in reverse. I tried the 09 case controller (Kunteng) that doesn't have auto detection, but it would only run rough after trying all 36 wire combinations; however, the motor ran perfectly with an aluminium case KT controller after finding the correct sequence. Q-series motors have always been a bit fussy about which controller they want to work with. As a guess, I reckon that a reversed Q85 or Q100 would be OK with a S06S controller, which is very similar to the one I used with the Q128.

here's the clutch. Just pull the middle bit out and flip it over. It's a bit fiddly to get the rollers and sprongs back in. be careful not to lose a spring:

Not to steal the OP's thread but ...
Could the clutch be "pinned" so that one could use reverse, regen and/or e-brakes? Or would this cause too much stress on the gear system?
Just something I have been curious about because there are NO lightweight DD hubs.

 

[dogman dan]

At first I thought what the hell? I get it now,, you can put the clutch in "backwards" or whatever you call it.

I think he wants forward and reverse, in a freewheeling geared motor though. Can't have that. Cant regen and have a freewheel either.

Should be possible to lock a clutch, making it a geared that can reverse or regen, but not freewheel. It's the ol,, you can two of three, not all three.

 

[Santa'sLittleHelper]

I think he wants forward and reverse, in a freewheeling geared motor though. Can't have that. Cant regen and have a freewheel either.

No, not at all. I want a small light weight geared front (100mm) hub motor to mount in the frame triangle as a mid-drive that powers the crank using a sprocket attached to the disc brake mount. It'd be nice to have the disc brake mount on the right side instead the left, thus the need for reversing the motors rotation.

It sounds like the Q-series are the only front hub motors that this can be done to and it requires special controllers and knowledge to do it.

I am ONLY interested in a custom mid-drive setup because this will go on a MTB and ONLY used for climbing hills. The rest of the time it will be dead weight. This is why I want the lightest geared front hub motor I can find that can run at least 350W-36V, but no more than 750W-48V (The end result has to be California Type 1, 2 or 3 legal; perferably Type-1 with the "power button/throttle" only working when pedaling.). A right crank sprocket arm or maybe Cyclone free-wheel crank arm can be mounted on the left side of the crank to use the motor in the direction it is designed for.

Maybe a simple MY1018 geared motor or GNG kit is a better choice (?). Weight and the ability to pdeal it without any drag when off is VERY important for "my" application.