Which motor controller?

xxxxx

100 µW
Joined
May 10, 2021
Messages
7
Hey all,

I'm ready to purchase my first motor controller and I'm hoping some members here can share their thoughts.

The motor is a Golden Motor HPM-5000b. It's a 48V motor, advertised as 5kW continuous, 7.5kW peak (datasheet: https://www.goldenmotor.com/eCar/HPM48-5000.pdf )

Operating Parameters:
  • 99.99% of the time, the controller will be set to "cruise control" at around 2kW.
  • I would nonetheless like the ability to push it to 7.5kW at least for a short duration.
  • I prefer a sine wave controller
  • The ability to program (or at least monitor) via bluetooth is nice.
  • For context, it's being used as a sailboat inboard mostly for getting in and out of the slip, harbour, and of course covering distance when becalmed, etc.

So far I'm leaning towards the Kelly KLS7245H which handles 140A continuous, and 350A phase current for 30 seconds.

Powervelocity's 15kW controller fits the bill but unfortunately there's no stock. Of course there's also Golden Motor's own controller--the VEC300.

What do you all think? Any other ideas?

Thanks all!
 
Kelly controllers don't have a cruise switch input -- they have a configurable "throttle-hold" cruise.
You'd also need to add the Bluetooth Adapter.
That said, they are one of the best FOC options available right now, and the IP66 rating is ideal for watercraft.

But if accepting the compromises with the Kelly controller (difficult programming, questionable reliability), it seems you might as well take advantage of the higher voltage KLS8430H to be able to run 24s at 100A continuous/300A peak.
 
fatty said:
Kelly controllers don't have a cruise switch input -- they have a configurable "throttle-hold" cruise.
Ah I missed that. I would have preferred a separate cruise button/pin but I suppose the cruise hold works alright too.

But if accepting the compromises with the Kelly controller (difficult programming, questionable reliability)
I've read that they're finicky to program. Cannot be done while motor is running. Controller needs to restart. Etc.

Regarding reliability, what kind of issues might I expect? Is there a more reliable option?

it seems you might as well take advantage of the higher voltage KLS8430H to be able to run 24s at 100A continuous/300A peak.
Do you mean for future/other projects or to send more than 48V to this motor? I've been toying with the idea of a 18s LiFePO4 pack (60V nominal) and overvolting the motor to reduce current.

Cheers.
 
xxxxx said:
But if accepting the compromises with the Kelly controller (difficult programming, questionable reliability)
I've read that they're finicky to program. Cannot be done while motor is running. Controller needs to restart. Etc.

xxxxx said:
Regarding reliability, what kind of issues might I expect? Is there a more reliable option?
They have a reputation for getting bricked when programming, and just plain blowing up.
ASI BAC controllers are more robust, but even harder to program and don't have cruise control.
Nucular controllers have switch cruise and can be ordered potted for ingress protection, but only the 24F will be shipping in the (indeterminate) future and they are ebike-focused.

xxxxx said:
Do you mean for future/other projects or to send more than 48V to this motor? I've been toying with the idea of a 18s LiFePO4 pack (60V nominal) and overvolting the motor to reduce current.
Chinese motor voltage rating is just an (unhelpful) advertising abstraction of motor nominal rpm and Kv: in this case, 5000rpm and 100rpm/V, but you can spin it faster until either your controller runs out of eRPM or the magnets fly off.
Higher voltage (faster) at the same power does allow lower current = less resistive loss, and higher voltage (faster) at the same current (torque) gives higher power.
 
fatty said:
They have a reputation for getting bricked when programming, and just plain blowing up.
Hmm then maybe it makes sense to carry a second pre-programmed just in case. The "mini" version is fairly inexpensive.

Does this typically occur at high output or just a ticking timebomb?

ASI BAC controllers are more robust, but even harder to program and don't have cruise control.
Interesting... they're in Canada, too. I'll have a look-see. Thanks :)

Chinese motor voltage rating is just an (unhelpful) advertising abstraction of motor nominal rpm and Kv: in this case, 5000rpm and 100rpm/V, but you can spin it faster until either your controller runs out of eRPM or the magnets fly off.
Higher voltage (faster) at the same power does allow lower current = less resistive loss, and higher voltage (faster) at the same current (torque) gives higher power.
Yeah, I'm not an engineer but I did sort of intuit this. I couldn't see the windings only being insulated to 48V, so I planned to try running it at 60V at first to see how it performs. I don't plan on pushing more power through it, but just higher voltage for the benefits you covered.

Thanks again :)
 
xxxxx said:
Hmm then maybe it makes sense to carry a second pre-programmed just in case. The "mini" version is fairly inexpensive.
Does this typically occur at high output or just a ticking timebomb?
The Mini isn't ingress protected though, and not available in high voltage. I'd stick with the IP66 84V KLS-H.
I'm not knowledgeable on the failure modes, just the reputation. But Kelly is still orders of magnitude more reliable/robust than common generic Chinese controllers -- they're just held to be not quite as reliable/robust as ASI or Sabvoton.

xxxxx said:
Interesting... they're in Canada, too. I'll have a look-see. Thanks :)
Cool -- specs attached.

xxxxx said:
Yeah, I'm not an engineer but I did sort of intuit this. I couldn't see the windings only being insulated to 48V, so I planned to try running it at 60V at first to see how it performs. I don't plan on pushing more power through it, but just higher voltage for the benefits you covered.
Yep. Optimal design is to maximize the power density of the controller by using maximum controller voltage, and then designing the rest of the system to suit.
 

Attachments

  • asi_emobility_controllers_spec_sheet_w_pin_out_table.pdf
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  • controller-hp-spec-asi-conf_v3-7-3pg.pdf
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Just an update...

I ended up ordering the Kelly pre-assembled controller assembly. Mostly this was due to price, and also ease of ordering.

I took your advice and went with the 84V/100A continuous controller. This should serve me well.

Thanks again for your help :)
 
xxxxx said:
I ended up ordering the Kelly pre-assembled controller assembly. Mostly this was due to price, and also ease of ordering.

I took your advice and went with the 84V/100A continuous controller. This should serve me well.

Good luck, and please share your experiences
 
Just a quick update on this...

I received the motor controller today. Everything went great. I hooked it up, and it "just worked" which is a nice thing.

I purchased the bluetooth dongle with it. If you do the same, make sure you download the right app. Each motor controller seems to have a slightly different app. I hastily downloaded the KVD app. It connected fine, and some of the "monitor" page worked fine, but when I tried to read the settings it gave me a "can't identify module name" error. I went back to the download page download page to see if there was an older version of the app, and only then did I notice there were different versions of the app entirely depending on the controller you're using.

That was 100% my fault. It only took me about 20 minutes to realize my error, but hopefully this will come up in future searches when someone invariably makes the same hasty mistake :)

Once it's installed, I'll see about taking some photos and video.

Thanks again for the help!
 
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