Confusion about which controller to buy for Voilamart 1000w hub motor

Motoman65

1 mW
Joined
Jun 29, 2021
Messages
13
So basically I bought the voila kit and have been riding on my merry way for the better part of a year, but I'm now trying to get more speed out of the motor (I've maxed out around 26-28mph and need 35+ to keep up with traffic, but the higher the better)and would like to simply upgrade the battery (from 48 to 52v+) and the controller instead of both of those AND the motor, since I hear tell that it can handle 1500w operations anyways with the controller being the limiting factor. What I need to know is whether the generic 48-72v controllers on eBay will work with the motor, as some of the ones I see say in terrible Chinese that they don't work with "hall motors", which I assume means motors that have hall sensors?! I am not a grease-monkey and the terminologies are confusing to me, What I would want to know is if there's a specific controller that people use with this hub motor and the 52v+ batteries and had good results, or help me understand better what I should be looking for.

Any additional tips for this project in terms of heat dissipation etc. would also be greatly appreciated.

Here is the kit I got, it was the front wheel version:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322247604604?var=513442833630&epid=11033840463&hash=item4b0774397c:g:kw4AAOSwrNBf4~p5
 
I prefer sensorless controllers, I buy mine from EVFitting Greentime on Aliexpress.
Hook up the phase wires, throttle wires and white learn wires to get the right direction then unplug and ride :thumb:
No need to mess with the 5 hall sensor wires, otherwise you need to find the right combination of wires which takes time to figure out and there is a chart to go by.
Buy from sellers who people on ES have purchased from, like the seller I listed.

BRUSHLESS
SENSORLESS



Motoman65 said:
 
Why don't you use a moped or light motorcycle? You're not trying to do a bicycle's job, and the bike is likely to let you down in due course. Energy levels are more than three times as high at 35 mph as at 20 mph. You could get everything exactly right and luck out, or... not.
 
I don't have a license, also the price for an (electric) motorcycle is much higher for not much more performance than I could get with the right e-bike setup.
 
Don't have a license yet, or don't have a license anymore?

No good to tread out on thin ice if you don't have to.
 
I have never held any sorta license, an E-bike is the fastest thing I've ridden thus far, however I have a good feel for the top speed i'm currently at. I ride with motorcycle gear anyways, but I also like being able to use sidewalks if I want to when there's no bike lane.
 
If you're ready to graduate away from the 25$ big métal box controllers, those voilamart hubs respond very well to FOC and become beautifully smooth and silent. I got the 1500W kit and wired it into a controller I made and it takes fast more power and goes far faster than the stock controller now.

As you've observed, you can get quite a lot more power than rated out of them.

Phase runner? (100V FETs 20s)
Nucular? (Also about 100V 20s)
VESC/FSESC if you like fiddling (13s to 20s depending on model)

The best thing might be the size reduction. You can go from biscuit tin to credit card size with no power loss.
 
You probably don't want much more power on the front wheel though do you?
 
Similarly, I'm planning my first build, a 1000w Voila, 52v20ah UPP and looks like I will need a 35 or 40amp controller to meet my performance needs, as per the Grin Simulator. EVFITTING mostly has 35amp controllers only. What are my other budget controller options? Do most controllers allow you to adjust amps?
 
52V 35A (1800W) is fine for a front hub as I've had it on several builds though I ride on a rigid fork and I'd recommend using a steel. Not sure what the costco fat bike had alum or steel, the current bike I should check and see. 2 torque arms, and regen/ebrake seems to loosen my bolts. Its been a dream the front hub, no more broken spokes, no more flat tires.
For me, I require a tad more wattage for certain hills, not speed so I'm personally thinking going to 2500-3000W 52V 60A or 72V 40A it would really help out at the top of some of the hills but that means I need to buy yet another battery and I am just not into that, but luckily I am into actually pedaling now and breaking a sweat and huffing and puffing but not into pedal assist in any way, but I am into cruise control for the rides I want to extend the range of the batteries.

Any hub will do good for FOC Sinewave silence but you can't beat the price of a generic cheap controller and the noise it creates. Again I'd love to buy a FOC Sinewave controller and use it but I am done with spending big money on ebike stuff, meaning $100+ on a controller.

The Voilamart hubs are a decent price, but I've seen better prices from time to time.
 
I have a voila too. I'm going to try flipping out the generic too. Should be able to handle an Ali controller. Any. Cross fingers.
 
MarkJohnston said:
I have a voila too. I'm going to try flipping out the generic too. Should be able to handle an Ali controller. Any. Cross fingers.

Plan to replace the plugs as necessary and work out the phase and Hall wire assignments yourself. After those things are taken care of, there's not much else to it unless the controller needs a display you don't have.
 
Chalo said:
Plan to replace the plugs as necessary and work out the phase and Hall wire assignments yourself. After those things are taken care of, there's not much else to it unless the controller needs a display you don't have.

There's a self learning wire. :lol: :lol: :twisted:

I had that controller before. I just plugged it in and the self learning wire and it spun the right way. Cross fingers that happens like that again.
 
markz said:
52V 35A (1800W) is fine for a front hub as I've had it on several builds though I ride on a rigid fork and I'd recommend using a steel. Not sure what the costco fat bike had alum or steel, the current bike I should check and see. 2 torque arms, and regen/ebrake seems to loosen my bolts. Its been a dream the front hub, no more broken spokes, no more flat tires.
For me, I require a tad more wattage for certain hills, not speed so I'm personally thinking going to 2500-3000W 52V 60A or 72V 40A it would really help out at the top of some of the hills but that means I need to buy yet another battery and I am just not into that, but luckily I am into actually pedaling now and breaking a sweat and huffing and puffing but not into pedal assist in any way, but I am into cruise control for the rides I want to extend the range of the batteries.

Any hub will do good for FOC Sinewave silence but you can't beat the price of a generic cheap controller and the noise it creates. Again I'd love to buy a FOC Sinewave controller and use it but I am done with spending big money on ebike stuff, meaning $100+ on a controller.

The Voilamart hubs are a decent price, but I've seen better prices from time to time.

Have you seen the KT open source firmware project in the motor sub forum? The thread is ~180 pages long with a wealth of information. These controllers sell for less than 100$ (75 CAD shipped for the big 18-MOSFET one that does 45A, and 48/52V or 60-72V versions available). Guessing about 60USD. Stock with a 48V system they output 48V * 45A = 2160W. The SVPR (sine wave) version has a single current sensor on the B phase and this (combined with hall sensor data) allows for FOC implementation. I have three (two stock fw with one sine wave and one square wave, the square wave has an extra board that lets it run sensorless but has no current sensor, they are the same price), my test mule is the first 18 MOSFET KT controller that I got with my first kit, a sine wave version.

The difference in smoothness/noise between the stock fw sine and square versions was obvious, but after installing the open source fw with FOC enabled: wow! Completely silent, it’s eerie. You need a 6$ STLink dongle off Aliexpress and a hour or two to read the wiki. I recommend it if you’re looking for a cheap way to try out FOC. Very cool project with tons of options to tune the controller for any motor/throttle/pas/torque sensor/display setup you want.
 
Old thread, I know, but the very cheapest option would be to buy a generic clone Xiaomi ESC, change out the caps and if needed the fets, reinforce the traces, flash SmartESC firmware and you have all the options of a VESC (but with no ADC input and only one UART), silent FOC operation and depending on hardware mods anything between 1200 and 3000 watts of power. Price anywhere between 25 and 60 USD. I'll write a build thread once I have finished mine.
 
Old thread, I know, but the very cheapest option would be to buy a generic clone Xiaomi ESC, change out the caps and if needed the fets, reinforce the traces, flash SmartESC firmware and you have all the options of a VESC (but with no ADC input and only one UART), silent FOC operation and depending on hardware mods anything between 1200 and 3000 watts of power. Price anywhere between 25 and 60 USD. I'll write a build thread once I have finished mine.
Did yours work out? Was it worth the effort?
 
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