MikeSSS
1 kW
The Aotema Rescue thread got me thinking, so I'll report on an old brushless Aotema front hub motor.
Five years ago I bought a used ebike using this front hub motor. It had a 36V battery made from three 12V 12AH gel cells. The battery bag was badly weathered but everything else looked good and the bike rode well. The bike looked like a 70s 3x5 speed mountain bike, but was labeled as a city bike. Converted to 3x6 and using thumb shifters and Bio Pace chain rings it shifted very well. The front wheel weighs about 25 pounds, this is a direct drive hub motor, it is sensorless and needs a tiny nudge forward to get going smoothly. No nudge forward and it might move forward but sometimes it will just cogs back and forth or even tries to start in reverse. There is some square wave noise from the hub at some speed and power combinations, mostly below about 10 mph. It can climb a short 14% grade when I add medium pedal power.
I rode this bike for two years using that 25 pound sealed lead acid pack. That SLA battery worked just fine and the power was very controllable at low speeds. Top speed was less than a pursuing dog, but it was fast enough for my ride and look around use. At the end of two years the performance of the SLA pack was diminished some, range was down to about 12 miles, from the original 15 miles.
Three years ago I bought a lithium ion 13s, 4p, 48v, 14ah, GA cell battery from Luna. Weight was about 8 to 9 pounds, a lot lighter than the SLA battery. The controller works very well with the 48v battery, though the low voltage cutoff is probably far too low. Motor performance is more lively but still very controllable at slow speeds. Top speed is as fast or faster than most dogs, range is over 25 miles with some battery left. I set the Luna charger to 90%, it charges the battery to about 52v. After three years of use the Luna battery still works well. It is a shark pack but I put it in a Harbor Freight 15" bag attached to a plastic cutting board, on top of the rear rack. Occasionally the battery is charged to 100% so the balancing circuit can do its job.
Well, that's it, the used Aotema brushless front hub motor, controller and thumb throttle have performed they way I'd like them too, and for five years. Recently I've ridden several different brands of factory ebikes and only one had the smooth, controllable power delivery of the Aotema. That one bike was a Trek, sadly it had only pedal assist, no throttle, but the torque sensor system made the assist transparent to me, I just had "stronger legs".
I have had one problem, that I caused. I used a foot on a wrench to tighten the axle bolts and stripped the M14 fine threads on one side. Fortunately the axle is long and threads outboard of this section were intact. Some flat washers were used to space the nut out to the good threads and a thick Grin torque arm was fitted and installed. At some point I will rethread this axle side using course threads of a slightly smaller diameter.
These are the good old days.
Five years ago I bought a used ebike using this front hub motor. It had a 36V battery made from three 12V 12AH gel cells. The battery bag was badly weathered but everything else looked good and the bike rode well. The bike looked like a 70s 3x5 speed mountain bike, but was labeled as a city bike. Converted to 3x6 and using thumb shifters and Bio Pace chain rings it shifted very well. The front wheel weighs about 25 pounds, this is a direct drive hub motor, it is sensorless and needs a tiny nudge forward to get going smoothly. No nudge forward and it might move forward but sometimes it will just cogs back and forth or even tries to start in reverse. There is some square wave noise from the hub at some speed and power combinations, mostly below about 10 mph. It can climb a short 14% grade when I add medium pedal power.
I rode this bike for two years using that 25 pound sealed lead acid pack. That SLA battery worked just fine and the power was very controllable at low speeds. Top speed was less than a pursuing dog, but it was fast enough for my ride and look around use. At the end of two years the performance of the SLA pack was diminished some, range was down to about 12 miles, from the original 15 miles.
Three years ago I bought a lithium ion 13s, 4p, 48v, 14ah, GA cell battery from Luna. Weight was about 8 to 9 pounds, a lot lighter than the SLA battery. The controller works very well with the 48v battery, though the low voltage cutoff is probably far too low. Motor performance is more lively but still very controllable at slow speeds. Top speed is as fast or faster than most dogs, range is over 25 miles with some battery left. I set the Luna charger to 90%, it charges the battery to about 52v. After three years of use the Luna battery still works well. It is a shark pack but I put it in a Harbor Freight 15" bag attached to a plastic cutting board, on top of the rear rack. Occasionally the battery is charged to 100% so the balancing circuit can do its job.
Well, that's it, the used Aotema brushless front hub motor, controller and thumb throttle have performed they way I'd like them too, and for five years. Recently I've ridden several different brands of factory ebikes and only one had the smooth, controllable power delivery of the Aotema. That one bike was a Trek, sadly it had only pedal assist, no throttle, but the torque sensor system made the assist transparent to me, I just had "stronger legs".
I have had one problem, that I caused. I used a foot on a wrench to tighten the axle bolts and stripped the M14 fine threads on one side. Fortunately the axle is long and threads outboard of this section were intact. Some flat washers were used to space the nut out to the good threads and a thick Grin torque arm was fitted and installed. At some point I will rethread this axle side using course threads of a slightly smaller diameter.
These are the good old days.
