Motor, but no controller

[Karisma]

Hi all,

I have a GL1 hub motor from here (http://www.ebike.biz/) but I never was sent the controller (and can't seem to get any success in multiple reattempts over the last 18 months) so I'm not too sure what I should do now. Does anyone know what controllers will work with this exact motor? It never came with a data sheet, so I don't much about it such as its timing cycle, however I do know it's a sensored 36v BLDC motor (and any other info the website has). Any ideas?

-justWannaRide

 

[swbluto]

Just about any sensored controller should work?

 

[dogman dan]

That should be true. For an even easier solution, a sensorless controller would leave you with just the phase wires to figure out which wire goes where. The ones used with the Aotema motors that have no hall sensors work good for me. Not sure where to source one in AU though.

Should be able to find ships from china controllers on Ebay, that use the sensors.

 

[Karisma]

Ok. I'm happy to go for either design (sensored/sensorless), it will probably come down to other things like local availability (AU) and supportability. I found this one here: http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com//product_info.php?cPath=94&products_id=732&osCsid=693a7f8e2ea963ab4d581274b61aaa4d, pretty cheap, but I can only see 2 wires for the motor, which is odd - I wouldn't have thought that motors with this much power would be less than 3 phase.

So to get me started in my search, can anyone please advise me of any motor controller that would work with the GL1, so then I can use that as a reference. Thanks in advance.

 

[Lyen]

Ok. I'm happy to go for either design (sensored/sensorless), it will probably come down to other things like local availability (AU) and supportability. I found this one here: http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com//product_info.php?cPath=94&products_id=732&osCsid=693a7f8e2ea963ab4d581274b61aaa4d, pretty cheap, but I can only see 2 wires for the motor, which is odd - I wouldn't have thought that motors with this much power would be less than 3 phase.

So to get me started in my search, can anyone please advise me of any motor controller that would work with the GL1, so then I can use that as a reference. Thanks in advance.

Please take a picture of your motor and the number of wires and connector. I suspect that your GL1 motor has be a brushed motor since it has only 2 wires for positive & negative. There could be a possibility the seller has sent you an incorrect motor.

If you have a brushless motor, it should have at least 3 phase wires. It is very unusual to be a brushless motor without hall sensors because it is very hard to sell. The main reason is simply because the sensorless circuity on the controller do cost money to make. Also, a sensorless circuit takes a little bit of time to determine the motor degree (60 or 120) and rotation direction. Most people will feel the stuttering effect when to motor starts to move forward.

Lastly, you may need to determine if your brushless motor is a 60 or 120 degree motor.

 

[dogman dan]

The website said it was a brushless motor. So a controller with only two wires would be a brushed motor controller that wouldn't work. Ecrazyman is a good ebay controller vendor, he may be able to get you what you need even if all is auctions at the moment are not suitable

They call it a clone of a crystalyte 408. So look for a 36v or 48v 20 amp brushless controller. Ebikes-ca is a good place to look at similar stuff.

 

[TylerDurden]

He got it from Brett. No telling what it is without pix.

 

[Karisma]

Great, thanks for the replies. ebikes-ca have this: http://www.ebikes.ca/store/photos/C3625-NC.jpg, which seems close to what I'm after, except the pin out for the motor and battery are unfortunately missing. Although it is entitled a "Brushless" controller, so it should be ok.

In terms of what else I've observed about the motor, it has 60 degree hall spacing, which I checked by measuring all the hall sensors HIGH in one position [of the wheel] and LOW in another position - these 2 states are considered erroneous in a 120 degree sequence and are not allowed (Motion Control Primer by aveox.com).

There are 3 hall sensor wires, plus their power and ground lines. There are 3 motor wires - it's obvious they are for the motor as they are much thicker than the 5 wires associated with the hall sensors. I've looked inside the motor to confirm all these things, as well as done some testing on them (eg. to find the hall sensor spacing).

I have a 36V ~7Ahr battery for it, with rated continuous current of ~7A, with much higher ratings for peaky currents < 15sec), so the 20A controller gives me plenty of headroom. I'm not too worried about regen braking at the moment, I just want the motor to give me a hand up the hills at the end of the day. I've attached a pic of the wires and the motor.

 

[Mark_A_W]

Yep, almost any controller should work.

What voltage and what current do you want to run?

48v and 30amps would be about right.

 

[thewmatusmoloki]

Gday Karisma,

Looking at your pics it seems like you do indeed have a GL1 motor from BW.

They are an early design of brushless hub motor that seem to have good reliability, not a great deal of guts though, and have been used in bikes and scooters for awhile now in china, sucessfully.

I've noticed that alot of these electric scooters (mopeds) seem to use the exact same motor, down here in Oz.

Pretty much any modern brushless controller will work on them, BUT, the colors of the 5 hall sensor wires (thin wires) and also the 3 phase wires (the thickers one's) won't match up !!(probably). I think (from memory) that the're are 36 combinations that they can be put through, but a few of them will actually work. So all you need to do is buy a brushless controller that uses the amount of amps that you are comfortable with for your required torque and range.
This one would probably work ok for you :
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/36V-350W-brushless-controller-for-E-bike-scooter_W0QQitemZ300371271592QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45ef85dfa8

Anyways this thread : http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6241
would probably be helpful for getting the wiring right.

One last thing, if your battery is only 7amp/h capacity, and SLA , then you'd better be just going around the corner to the local shop and back .... occasionally, with recharging happening straight away, or those batteries just aren't gonna cut it.
A 15 amp/h lifepo4 is more like what you need to really enjoy a good ride !

Cheers
Matt.

 

[Karisma]

Thanks for the advice.. I've since bought a controller from keywin (ecrazyman) and I eventually found the right wiring arrangement yesterday - it runs very smoothly - not a HEAP of power but it's "pedal assisted", which is what I was after. I will post the wiring combination in the thread with the rest of them.. Cheers