Motors & Controllers

From Hacky Racers Wiki
Revision as of 15:16, 9 September 2024 by imported>Cstubbs (→‎Hoverboards)

Brushless Motors

Vevor and similar 1500-2000w large inrunner Motors

See Rule Zero

Suggested replacement hall sensors for Vevor motors: "Hall effect sensors 49E OH49E SS49E linear Hall switch".

this might help with figuring out the connections: https://www.etotheipiplusone.net/?p=2373

For the Controller, the connections you absolutely need to get the motor driving are:

  • power in: two thick wires, probably red and black
  • throttle: three thin wires, ground (may be black), 5V (may be red) and signal
  • power to motor: three thick wires, probably yellow, green and blue
  • motor hall sensor signal connector: five thin wires, probably red, black, yellow, blue, green
  • reverse: two thin wires, best to match the connector type from the link above

That may be all you need to get it running.

Some controllers also have an ignition switch, but its not a consistent connector or colour. you have to figure it out from either the chinese labels (google lens is good for translating them), or looking at pictures online of similar controllers that have the wires labelled in the listing.

For reversing the vevor motors, Dave found swapping the blue/green phase wires and also swapping the blue/yellow hall wires does the trick. Ian found swapping the blue/yellow phase wires and also swapping the green/yellow hall wires worked for him. The Vevor controllers are more picky about the hall/phase pairings than other controllers. There's likely another pair combination that will work.

some advice from Rob Orwin: The "electric lock line" usually needs to be connected to positive in order for the controller to allow the throttle to work and power the motor. Just for fun, sometimes these need to be connected to negative but it's the vast minority. The self learning wires when touched together, reverse the direction of the motor, meaning you don't need to mess around with Phase wires. The Low brake wires are for brake activated motor cut offs. The high brake wires are to power a brake light. The "three speed" connection you just need to bridge to earth whichever makes the motor turn the fastest. That's about it, generally. You can usually tape off the brake wires and permanently connect the electric lock line and just have a switch on the power supply. You can also buy brushless motor and controller testers for a tenner or so, that'll help you figure out what is doing what, without the risk of blowing anything up.

Edit from Vince:

When first connecting up the motor to the controller and powering it up then you should have the "Learning wires" connected together. Beware, you MUST either have no drive chain connected between motor and wheels or have the wheels off the ground before attempting this as the motor will spin up a second or two after you power up. Connecting the "learn" wires together will allow the controller to self configure itself to the motor phase windings and Hall sensor configuration. There's no need to go swapping phase wires and hall sensor wires around manually to get the motor to work. If the motor spins correctly in the desired direction then simply unplug the Learning wires while the motor is still running, the controller will then save this "Learned" configuration. If the motor is spinning in the wrong (Reverse) direction then simply reconnect the Learn wires again with power still ON, and it will rotate the other way. You can also blip the throttle with the Learn wires connected to reverse the motor direction. When the motor is spinning in the desired direction then simply disconnect the Learn wires while the motor is still running to save the configuration.

As an absolute minimum configuration, to test a motor and controller together, all you need to connect is the 3 motor phase wires (Blue, Yellow and Green) with the controller, the 5 wire Hall sensor connector, and then connect the Ignition or Electronic lock wire to the main 48v positive line, then finally connect the Learn wires of the controller together. You don't even need the throttle connected. When you power up the controller the motor will run at a constant speed and you have a working Controller and motor combination.

Most of the controllers have a two wire "Reverse" connector too (mine are Purple and Black), one of the wires is a Ground wire. Connect a momentary push switch across the terminals of this connector to Ground the signal wire and reverse the motor direction. The controller will only allow the motor to reverse if it has stopped first, so it wont immediately reverse direction under load. The motor speed is also limited and reduced in the reverse direction.

Fault Finding Wiring Issues

Running backwards? Swap two motor phases. Some controllers may also need hall sensors swapped too, but not all. Motor not running smoothly? Does your controller have a teach or learn input? That's the easiest route to get it to work. If not, check out the flowchart to the left (credit lsdzs.com).

E-Scooter Controllers

See Rule Zero

Alternators & ESCs

See Pink My Ride

Hoverboards

See CYBR TRK

Second hand Hoverboards are a great way to secure cheap motors, and sometimes even come with a working controller PCB! If the PCB is blown up, common faults include the TIP127 transistors to switch on / regulate the voltage to the board, or the H Bridge MOSFETs. Hoverboard motors are built in to the hub of the wheel, and are available in a few different sizes. They have the advantage of not requiring a chain, and are not locked to the same axle which improves cornering. Wiring is howerver a little more complicated.

The boards typically run at 36V, but will tolerate 48V if you're lucky. Some boards are designed for 24V, which are a little less easily hackable.

Schematics have been quite well reverse engineered for these PCBs, and several alternative firmwares are availible. hoverboard-firmware-hack-FOC by EFeru on GitHub is a favourite, which has lots of hacky friendly features.

Although the motors are only rated at 350W each, some experimentaton with the PCBs showed they will briefly tolerate peaks up to 1.4kW, but catastrophicaly fail at 1.6kW.

It is possible to fit pneumatic tyres to the 6.5" hub motors with some careful modifications. See Wheels & Tyres page.


Hall sensors

part number/label alt part number recommended by datasheet type switching point (Gauss) mv/gauss pin1 pin2 pin3 suitability
13A 117 SS413A? OEM? mouser bipolar 140 5V GND signal SS413A untested
3144 Michael West elecrow unipolar 30 to 440G 5V GND signal works in VEVOR/BOMA 2000W + ebike controller
49E OH49E SS49E Chris Shakespeare honeywell linear 1.4 5V GND signal works with VESC

49E OH49E SS49E appears to have a low output current so may not be suitable for escs with strong pull up resistors (such as some ebike ESCs). with an ebike ESC, the sensor couldn't pull the signal lines low for Mark. 3144 worked fine.


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