1000 watt motor from China is very stiff to rotate and doesn't Free-wheel easily

Trevor George

Pedelecer
Jun 23, 2014
64
11
Hotwells, Bristol, (UK)
Hi folks . . . I've just purchased a 1,000 watt non-geared hub-motor from a Chinese eBay seller and it's very stiff to rotate and doesn't Free-wheel easily, like all of my my previous motors have.
It's like having the brakes on all of the time if there's no power to it, so I'm not happy and have set up an eBay returns procedure.
I was planning on putting it in a Pawtrekker Dog Scooter with this more powerful 1,000 watt motor as I did in 2016 with this conversion with a 250 watt motor, which did Free-wheel very well, so I just wondered if anyone knew if all 1,000 watt hub-motors are like that.
Thank you.
Here is my previous conversion to a Pawtrekker Dog Scooter - www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOqJX5685oY&t=93s
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,991
8,173
60
West Sx RH
Nothing wrong with it, as you have found out now power it is a pig to turn. Reason being is that it is a Direct Drive heavy hub with no gear reduction like a much better geared hub.
 

Trevor George

Pedelecer
Jun 23, 2014
64
11
Hotwells, Bristol, (UK)
Nothing wrong with it, as you have found out now power it is a pig to turn. Reason being is that it is a Direct Drive heavy hub with no gear reduction like a much better geared hub.
Hiya . . . I appreciate it's heavy, but why would there be so much resistance to it free-wheeling, or dragging, on the axle, as that makes no sense at all, unless the bearings have been tightened too much.
I'm curious what's likely to be causing the drag, like the brakes are half-on.
Are all the 1,000 watt hub-motors like that?
Thanks.
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
The cable must be damaged somewhere unless what you're feeling is the normal magnetic clogging. Can you spin the motor at all by hand. These motors normally do a couple of turns or more when you spin them by hand. If it stops instantly, there's a short somewhere.
 
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Trevor George

Pedelecer
Jun 23, 2014
64
11
Hotwells, Bristol, (UK)
. . unless what you're feeling is the normal magnetic clogging. Can you spin the motor at all by hand.
Hi VFR400 . . it may be "Magnetic Clogging" but my current 750 watt geared hub-motor spins quite freely, so it's easy to cycle if your battery is flat (or you just want to ride it without e-Power) but, yes, I can spin this 1,000 watt one but it stops pretty quickly, and you can feel the quite obvious drag as you are spinning it, so I wouldn't want to scoot far with it being unpowered, as I was able to with my previous 250 watt motor.
Thanks for your input
 

Trevor George

Pedelecer
Jun 23, 2014
64
11
Hotwells, Bristol, (UK)
Does your controller allow regen, which will increase the motor's resistance?
No . . it's just a basic "drive only" motor.
The eBay seller is now suggesting that the bearings may have been over-tightened on the axle, but I don't want to start messing with that, or it will void the warranty so my plan is to either (1) send it back at their expense or (2) get them to give me a generous discount so I can pay to get an eBike Dealer to sort it out for me.
Thanks for all the input everybody :)
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
With Ebay, you get a max of something like £15 to send stuff back.

I'd be very surprised if you could find a dealer, whio could sort it out for you
 
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Trevor George

Pedelecer
Jun 23, 2014
64
11
Hotwells, Bristol, (UK)
With Ebay, you get a max of something like £15 to send stuff back. I'd be very surprised if you could find a dealer, who could sort it out for you.
Thanks . . . eBay have always been good to me in the past, as I have a good rating, so I'm hopeful they will insist that the seller produces the "Return Address" label.
 

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