Morning fellow pedelecers,
My 500W CST has recently started to sound unhappy, occasionally when I open the throttle I hear the motor spinning but with no drive then get a sound like 2 or 3 spokes snapping then I get power and it might be perfectly OK for the next 50 miles. The first time this happened I had a squealing sound like a broken spring all the way into work (private roads of course). The motor is a bit of an unknown as it is second hand, it appears that the 500W 36V CST has been discontinued probably due to their habit of burning up plugs (I've got through 2 plugs on the last motor in 20,000 miles).
I've had the motor apart and the planet gears look fine and there are no broken teeth floating about and surprisingly no water inside after riding through the recent floods up this way, there is however a lot of play in the bearings which makes me think there may be mega mileage on this motor, I can rock the wheel rim side to side by a good 6mm which doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I haven't yet dismantled the actual motor itself. I'm also not convinced its 500W as compared with the last motor it is so sloooow, it's either 350W or a very slow wind, it is however about 20% better on battery consumption although this might be due to the lower speed. The last motor would top out at about 22mph this one is about 19.
So I guess I'm asking has anyone else had this happen, and if as I suspect the motor is on its way out I need to replace it with something else, I am kind of stuck with 36V and a 9 speed gear train. I also get many punctures so the wheel has to be easy to remove (especially in the dark and wet) and my commute is in a VERY hilly area with a 700ft climb on the way home often into a savage head wind.
At the moment it looks like my only option is to buy the 350W version of this moter.
My 500W CST has recently started to sound unhappy, occasionally when I open the throttle I hear the motor spinning but with no drive then get a sound like 2 or 3 spokes snapping then I get power and it might be perfectly OK for the next 50 miles. The first time this happened I had a squealing sound like a broken spring all the way into work (private roads of course). The motor is a bit of an unknown as it is second hand, it appears that the 500W 36V CST has been discontinued probably due to their habit of burning up plugs (I've got through 2 plugs on the last motor in 20,000 miles).
I've had the motor apart and the planet gears look fine and there are no broken teeth floating about and surprisingly no water inside after riding through the recent floods up this way, there is however a lot of play in the bearings which makes me think there may be mega mileage on this motor, I can rock the wheel rim side to side by a good 6mm which doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I haven't yet dismantled the actual motor itself. I'm also not convinced its 500W as compared with the last motor it is so sloooow, it's either 350W or a very slow wind, it is however about 20% better on battery consumption although this might be due to the lower speed. The last motor would top out at about 22mph this one is about 19.
So I guess I'm asking has anyone else had this happen, and if as I suspect the motor is on its way out I need to replace it with something else, I am kind of stuck with 36V and a 9 speed gear train. I also get many punctures so the wheel has to be easy to remove (especially in the dark and wet) and my commute is in a VERY hilly area with a 700ft climb on the way home often into a savage head wind.
At the moment it looks like my only option is to buy the 350W version of this moter.
