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My ACM V2s+ Wiring Harness


Marty Backe

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Almost one month ago my ACM burned up when attempting an aggressive hill with @Sven See the whole story here:

Today I've ridden my trusty ACM again for the first time. It feels like a long time, buy nothing like @Rehab1's odyssey  (although his was totally self inflicted ;)

I had to replace the control board (gratis from @Jason McNeil - you're the man!) and the motor (purchased from Ian at Speedyfeet for ~$250). Here is the final picture before I buttoned it up. Not the prettiest, and I wasn't sure about posting it, but why not show my dirty laundry :).  I opted to remove all of the motor connectors and solder everything. And instead of trying to insulate the wires (my motor from Speedyfeet had 14 gauge wiring :() I opted for isolation. I used a crap-load of zip ties to route the cables and keep them from touching anything. I feel pretty good about this solution. Even if the insulation melts they can't touch anything.

And I extended the motor cables so that I could route the Hall Effect Sensor wires far from the motor wires.

Yes, all the wires still get bundled up as they go through the axle. But in my experience and a few others, the melting all occurs in the vicinity of the connectors. My theory is that this is a point of higher resistance and therefore highest heat. So the cabling that goes through the axle is much cooler. We're waiting for some empirical data from @Rehab1 to perhaps shed some light on the differential heating between the axle area and the connector area.

So I'm finally whole again. All four of my nice wheels are in working order :D

IMG_9328

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nice to see you up and riding on it again. Gives me some hope in my own predicament. :)

When I cleaned shards from the magnets I was almost at the point of saying "F it, I'm buying a MS v3s!". My SO would laugh me into the next universe if I spent another $2000 on a wheel, after having had the last one for less than three months, I could bloody well lease a very nice car for that kind of money, including the gas. :D

But I digress. I think there's beauty there, not dirty laundry :thumbup:

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Looks quite neat! Makes me want to do it too (probably too lazy).

19 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

(my motor from Speedyfeet had 14 gauge wiring :()

Typo? Isn't 14AWG the better (thicker) one?

20 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Yes, all the wires still get bundled up as they go through the axle. But in my experience and a few others, the melting all occurs in the vicinity of the connectors. My theory is that this is a point of higher resistance and therefore highest heat. So the cabling that goes through the axle is much cooler.

You mean the connectors you just removed? So now the cables are free to melt in the axle?:P

--

Funny how people here, you included, are doing the good work of gradual improvements that really the manufacturers should be doing...:whistling:

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3 minutes ago, Scatcat said:

Nice to see you up and riding on it again. Gives me some hope in my own predicament. :)

When I cleaned shards from the magnets I was almost at the point of saying "F it, I'm buying a MS v3s!". My SO would laugh me into the next universe if I spent another $2000 on a wheel, after having had the last one for less than three months, I could bloody well lease a very nice car for that kind of money, including the gas. :D

But I digress. I think there's beauty there, not dirty laundry :thumbup:

Thanks :)  Have patience with your repair, although working on the inside of the motor is operating at a whole new level.

You know that there's nothing wrong with having a MS V3s+ and a GT16 :laughbounce2:

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26 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

 

Almost one month ago my ACM burned up when attempting an aggressive hill with @Sven See the whole story here:

Today I've ridden my trusty ACM again for the first time. It feels like a long time, buy nothing like @Rehab1's odyssey  (although his was totally self inflicted ;)

I had to replace the control board (gratis from @Jason McNeil - you're the man!) and the motor (purchased from Ian at Speedyfeet for ~$250). Here is the final picture before I buttoned it up. Not the prettiest, and I wasn't sure about posting it, but why not show my dirty laundry :).  I opted to remove all of the motor connectors and solder everything. And instead of trying to insulate the wires (my motor from Speedyfeet had 14 gauge wiring :() I opted for isolation. I used a crap-load of zip ties to route the cables and keep them from touching anything. I feel pretty good about this solution. Even if the insulation melts they can't touch anything.

And I extended the motor cables so that I could route the Hall Effect Sensor wires far from the motor wires.

Yes, all the wires still get bundled up as they go through the axle. But in my experience and a few others, the melting all occurs in the vicinity of the connectors. My theory is that this is a point of higher resistance and therefore highest heat. So the cabling that goes through the axle is much cooler. We're waiting for some empirical data from @Rehab1 to perhaps shed some light on the differential heating between the axle area and the connector area.

So I'm finally whole again. All four of my nice wheels are in working order :D

IMG_9328

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where did you find yellow zip ties?  They are very easy to see.  You and @Rehab1 are improving the wheels, I hope Gotway is taking some of these ideas.

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1 minute ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Looks quite neat! Makes me want to do it too (probably too lazy).

Typo? Isn't 14AWG the better (thicker) one?

You mean the connectors you just removed? So now the cables are free to melt in the axle?:P

--

Funny how people here, you included, are doing the good work of gradual improvements that really the manufacturers should be doing...:whistling:

The next time I open any of my other wheels I'll be adding some zip ties near the connector as cheap insurance.

Smaller numbers (8 gauge) represent thicker wires. The motor wires from the control board are 12 gauge and therefor thicker than what's coming out of the motor. But the new Gotway motors also have 12 gauge wiring. Speedyfeet has older stock with the thinner 14 gauge wires.

Funny, I know what you're saying. But my solder connections will probably run a bit cooler than the connectors, but that's conjecture on my part.

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5 minutes ago, steve454 said:

Where did you find yellow zip ties?  They are very easy to see.  You and @Rehab1 are improving the wheels, I hope Gotway is taking some of these ideas.

Thanks. I doubt Gotway is taking notes, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I bought mine at Fry's Electronics. They are generally available in all the primary colors.

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2 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Thanks. I doubt Gotway is taking notes, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I bought mine at Fry's Electronics. They are generally available in all the primary colors.

Ah, of course, Fry's.  Like Radio Shack times 1,000.

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9 minutes ago, KingSong69 said:

Soldering instead of using a bullet connector

This is the less flashy, but best part!

7 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Smaller numbers (8 gauge) represent thicker wires. The motor wires from the control board are 12 gauge and therefor thicker than what's coming out of the motor. But the new Gotway motors also have 12 gauge wiring. Speedyfeet has older stock with the thinner 14 gauge wires.

Jason says 16 was the old and 14 is the new. Unless there's 12 now, you're as good as you can be!

 

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1 minute ago, steve454 said:

Ah, of course, Fry's.  Like Radio Shack times 1,000.

Exactly :) And they're still in business and appear to be thriving.

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Hopefully with the wire bundle sleeve that should protect the wires passing through the axle as they are fed through.  They may have increased the channel diameter as well?  Hard to say.

Nice job on the wire routing, Marty.  Looks like a California freeway interchange in there.  I might suggest taking it one step further by removing the remaining bundle sleeving to the coil relief at the axle and add in a few more zip tie separators.

Did you test with a soldering iron whether the zip ties melt at 200C or less?

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2 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Did you test with a soldering iron whether the zip ties melt at 200C or less?

I think he is going test with a long hill climb, and since the zip ties are yellow, it will be easy to see the hot spots in the wiring.  Brilliant!

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2 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Thanks :)  Have patience with your repair, although working on the inside of the motor is operating at a whole new level.

You know that there's nothing wrong with having a MS V3s+ and a GT16 :laughbounce2:

Weeeeell, that's my rainy-day-and-pension-reserves we're talking about... If the GT16 dies permanently I suppose it IS a rainy day. But right now I've spent a few $K more on "stuff" the last six months, than I had planned... I had kind of promised myself I would leave that account alone for a while to recuperate. Very grown up and adult thing to do really, if I can pretend to be an adult for long enough ;) 

BTW, stuff I spent money on:

flexmeter.thumb.jpg.ba90b7dfb75afd834f56aa4d74f9a47b.jpg

Size large for me...

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3 hours ago, Scatcat said:

Weeeeell, that's my rainy-day-and-pension-reserves we're talking about... If the GT16 dies permanently I suppose it IS a rainy day. But right now I've spent a few $K more on "stuff" the last six months, than I had planned... I had kind of promised myself I would leave that account alone for a while to recuperate. Very grown up and adult thing to do really, if I can pretend to be an adult for long enough ;) 

BTW, stuff I spent money on:

flexmeter.thumb.jpg.ba90b7dfb75afd834f56aa4d74f9a47b.jpg

Size large for me...

Very nice. Did you take my "sizing advice"?  Hopefully they fit good and you like them as much as I like mine :cheers:

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4 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Too late now, but maybe covering the wires with this sleeving might also help.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/like/332224901331

Truefit Thermal Sleeving withstands up to 650C.

It could help, but the whole point of using 'separators' was to avoid having to put sleeves on the wires. Not that it's the right way, but it's the path I chose.

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4 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Hopefully with the wire bundle sleeve that should protect the wires passing through the axle as they are fed through.  They may have increased the channel diameter as well?  Hard to say.

Nice job on the wire routing, Marty.  Looks like a California freeway interchange in there.  I might suggest taking it one step further by removing the remaining bundle sleeving to the coil relief at the axle and add in a few more zip tie separators.

Did you test with a soldering iron whether the zip ties melt at 200C or less?

Thanks :) For now I hope never to open the ACM again. It's possible, you never know :blink:

My gut tells me that if the wires get so hot as to melt hard zip-tie plastic, I'm screwed no matter what I do :D

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6 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

 

Almost one month ago my ACM burned up when attempting an aggressive hill with @Sven See the whole story here:

Today I've ridden my trusty ACM again for the first time. It feels like a long time, buy nothing like @Rehab1's odyssey  (although his was totally self inflicted ;)

I had to replace the control board (gratis from @Jason McNeil - you're the man!) and the motor (purchased from Ian at Speedyfeet for ~$250). Here is the final picture before I buttoned it up. Not the prettiest, and I wasn't sure about posting it, but why not show my dirty laundry :).  I opted to remove all of the motor connectors and solder everything. And instead of trying to insulate the wires (my motor from Speedyfeet had 14 gauge wiring :() I opted for isolation. I used a crap-load of zip ties to route the cables and keep them from touching anything. I feel pretty good about this solution. Even if the insulation melts they can't touch anything.

And I extended the motor cables so that I could route the Hall Effect Sensor wires far from the motor wires.

Yes, all the wires still get bundled up as they go through the axle. But in my experience and a few others, the melting all occurs in the vicinity of the connectors. My theory is that this is a point of higher resistance and therefore highest heat. So the cabling that goes through the axle is much cooler. We're waiting for some empirical data from @Rehab1 to perhaps shed some light on the differential heating between the axle area and the connector area.

So I'm finally whole again. All four of my nice wheels are in working order :D

IMG_9328

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good job! Especially from an electrical engineer.:D As an electrical contractor, All too often I've had run-ins with engineers who never actually have any field experience and yet they want to tell you how to do your job from a book perspective. A good engineer always does some field work.If you ever want some part time work,let me know.:cheers:

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2 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Very nice. Did you take my "sizing advice"?  Hopefully they fit good and you like them as much as I like mine :cheers:

I followed the official sizing advice, and they fit perfectly. Apart from being a bit warm-ish, they're great. :cheers:

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1 hour ago, jrkline said:

Good job! Especially from an electrical engineer.:D As an electrical contractor, All too often I've had run-ins with engineers who never actually have any field experience and yet they want to tell you how to do your job from a book perspective. A good engineer always does some field work.If you ever want some part time work,let me know.:cheers:

Thanks man!

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11 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

 

I had to replace the control board (gratis from @Jason McNeil - you're the man!) and the motor (purchased from Ian at Speedyfeet for ~$250). Here is the final picture before I buttoned it up. Not the prettiest, and I wasn't sure about posting it, but why not show my dirty laundry :).  I opted to remove all of the motor connectors and solder everything. And instead of trying to insulate the wires (my motor from Speedyfeet had 14 gauge wiring :() I opted for isolation. I used a crap-load of zip ties to route the cables and keep them from touching anything. I feel pretty good about this solution. Even if the insulation melts they can't touch anything.

And I extended the motor cables so that I could route the Hall Effect Sensor wires far from the motor wires.

IMG_9328

 

Late to the party.  That is a beautiful work of art Marty!! So glad you took a photo!  :thumbup: Are your finger tips still functional? :) 

We are all seeking answers to the overheating of motor wires so ongoing research is important! Providing an air gap between the wires is definitely a wise idea! 

 

11 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

And I extended the motor cables so that I could route the Hall Effect Sensor wires far from the motor wires.

Another great idea!

11 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

We're waiting for some empirical data from @Rehab1 to perhaps shed some light on the differential heating between the axle area and the connector area.

My full face helmet arrived so hopefully today. 

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