Gotway RS

[StealthPhoenix]

this is the main thing. i have my way of achieving this, but there are other ways i found and so the goal is just this, with regard to that knocking sound, im cut and pasting from the PM. im going to sleep man, sorry for the drama: 

 

but in the end, just remember that the sound is coming from a misaligned motor (magnet and coils should not be touching), and if you put the cover on and hear the noise, you must remove it and reinstall it again (very gently by installing the screws BEFORE the cover is even fully seated...so you can use the screws to gently close the lid, while making sure the motor is still centered (which is done by spinning it via the pedal).

this is your goal, however you decide to achieve it.

[Planemo]

1 hour ago, StealthPhoenix said:

im too tired to defend my solution from naysayers is all.

I thought everyone was being pretty good about it, peeps just offering up their thoughts and trying to brainstorm in general. But hey, maybe I missed something.

[Planemo]

1 hour ago, StealthPhoenix said:

but in the end, just remember that the sound is coming from a misaligned motor .

I guess this doesnt solve the problem for people with rusty, graunchy bearings though.

Eg those that dont have a rhythmic knocking, or those bearings which clearly present issues without even being attached to the motor.

[Hansolo]

Enjoy.

FR & EN subtitles are available

A precision, the whistling you can hear (depending on your equipment and your ears 😂) comes from the wheel when it is turned on (frequency of 8 Khz). I have attenuated it during the editing but not removed it.

 

 

[Flying W]

@StealthPhoenix of I had not had the support of eWheels I'm sure I would have found the cause of the knocking as well. I know it wasn't bearings on my original wheel, something in the motor touching as it rotated was the most likely cause. 

When the bearings grind and sound horrible....those are bad bearings, but a knocking sound that is dependent on rpm is most certainly not bearings. My knock even smoothed out the faster you went being pretty much gone over 30mph (you could feel it in the pedals and that feeling lessened the fast you went). The more centrifugal force the less the issue. 

Once you've un-zombified please share more about your fix, brand new members looking for answers won't be able to pm you right away. 

I do think the crud collecting in the ridge, especially if wet, will be forced into the bearing over time and cause premature bearing failure, but the knocking is unrelated to the motor cover ridge issue. When it's bearing change time for me I will be drilling holes as shown in Ray Rokni's youtube video.

[NordEstEuc]

3 hours ago, Flying W said:

@StealthPhoenix of I had not had the support of eWheels I'm sure I would have found the cause of the knocking as well. I know it wasn't bearings on my original wheel, something in the motor touching as it rotated was the most likely cause. 

When the bearings grind and sound horrible....those are bad bearings, but a knocking sound that is dependent on rpm is most certainly not bearings. My knock even smoothed out the faster you went being pretty much gone over 30mph (you could feel it in the pedals and that feeling lessened the fast you went). The more centrifugal force the less the issue. 

Once you've un-zombified please share more about your fix, brand new members looking for answers won't be able to pm you right away. 

I do think the crud collecting in the ridge, especially if wet, will be forced into the bearing over time and cause premature bearing failure, but the knocking is unrelated to the motor cover ridge issue. When it's bearing change time for me I will be drilling holes as shown in Ray Rokni's youtube video.

These are two, or more, different problems! 

1 the "tock" sound

2 Bearings rust problem (the design weakness of the hollow / bearing system)

What I can say about the "tock" is that the problem comes and goes ... it has been absent for a few days but today, putting the slime on the tire and turning the wheel with my hands, I felt it again albeit very weak! I got on the wheel and did 10 km without feeling anything. So for sure I think it's bearing-related (misalignment?) But water and dirt retention issues are another issue that somehow Ray tried to fix in his videos.

(sorry for my english, I hope was intelegible)

[StealthPhoenix]

@Planemo my blood sugar was prolly low. my bad. lets move on though. yes, the knocking sound is SEPARATE from the bearing. if you hear any knocking/tocking noise, dont be fooled into thinking its bearing related. even if they are reputable sources. this is not to downplay their effort. just to stay on course with the truth of things.

@Flying W i am working on the problem with @JirkaMak and he is making sufficient strides in his endeavor. once he has his fully working, which seems to be highly likely based on the progress he is making, we will both know for sure. i test rode mine today and jeesus, it felt like a brand new wheel. i get why people thought it was a bearing issue all this time now. because the wheel just rides more sluggishly wth this knocking noise. like a clogged or rusted bearing. i got lucky in my misfortune because id never rode an euc prior and my problem came right away before i even developed experience for a good wheel. so i never realized my wheel was running sluggish. i just learned on it that way for more than 300 miles. that freed my mind to not fall into the pitfall of falsely thinking its a bearing issue (which to everyone elses merit i guess, i may have thought too, if i had rode a good euc before and then felt the sluggishness). i did experiment with tire psi in the very beginning, and do acknowledge the same change in sluggishness or a more squirrely wheel...which again, could be the result of a clogged or clean bearing as well. so..many causes can provide the same result.

@NordEstEuc definitely could be many problems. I will be riding mine in worse weather conditions in the future to test out the bearings. but so far i have not rode while it is raining. i ride after it rains, and through 1-3 inch deep puddles. and some mud and offroad. my bearings are pristine. if guys HAVE developed truly a breakdown in bearings, the only test for that, is to LOOSEN the motor cover enough (and remove all the motor cover screws) until you can spin it with your hand while holding it, and spin it continuously at ANY speed you want. if you can spin the loosened cover ("loose" means "not touching the rim, only touching the hollow axle.") without feeling any SUDDEN jerky movement or sudden binding, it doesnt matter how FAST you can move it. it should be moving FLUIDLY, not rapidly. if the bearing moves fluidly, your bearing is perfect fine even if it looks shitty.

heating the cheap aluminum cover constantly would actually serve to weaken the metal btw, allowing more knocking sounds to come in the future. and to the stunt guys, i think the pedal hangers might have enough flex in them to actually hit the motor cover and dent it. the dent might be very hard to find, but if there is a knocking sound ONLY, i ASSURE you there is some defect present in the motor cover.

so yes, bearing issues could be an issue for others still, among whatever else justification people want to find, which should continue to be discussed until something solid gets founded, but the bearing issue is NOT related to the knocking sound. that much i know now for sure. whatever else i theorized in earlier posts regardng this sound, i denounce them.

the solution to the knocking sound. in its entirety:

for the knocking sound, in any hollow bore motor, remove one cover (and pedal hanger) and keep the other cover (and pedal hanger) on. your goal is to center the stator. this means there will be an air gap that you can see all throughout the circumference between the stator and rotor. test this by shining a light on the back of the other motor cover and see if you can see the light between the air gap. if you can see it all throughout the circumference, then your motor is centered, and you should be able to turn the STATOR using the pedal hangers. there will be no grinding sound. only a high pitch whirring sound. this is normal and desired. if one side of the stator is sticking to the magnets, put the motor cover back on loosely until you can spin the stator again with the pedla hangers (even if its grinding or scraping, it is okay). then remove the cover again while trying to keep the stator moving periodically (to prevent it from sticking). do this back and forth until you are able to achieve the result i mention above (freely spinning stator WITHOUT COVER). then begin the task of slowly putting the cover back on applying gentle pressure (no hammering or banging on the cover. light tapping is fine. as a note, i have seen in murlands eucbros video that he applies grease on the hollow axle to help the bearing slip on. i advise the opposite, because you DONT want that part of the bearing to move against the hollow axle. if you think about it, that bearing is the coupling of the hollow axle, to the stator. meaning you want the stator to FOLLOW THE EXACT MOVEMENT of the hollow axle, for the hall sensors to react properly to your requests of accelerating or braking. if you GREASE that coupling, then you are actually creating a dangerous situation where your requests might not be as responsive. this is why gotway didnt grease that part at all from the factory. its not meant to be greased. once you have the motor cover on JUST ENOUGH that you can insert the cover screws on with some loctite and catch the thread, then you can hand tighten each screw utilizing the star pattern (about 1/2 turn each screw), until you start to get close to completely seating the cover. all this time, make sure to keep spinning the stator with the pedal hangers to make sure the alignment of the motor (that air gap is maintained), is correct. you should not hear any more knocking or scraping sound. the whirring high pitch is fine when you spin it. when you get to a certain point in tightening the screws, you WILL hear the return of the knocking sound. this is where it will help if you take the time to check the motor cover for the slightest of dents on the inside. you might think its not there. but i assure you, it is there. it is that part of the cover where you will have to adjust the screws at. you can put small washers to not tighten the screw down fully, but still keep it tight enough. alternatively, you can even use a rubber gasket for the motor cover to create the space necessary to keep the defective motor cover away from causing the problem (hitting/rubbing some component, distorting the inner rim where the magnets of the rotor sit, thus deforming the magnetic alignment of the rotor, which then pulls the stator out of "magnetic floatation," until it sticks to one side and you begin to hear the scraping or knocking sound. at higher speeds, the centrifugal force indeed allows the coil and magnets to seperate once again and the knocking goes away. but since the magnetic field is out of equilibrium due to the distorted cover, its a gamble when the knocking will return again. the only true solution is a new motor cover, preferably made with a far better material so that it can handle off road usage too, so if the pedal hangers flex and hit it, it doesnt bend, or doesnt warp at constant changing extreme temperatures etc). 

if there is no knocking sound, and the wheel is just sluggish, then yeah, it could be bearing, it could be improper slime usage, tire pressure, case by case basis really.

if there is a scraping sound, it could be either bearing or motor cover. you need to remove the motor cover to be sure. 

if you remove the motor cover and can spin the bearing with your finger constantly on the bearing, and feel no binding, only fluid motion. then it is NOT the bearing, however shitty it looks. since you have come that far, you might as well just clean it and lube it up if you want. i wouldnt open the rubber seal though unless it looks like its opening up in some places anyway.

AND THAT IS THAT. @JirkaMak let us know what happens

---------------------

EDIT: i was thinking about the part about greasing the hollow bore axle again, and though i personally still havent done it, i dont think it has the negative effect i thought it would. doing it would indeed help the bearing slide in better. and my reason is void because the pedal hangers mount directly to the hollow axle and would turn it whether the bearing makes greased or non-greased or any contact at all. so the hall sensor function is preserved. its a lot to process for me, so i apologize for that. but the more time i spend with this thing, the better i begin to see it in my head to apply and ride it out. in addition, the mechnical contact is also made with the metal cover screws, so that again is another reason that mechanical linkage of rotation is preserved. ive jumped the gun lately. however, i still wouldnt put the grease because it would attract more dirt and gunk to stick to the area (but ONLY IF the grease seeps out of the coupling towards the outside where the bearing/motor cover lip are or inside towards the center of the hollow axle. but if you dont go overboard with it, then i no longer see anything questionable.

...i do want to address something else i saw in the video that i personally havent done, and so far its not a game changer: the leveling of the pedal hangers. when i reinstall them, i just eyeball it as im mounting the hangers onto the hollow bore, keeping the screws loose enough so i can get it completely level on both sides (i just look at the center tread of the tire, while bing able to see the bottom of both of the hangers on each side of the tire, and i tighten those screws while maintaining that level as much as possible with my hands. then i torque it tighter slowly to maintain that level. so far i dont feel any difference in feeling when i ride. 

i should have made another post because im also wondering about any update regarding the "water holes" that were made in the motor cover, as solution for rain..

anyway, hope i dont find any more flaws in my own thinking. but if anyone else does, itd be much appreciated. peace

Edited January 10, 2021 by StealthPhoenix

[Simply_Striking]

What can I use to clean the motherboard, mines has a lot of dust all over it.

[StealthPhoenix]

18 minutes ago, Simply_Striking said:

What can I use to clean the motherboard, mines has a lot of dust all over it.

@buell47(from before: im inclined to say "water" LOL)

@Simply_Strikingcompressed air, in a can or if you have an air compressor at home. and then follow up with a dip or a mild wipe with 99% isopropyl alcohol, then compressed air again. at least thats what i think.. could be wrong though, someone else can chime in as well.

[Flying W]

@StealthPhoenix before going out in rain tape the vent holes, trolley handle gap and power button (I'd tape over the rubber cover too). Also plug or tape the hole into the hollow boar where the motor wires go in and the same on the other side. 

This wheel cools very well but it also let's dust and water inside. 

I personally don't ride this wheel unless it's dry outside. 

I'm also pretty sure my original wheels knocking was caused by what you say 

 

[StealthPhoenix]

@Flying W man..the wheel rides so much smoother without that sound. im going to head out and do a 30-40 mile ride in a few minutes to see if my battery levels improve, because they really should. i was only able to do 30 miles previously with the intermittent sound in 30°F weather and i am only 145lbs. +10lbs w/gear i guess, and i had 25% battery. i thought that was pretty shitty. but i thought the cold weather was the main culprit. if i can reach 35 mile range in current temps, 29-31°F, with 35% battery left, then ill feel that the advertised specs are solid and ill be thrilled about my purchase.

and then im going to try and hold back from getting the mten, or the nikola, or the veteran  because discipline and all.

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

3 hours ago, Simply_Striking said:

What can I use to clean the motherboard, mines has a lot of dust all over it.

I use only a air compressor. 

3 hours ago, StealthPhoenix said:

@buell47(from before: im inclined to say "water" LOL)

@Simply_Strikingcompressed air, in a can or if you have an air compressor at home. and then follow up with a dip or a mild wipe with 99% isopropyl alcohol, then compressed air again. at least thats what i think.. could be wrong though, someone else can chime in as well.

 

Standard procedure for any wheel with excessive dust and dirt is to seal the wheel against dust.

With the MSP/RS it is the big gap on the trolley linkage and additionally with the RS the holes in the pedal hanger.

For those where the housing cover seal is not missing, I would always drill 4 water drain holes in the housing. I would even do this myself if the seal is not missing. At least who drives in the rain or uses water for cleaning. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by buell47

[JirkaMak]

Hi guys.

I'm working on my motor as mentioned by @StealthPhoenix and I can confirm there are small dents on the motor cover and they could very well be from the pedal hanger flexing slightly on harder impacts. Also, when a suspect motor cover (the one which seems to be resonating more on the knocking, e.g. the one I felt is the source of the sound) is unscrewed and loosened, it rotates fluidly on its bearing without any jerking or knocking from within.

I did hear a soft grinding sound from inside the motor and thought about having some kind of debris inside, but hunting it down with a stethoscope, I found a tiny little spring caught behind a hanger opposite to the one I was working on. Not sure if it's part of the wheel, it's not rusted, but I couldn't find any obvious place it could belong to. Attaching an image of it, any ideas?

Trying to find the sweet stop for the motor to on. Will let you know once I got it. :-)

Have a great day everyone!

[Tawpie]

Looks like a hand wound vaping coil! You didn’t add smoke effects to the wheel did you?

[mike_bike_kite]

Perhaps they were intending on releasing the RS as a suspension wheel?  

[JirkaMak]

10 minutes ago, mike_bike_kite said:

Perhaps they were intending on releasing the RS as a suspension wheel?  

I guess they did, LOL. But the smoke generator won! :-D

[StealthPhoenix]

(just leaving an update for the data analyst types haha: after resolving the knocking sound, i did see an upgrade to my battery life. i was able to ride 52 miles at 20-28 mph in 33°F weather, at around 145lb-150lb. with 29 psi tire pressure, and it was done in triplets. like 3 rest points (but no charging) each rest about 5 minutes. i had about 14-21% by the time i got home. at 21% i could not go 25 mph anymore, as the the battery would start to drop immediately down to 15-14%. so i went around 15 mph and it managed to "return" back to 18-20%. i did that for about the last 4 miles, and got home with enough juice left for perhaps...another 4 miles? maybe more?. i dont know if thats good or bad or average. but it is what it is. comparisons will provide result in this case)

[Bongaloid]

Question for anyone who knows:

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of this slight creaky click I get sometimes when I'm turning left? What is that?

[Flying W]

Check all the screws, I had some loose ones. Don't over tighten them but make sure they are not loose. My left pedal hanger had on less than finger tight and some of the case screws were not snug. I don't know if mine would have made creaking sounds though, I did a once over before riding it. 

[Bongaloid]

For clarification, I do not hear anything unusual. It's a clicking feeling.

[Flying W]

Did you check the set screws on your pedals? Mine were loose. 

If you check all the screws it should go away, but if it's a feeling amd not a sound of focus on the pedal screws first since they are easy. Next is go after the pedal hangers, also easy but more time consuming, and the fan on the control board side will block one of them but it sounds like this is a left side issue on your wheel.

[Bongaloid]

22 hours ago, Flying W said:

Did you check the set screws on your pedals? Mine were loose. 

If you check all the screws it should go away, but if it's a feeling amd not a sound of focus on the pedal screws first since they are easy. Next is go after the pedal hangers, also easy but more time consuming, and the fan on the control board side will block one of them but it sounds like this is a left side issue on your wheel.

Checked my pedals and the right one was super loose! Unfortunately the creaky feeling remains when turning left. Guess I'll have to take the padding off my wheel to open it up and make sure the screws are tight and wiring isn't hitting the fan or anything like that.. It'll be my first time opening up the wheel, so it seems like a daunting task.

[Flying W]

At least these wheels are very easy to open. There will be double sided tape holding the panel on the battery. Once all the screws are out just slide your hand under the panel about mid way up and keep a constant pressure. You will hear and feel the tape letting go. 

Also don't miss the the two screws behind the pedals, I think if I remember correctly there should be 13 screws per side. The pedals do need to come off too. 

It wasn't too long ago that wheels were held together by wood screws into plastic and a bunch of plastic clips. This made repeated opening a recipe for stripped screws and broken clips. 

[Bongaloid]

8 hours ago, Flying W said:

At least these wheels are very easy to open. There will be double sided tape holding the panel on the battery. Once all the screws are out just slide your hand under the panel about mid way up and keep a constant pressure. You will hear and feel the tape letting go. 

Also don't miss the the two screws behind the pedals, I think if I remember correctly there should be 13 screws per side. The pedals do need to come off too. 

It wasn't too long ago that wheels were held together by wood screws into plastic and a bunch of plastic clips. This made repeated opening a recipe for stripped screws and broken clips. 

Thanks for your help. Just confirming, opening the wheel up won't void the warranty or anything right? I live really close to Ewheels and have only had the wheel a couple months. Just making sure opening the wheel is the right move.

[StealthPhoenix]

1 hour ago, Bongaloid said:

Thanks for your help. Just confirming, opening the wheel up won't void the warranty or anything right? I live really close to Ewheels and have only had the wheel a couple months. Just making sure opening the wheel is the right move.

contact them and ask.

https://www.ewheels.com/returns-and-warranty/

i personally did open my wheel up, with the understanding that worst case scenario: the warranty did void.