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I have a 10 year old eWind Classic, and the hub motor makes horrible noises when under high load. It used to be silent. So I want to replace the planetary gears and bearings.

Printed on the hub motor is:

HLGE236V261400183

(The hub motor is supposed to be a 350W 36V geared hub motor, but I suspect that it was falsely advertised 250W one. It seems to be unbranded.)

What I did so far:

  • Removed the wheel.
  • Removed the brake disk.
  • Removed the screws in the hub motor.

I see a vague line on the hub, where I think the two halves should come apart?

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My question: what are the next steps to open up the motor?

Do I need to remove that nut on the axle, and then the gear cassette?

Or can I hammer the axle on the side of the motor cable?

How do I proceed?

Update

After removing freewheel, I could open up the hub motor. This required a FR 1.3 tool.

I replaced the clutch with planetary gears, but I found out that all clutches commercially available spin in the other direction than mine does!

So I had to keep my clutch, and transplant the 3 planetary gears.

After doing that, the motor noise is still is bad. I think I have to get a completely new motor.

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    I'd like to suggest you remove the freewheel to make sure there are no screws hidden beneath it. Also, you might try wedging a blade into that seam near the screws you removed, to see if the parts come apart. I'd personally refrain from using violence (i.e. a hammer) unless i know what i do. Bearings might not like that.
    – Burki
    Commented Jul 19, 2023 at 10:27
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    Some motor hubs have RTV sealant applied at the gap that could be sticking the two halves together.
    – Nathan Knutson
    Commented Jul 19, 2023 at 23:32

1 Answer 1

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If you have removed all the screws the only thing holding the side on is magnetism. The inside of the motor is lined with magnetic segments and the magnetic field they collectively generate is powerful enough to make it difficult to open a motor.

There are various ways to solve this problem. Look it up in YouTube. I use a method most people would think of as dangerous:

  1. Remove the screws on the side you want to open.
  2. Get a piece of plywood and place it on a hard surface such as a basement floor or sidewalk.
  3. Hold the motor with the unscrewed side facing you.
  4. Making sure that the motor axle is perpendicular to the ground, slam the motor axle head onto the plywood. It may take a few tries before you get the right amount of force. Be careful that you don't damage the wires.
  5. If you do this correctly the winding body will pop out along with the side panel.

Many will think I'm insane to do it this way but I've never hurt a motor because I do this.

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  • Thx. My motor has screws on only one side. Youtube motor disassembly shows motors with cable at same side as cassette. Mine is opposite of cassette. I hammered both sides of axle.. I see no gap opening up, either way.
    – Bram
    Commented Jul 18, 2023 at 18:25
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    It must be that the cassette (gear cluster) is blocking access. Check in between the cassette and the motor.You will probably see screw heads You need to get a cassette removal tool. Here's a video that explains everything you need to know. youtube.com/watch?v=9KAaP7pbFV0&ab_channel=ParkTool
    – Bash Noel
    Commented Jul 22, 2023 at 12:32
  • On point 4, do you mean something more like tap the axle against the plywood, gradually increasing the force until you get movement? That would seem more prudent. When you say you want to get the right amount of force, it seems like this is where you are going unless the motor is closed very tightly.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Jul 27, 2023 at 19:12
  • @weiwen NG: Yes. That's he approach to take.
    – Bash Noel
    Commented Jul 28, 2023 at 22:29
  • FWIW, there are many videos on YouTube on how to take a hub motorr apart.
    – Bash Noel
    Commented Jul 28, 2023 at 22:31

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