2015 iZip Dash E3 non-OEM motor replacement suggestions?

[mscir]

I just got a 2015 iZip Dash E3, the owner decided to let it go because the 2nd motor he had on it died and he didn't find parts easily. The stock motor is not geared and overheated on a moderate hill he climbed going to work each day, he went through 2 motors in 6 years! And Curry wants $500 for the motor core! Are there aftermarket motors that are better quality than the OEM motors that will fit and hopefully mate with the wiring harness?

 

[mscir]

I'd like to thank AHicks for writing about his experience with geared motors for hill climbing, and RunForTheHills for talking about his experience with Grin and their customer service. I emailed them several times and they handled all of my technimcal questions perfectly, I went with their Shengyi DGWX2 (Grin calls this the SX2) geared motor, the CA3 display and Baserunner controller, which monitors the thermal sensor in the motor, and reduces power to the motor when excessive motor temperatures are detected. This will give me good hill climbing ability and help prevent me from cooking the new motor. My bike is built up and I couldn't be happier with the motor or the numerous configurable features of Grin's controller. Grin's customer service is second to none. Thanks again AHicks and RunForTheHills, you guys helped me out a lot and I appreciate it.

 

[chrismtb]

I'd like to thank AHicks for writing about his experience with geared motors for hill climbing, and RunForTheHills for talking about his experience with Grin and their customer service. I emailed them several times and they handled all of my technimcal questions perfectly, I went with their Shengyi DGWX2 (Grin calls this the SX2) geared motor, the CA3 display and Baserunner controller, which monitors the thermal sensor in the motor, and reduces power to the motor when excessive motor temperatures are detected. This will give me good hill climbing ability and help prevent me from cooking the new motor. My bike is built up and I couldn't be happier with the motor or the numerous configurable features of Grin's controller. Grin's customer service is second to none. Thanks again AHicks and RunForTheHills, you guys helped me out a lot and I appreciate it.

I have the same bike that I'm having issues with and I'm wondering what it took to do your conversion? Were you able to use the stock battery, pedal sensor, throttle, and brake levers with the Grin setup? I assume you needed the torque bracket? Did the same spoke lengths work or were new spokes needed?

Edit: I see from the datasheet that the spoke hole diameter is 141, which is nowhere close to the stock ~200mm. I'd be curious what spoke size was needed for this hub with the stock Alex rim if you reused that.

 

[mscir]

I removed all of the old hardware and replaced it with Grin stuff, (order details below.) Grin has excellent customer service, I emailed them many times even apologizing if I was being annoying, they were totally supportive and answered all of my many questions... I recommend you consider asking them if any of your hardware will work: from my discussions it seemed like none of it would work with their controller. If you tell them the *ERD of your rim they will cut the right length spokes for you to lace their motor to your wheel, you have to specify single-cross (how many times each spoke crosses another spoke) or other crossing options. I found that single cross works fine for my style of riding, all street, I haven't had any problems over dozens of trips sometimes involving going off curbs or through potholes. Their spokes worked perfectly for my wheel. I emailed the wheel manufacturer to get the exact ERD since my measurements always come up with a different number, lol. I attached a picture showing the spoke lengths they calculated for my order, and an axle stabilizer I bought on ebay as an afterthought.

ERD - Effective rim diameter (ERD) explained

Effective rim diameter (ERD) explained | BikeGremlin

How to measure effective rim diameter (ERD) and a datasheet with effective rim diameter of various rims. Knowing ERD matters for bicycle wheelbuilding.

bike.bikegremlin.com

This shows how to lace your motor to your wheel, single cross, I used this approach and it worked great.

This talks about finding the spoke length if you want to do it yourself.
How to Measure Hubs and Rims for Perfect Spoke Lengths, Ebike Hub Motor Wheelbuilding

IIRC they didn't list the SX2 in their online spoke length calculator at that time, so I asked them to cut the left and right spokes (which turned out to be the same length for my motor) based on the ERD I got from the manufacturer. If you're at all nervous about getting this right, which is a concern since you don't want to waste money, simply asking them to handle it in email works great, their customer service is 2nd to none.

Notes: I bought the wrong twist throttle by accident, you have to rotate this one forward for it to work, but it turns out I like it because sometimes when I'm standing up on a long hill I'll pull back on the throttle without intending to, so this prevents that. I programmed the controller to do pedal assist power in 100W increments, the small switch that mounts on the handlebars toggles the pedal assist level, at 100W I get over 80 miles on a single battery charge. and I got a thick piece of aluminum and screwed it to the controller using comptuer heat sink compound, and zip tied that ass'y to the frame where the wind hits it. It hasn't gotten hot on my rides, so I think that is sufficient for my needs.

Good Luck! If you do a conversion post pics of your bike when you've got it going.

Cheers,
MIke

SX2 Rear Ready-to-Roll Kit	KIT-SX2_RTR		1	USD$697.40
Select Motor Speed
SX2 Rear Helical Geared Hub Motor, Standard Wind	M-MSX2_STD		1	USD$245.00
Spoke Colour
36 x Sapim Strong 13-14g Butted Spoke, Black	SP-SPCust14B		36	USD$2.000
Baserunner Controller
1 x Baserunner_Z9	C-Baserunner		1	USD$195.00
V3 Cycle Analyst w/ Waterproof Plug
1 x CA3-WPx	CA-CA3-WPx		1	USD$115.00
CA Mounting Bracket Style
1 x CA_SteerBracket	CAP-CA_SteerBracket		1	USD$9.00
Multifunction Switch Assembly
1 x CA3_MFSwitch	CAP-CA3_MFSwitch		1	USD$20.00
Throttle Style
1 x T-LHTwist_Slim_50cm	T-LHTwist_Slim_50cm		1	USD$15.00
Pedal Sensor Type? (See Advanced PAS link for explanations)
1 x PAS_12P	CAP-PAS_12P		1	USD$24.00
Include eBrake Cutoffs?
1 x EbrakeWuxD_50cm	E-EbrakeWuxD_50cm		1	USD$24.00
Subtotal	USD$697.40
Shipping & Handling	USD$74.07
Grand Total (Excl.Tax)	USD$771.47
Tax	USD$0.00
Grand Total (Incl.Tax)	USD$771.47

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Back to My Orders

 

[chrismtb]

Thanks for the thorough and helpful response. So it looks like you were able to reuse the battery and replaced everything else. I'm guessing you were able to just cut and strip the battery wires and connect them to the correct controller inputs?

 

[mscir]

Thanks for the thorough and helpful response. So it looks like you were able to reuse the battery and replaced everything else. I'm guessing you were able to just cut and strip the battery wires and connect them to the correct controller inputs?

You have it exactly. It's a little hard to remove the iZip wiring from the down tube but once you do you can run your own wiring through it, to keep it out of the weather and protect it from impacts, and it looks clean. The controller has two heavy wires, red and black, that connect to the battery, I soldered mine and I highly recommend soldering as opposed to squeeze on connectors. A lot of current flows through those connections, and they're seeing temperature changes, vibration and hummidity. I was told the wires connecting the battery to the controller can be even 18" long as long as you don't twist them, but I kept mine as short as possible.

 

[mscir]

Thanks for the thorough and helpful response. So it looks like you were able to reuse the battery and replaced everything else. I'm guessing you were able to just cut and strip the battery wires and connect them to the correct controller inputs?

I forgot to mention that before I bought anything I told them what my optimal riding goals were with an ebike, and they recommended the setup I have. It's a lower power setup, I wanted to get as much exercise and range as possible without over-stressing my knees, so I would use low to medium pedal assist. If you do consider going with Grin I would definitely email them & describe all of the kinds of riding you intend to do so they can recommend the right setup so you can price it, they have a pretty big variety of motors.

 

[HMM]

If you can’t install this yourself, are there GRIN service shops around the US?