48 volt 1000 wat motor not working

[Grantdbiff]

Hello all,

I bought a 48 volt 1000 watt motor online and am trying to test it out with some DC power supplies. The power supplies are limited to 24 volts and 3 amps. I have them hooked up in series so that I have a 48 volt supply. I know that this means I only have 3 amps and thus my max power with this setup is 144 watts. So here is my question.

Is this not enough power to turn the motor on? The lights on the throttle are turning on; however, my multimeter does not show any voltage on over lines going to the motor. Is this because the controller is using too much power and there is not enough left for the motor?

If that is the case how can I find out what the bare minimum voltage and amperage are to get this thing spinning? I just want to see if it even works.

Thanks,
Grant

 

[Ann M.]

@Grantdbiff If it's a brushless hub motor which it probably is, then applying direct current to the motor doesn't work. Brushless motors need the information coming from the controller via the Hall effect sensors to know to move. Since you did hook up the power supplies to the controller and you're using 48 volts but only 3 amps, then you probably don't have enough energy to make the system work. Even with that point, you should be reading some amount of voltage output with your throttle engaged if it has a throttle only mode. In that case there's a possible problem with the controller. Look at the controller; most have ratings in amps on the case and the supplier should have information. Also, if this is a pedal assist system then you may need to manually spin the motor and then apply the throttle to test. One final note, although a system is rated at 48V, the batteries need to read about 51V for there to be adequate power to push the motor, particularly with lithium cells.