Bafang 500W Motor Life Expectancy - Do They Burn Out?

M

mail_e36

Member
Hi everyone,

I'm wondering what is the life expectancy on a modern Bafang 48V 500W motor, running on a 13A 48V battery, with moderate throttle use.

Of particular interest is the Bafang RMC06, which is the workhorse of many affordable sub-$2,000 USD ebikes.

I've read somewhere that the motors inside have nylon (not sure how accurate?), and can either burn out or wear out after some time, particularly if doing lots of hill-climbing or throttle riding.

How many miles are on your Bafang motor?

Thanks!
 
All gear drives have a clutch and 3 synthetic gears. At 13A it should get many miles without an issue. Replacing gears it pretty cheap. If it were mine I’d look for replacements now. There’s lots of issues these day sourcing parts. I keep critical repair parts in my kit. I hate waiting 3 or more weeks for replacements.
 
I think it safe to say it will be difficult to wear one out under "normal" usage. Start abusing it, and all it would take is to overheat it. Somebody that knew what they were doing and purposely trying to destroy the drive could do that in pretty short order I would think. Same is true of about any of the available drives/motors.

Having a spare set of gears virtually assures you will NEVER need them....
 
Thinking loong hill, pulling a trailer at low speed? Not much available is going to hold up to that, even if only fed 13a.....
 
mail_e36 said:
(...)
How many miles are on your Bafang motor?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
This is one of my interests, too. Nobody replied on that subject. Maybe people just buy a new motor or entire wheel if they ever have motor trouble. It's good to hear that the motor has expected longevity apparently so long that it hasn't become a conversation item here. Mine has 2770 mi. I'm relieved to believe I probably won't need to service or replace the motor for several more years at least.
 
Wow have a 750w-48 volt (7) hub motor its supposed to have the large stator I am led to believe( Bafang motor) anyone interested? Need to do a parts reduction, brand new will pay shipping costs$210. It has the lead cable and all, I started to put it in my other bike with the small stator 750 watt, apparently its allowed to have a lot of amps cause it will do 85 NM and I cannot see the point of cracking the case open to gander at it, the stock one has proven itself.
 
If I were selling something lke that I would post some pics, to include a shot of all numbers, and the plug on the end of the wiring harness. I doubt you'll have any trouble selling it.
 
Out of more than a dozen E-Bikes brands I have carried , have not ever had one hub motor fail in the past 5 years.
 
Even when one would fail eventually, it’s not that expensive to replace. An entire wheel, including hub motor Already spoked Into the rim, runs about $180 to $250. Versus a Bosch mid drive motor by itself and not installed is minimum $900.
 
AHicks said:
If I were selling something lke that I would post some pics, to include a shot of all numbers, and the plug on the end of the wiring harness. I doubt you'll have any trouble selling it.
Click to expand...
Thank you, between Bill Gates and Android its almost impossible to post a picture( XP where art thou?) I will see if My Daughter will post this with Her "I" phone, its a good deal and I will ship it, its doing me no good setting on the shelf.
Now it begs the question, "How many times has anyone had a 3 phase motor fail?" I'll bet this answer is-Few.
 
kmccune said:
Thank you, between Bill Gates and Android its almost impossible to post a picture( XP where art thou?) I will see if My Daughter will post this with Her "I" phone, its a good deal and I will ship it, its doing me no good setting on the shelf.
Now it begs the question, "How many times has anyone had a 3 phase motor fail?" I'll bet this answer is-Few.
Click to expand...
Have you tried taking the photo with your phone, emailing it to yourself and then screen capturing the photo out of your email?
 
kmccune said:
Thank you, between Bill Gates and Android its almost impossible to post a picture( XP where art thou?) I will see if My Daughter will post this with Her "I" phone, its a good deal and I will ship it, its doing me no good setting on the shelf.
Now it begs the question, "How many times has anyone had a 3 phase motor fail?" I'll bet this answer is-Few.
Click to expand...
My bet is your buyer will be doing a performance upgrade, or a new build, not replacing a dead motor. The 750w, if that's what this is, is the top drawer. The guts of that motor will slide right in to 350w and 500w hubs pretty easily, providing a performance increase for those with a tendency to hot rod. Guys riding Rad Rovers come to mind here.....
 
mail_e36 said:
Hi everyone,

How many miles are on your Bafang motor?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I made it nearly 5000 miles on my original 48V/500W Bafang SWX02 motor before needing to replace the clutch/gear assembly.

The motor had started on my Electra Townie in 2018 and then swapped to my Mongoose Envoy in late 2019. In August, the motor started getting really noisy in the Envoy. I regreased with Mobil and that helped for a bit - but then it started growling again. I pulled the core from the Townie (now with a newer SWX02), compared, and the Envoy nylon gears were rounded. Swapped cores between bikes and the Envoy is quiet again. Townie not so much...

I picked up a clutch/gear assembly from this vendor on AliExpress ($36). Install is still pending as I mostly ride the Envoy.

www.aliexpress.com

17.09US $ 5% OFF|Bafang Swx02 Motor Clutches For Replacement - Electric Vehicle Components & Accessories - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com

Both of my SWX02 kits are the 'Bluenergy' variety offered by vendors on Amazon, Ebay, and Aliexpress.

 
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My wifes went about 2100 miles before it gave out but it was covered under our lifetime warranty, yes I said Lifetime! Mine is still going strong with 2500 miles so far and counting, with that said my controller went bad at 2400 miles but again covered under our warranty. I did have to wait 3 weeks for that to come in so that was a bummer but the warranty coverage takes all the risk away from my wallet, so I'm willing to wait a little. Not only that but I also got 4 new tires and tubes after the 2000 mile mark because, yup, they are covered on our warranty!!
 
TAZMANIMAN said:
My wifes went about 2100 miles before it gave out but it was covered under our lifetime warranty, yes I said Lifetime! Mine is still going strong with 2500 miles so far and counting, with that said my controller went bad at 2400 miles but again covered under our warranty. I did have to wait 3 weeks for that to come in so that was a bummer but the warranty coverage takes all the risk away from my wallet, so I'm willing to wait a little. Not only that but I also got 4 new tires and tubes after the 2000 mile mark because, yup, they are covered on our warranty!!
Click to expand...
where did you get a lifetime warranty??

I'm at 12k on my Bafang 500w and it's feeling tired
 
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I've probably got 5000+ miles on one "Cute 100" and 3900 miles on another, a tiny little geared hub motor about 100mm in diameter, which is why they call it the 100. We just don't beat on it, although I have an Aikema 100 with a 25A controller.

On the other hand, a would-be "reviewer" here burnt up a brand 250W motor on 36V in 10 minutes, throttling it up a hill in back of his house. Just shows how dumb you can get with other people's bikes. He got it as a loaner from the forum owner here.
 
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