My Planet3 experience

[Cyklefanatic]

I was going to wait until my Vado 4.0 came off warranty before I would start modifying it. However after nearly a year and a half and 4,600 km. the bike has been so reliable I decided to go ahead and derestrict the speed limit. I live in Canada so our all of our bikes are limited to 32kph.
My buying experience with Planet3 was great. I received my kit in 4 days. It arrived in perfect condition with everything as promised.
After reading posts on this forum about these kits not lasting very long I decided to do something about it. The parts are 3D printed so the surface finish is not good. If you run your fingernail across the surface it feels like 120 grit sand paper, not smooth at all.
So I figure that because of the rough surface texture the planet gear is jumping around all over the place inside there and it wears out sooner than it should. So I took the time to sand both surfaces all the way to a 2,400 grit to the point where they are smooth and flat.
Then I made a critical blunder. I decided to wash the parts to get rid of all the sanding dust and dry them off with a hair dryer. The parts were fine for a minute but they seemed to reach a critical temperature and very suddenly they distorted. Arrgghhh! Parts were now not usable.
So I contacted Planet3 and explained my situation and he offered me a replacement ,crash kit, at half price. Great customer service.
So I ordered the replacement kit , sanded the parts again, air dried them and they are fine.
Finally I wanted to lubricate the main parts to aid slip and reduce wear so after some research I decided to use a spray silicone grease. I sprayed a very small amount and the plastic actually sucked it in. So I gave it two more light sprays until it wouldn’t take in any more oil. I removed any access from the surface.
Now when you run your finger across the surface it is super slick with no roughness at all.
My hope is that this will now outlast the bike.
Installation was pretty simple just follow the instructions.
The result is just as promised. The unit works and I can go as fast as I want. The speedometer and odometer now read low by a factor of 3.35. So 10 kph indicated is really 33.5!
I commute 50 km so this is going to work out great for the long commutes. For recreational riding I don’t see I will use it all. I stop too much to take pictures and look around. I can see that battery range is going to take a big hit at the higher speeds.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I recommend you buy the inexpensive BLEvo app (if you don't already own it). Gives you true speed and kilometres ridden, and tons of useful features!

 

[Cyklefanatic]

I recommend you buy the inexpensive BLEvo app (if you don't already own it). Gives you true speed and kilometres ridden, and tons of useful features!

Great advice thanks Stefan.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I enjoy watching the Planet3 videos. The guy is quite funny.
I made a comment on one of his videos saying I wish he design his kit to work on a Bosch gen 4 motor. His response was that it would be available in the near future.

 

[Cyklefanatic]

I enjoy watching the Planet3 videos. The guy is quite funny.
I made a comment on one of his videos saying I wish he design his kit to work on a Bosch gen 4 motor. His response was that it would be available in the near future.

Yeah he had a good laugh at my expense when I melted the first kit.

 

[Alex @ PLANET3.bike]

Even though I replied to @Cyklefanatic in the other PLANET3 thread, since someone might read this one, too - I'll just cover the sanding and lubricating does and don'ts again: basically, it's a don't on both counts.

The surface you sanded is never actually in contact with anything and is smooth within less than a tenth of a millimeter at the moment it comes from a very very calibrated printer. All the surfaces that need to be smooth are achieved due to printing orientation. Top of the sun gear needs to be smooth so the sun gear base is printed upside down (top surface in contact with the perfectly flat bed), the planet (magnet carrier) is printed right side up since it's bottom is the one that needs to be smooth as it moves on top of the sun gear. One wouldn't believe the amount of racket produced by these parts if they're not smooth. However, the ring gear is also printed right side up since the top surface (one visible on the outside) needs to be smooth since it gets superglued clips (which are printed in the opposite orientation) which need to be smooth on their bottom. So, don't sand anything, people. In actuality, the bottom of the sun gear base I sand myself on a very very straight (machined) piece of stainless steel plate on top of which I put 3M CUBITRON sanding paper. This is done so that it can lay perfectly flat on the top surface of the braking rotor.

As far as lubrication goes, the white planet (magnet carrier) is made out of a self-lubricating softer-touch material than the rest of the device. This was mostly for the audible effects, but suffice to say it's like a good woman - it brings its own lube. Silicone spray and a dry wipe won't do any harm and I recommend it only to users in very cold areas during winter (Finland, Sweden, Canada) because we found out one thing: when riding out in the cold and wet and then stopping, ice crystals can form inside the device and cause some damage if you try to start riding again while everything is still frozen solid. Silicone spray helps in this regard since it repels water. However, when summer arrives, couple of squirts of isopropyl alcohol (NOT ACETONE) and another wipe dry and you're good to go for the summer. Silicone spray in the summer will just attract extra dust inside the device and in some areas which are rather sandy can form a nice friction paste which is not an ideal thing to have inside the device.

Also, more recently the high temperature problem of the previous PLANET3s was solved, too. Now the glass transition temperature is 85°C. Not that it was problematic at 60°C previously, but in a handful of specific cases from Arizona/California and certain parts of Australia - people experienced some warped parts, albeit in situations where it was to be expected: bike locked in a hot van on a summer day, or stationary on it's side with PLANET3 ring gear directly exposed to sunlight with no moving air etc. These people all received free replacements, but I just wanted to make it clear that it's no longer a problem so long as you don't stick it in an oven at 90°C