Hub Motor Maintenance

ESK8 Electronics
1

Hi there everyone,

I am wondering about what kinds of maintenance you need to provide hub motors. I know that they are supposedly ‘maintenance free’ but I am pretty sure that this is marketing hype. Does anyone have any idea of what actually needs to be done to keep your hub motors in working order? Do they ever need to be lubricated, or opened up and cleaned, or anything of that nature?

2

they need to be lubricated just like normal wheels, you know, bearings. but other than that, not really

3

I think biggest hurdle comes to not physically damaging them or overheating them. Then it also might be.the precision / thought of construction - might make cracking / clicking sound after a while… though there are.more.people who will probably share their insight also from user perspective…

But yeh otherwise there are benefits.but also a few disadvantages, one being issue.with.heat/power/speed, so also depends to which hub motors are u referring to and.which ones u have in mind.

There seem.to be more and more designs and.iterations coming now from different people / makers

4

I’d add replacing the wheels. Though something you do with belt-driven boards, with hubs, you need to make sure that you’ll have reliable access to the wheels that the hubs use, which are typically provided by the manufacturer and not a wheel company (e.g., ABEC 11, Orangatang).

Since the lifespan of the special hub motors can vary and you have to believe that you’ll have access to spares during the life of your motors, I’d add this as a maintenance issue worth noting.

Note, direct-drives like Carvon, don’t have this maintenance issue.

1 Like
5

  1. Bearings- they get loud pretty quick with all the hub motors Ive had. Lubricating them regularly is required from my experience with them.

  2. Fasteners- fasteners that retain the urathane qnd stator to hanger etc should be checked regularly. They take lots of vibration and will cause a big problem if they come free.

  3. Urethane- if you get your rubbers hot they seem to expand permanently and require replacement. Haven’t really had to replace many due to wear because they are usually super hard high duro.

  4. Debris- occasionally stuff gets into the hubs and cause funny noises. Disassembly and cleaning usually takes care of it for me.