26 July 2007
This handwound brushless motor was going for about the price of a machine-wound brushed motor, so I had to get one to try.
It's supposed to be about as fast as a 23-turn Japanese stock motor.
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The sensor cables that come with the motor are about 10cm long but they are not permanently attached to the motor can, so they can easily be swapped with a longer one. An inscription on the can indicates the winding (11.5T) and it's brushed equivalent (23T) - a nice idea but the inscription looks like it was done by a guy with a hammer and a pin vise. |
| The socket for the sensor plug is just below the solder tabs for the power wires. This should make it easier to keep all the wires and cables higher off the ground in an off-road vehicle. |
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The motor can is held together by three scrawny looking screws (2.6mm is my guess). They should work fine but I'm used to seeing the beefy ones (5-40 size I think) on the Novak brushless motors. |
| The rotor is sintered, according to the manual. Before I opened it up, I gave the shaft a few spins with my fingers to get a feel of the drag. While it definitely does feel more draggy than the Novak non-sintered motors (the EX series and the older SS series), it has nowhere near the magnetic drag of a modern brushed motor. I would say the resistance I felt was similar to that in a Mabuchi 540 silvercan. |
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The bearings ride on the shaft itself. It looks to be the same size bearing as ones in the Novak non-sintered brushless motors. |
Update: Ouch, The review stops here as I just found out my Speed Passion motor was a dud. One of the Hall effect sensors didn't seem to be working (The motor wouldn't start up whenever the rotor was in one particular position). So far, I have heard of one other case of a Speed Passion dud motor (exact same model, exact same problem). My friend just bought one from a newer batch that seems to be working perfectly, but instead of the hammered "11.5T = 23T" inscription on the can, it just had a sticker. His motor seems to be able to keep up with some of the faster 23-turn stock motors (Yokomo's mostly) at the local touring car track.
