Help with a Plettenberg please!
 

I just bought a (slightly) used Plettenburg BigMaxximum motor.

I'm running it with a MM controller, 3s 5000mah lipo in a 8ight buggy. I've been running the same setup with a Feigao8xl with great results.

The problem is the Plet cogs badly on startup. Even when rolling, it won't take throttle. The motor, wires, esc, battery leads and battery all get warm to hot really quickly with a few tries.

When I bought it, I noticed the cogging but I blamed the esc the guy was running because it smelled burnt. I brought it home and swapped in my MM esc, same cogging and instant heat-up. Anyway, I bought it so now its mine and I have to see about fixing it.

I read a bit already and I saw a couple guys mention that they could not turn the bare shaft (of the motor:)with their fingers, too much magnetic resistance. My fingers are pretty normal and to me, it feels like turning a low turn brushed motor, feels notchy but not hard to spin.

Is there anything to do before I send it to Germany or should I just call UPS?

If you have a test meter handy, see if the winding has shorted to the motor casing.

Set your meter to continuity, then put one lead on the motor casing and the other lead to any power wire.

His ESC probably smelled burnt from trying to run a shorted motor winding.

What kind of connectors do you have between the motor and the ESC?

I wish you luck on this one.

Not shorted
 

So I just brought my meter home and tested the motor. No continuity to the case on any wire. All three wires have continuity to each other. I even tried spinning the rotor with the meter on just in case.

This motor will run if you spin it up gradually but the heat build up happens too fast to even try to actually drive it.

I've heard that it can be difficult to get these fixed. Is there any (more) local alternative for repairs?

My connectors are the standard 4mm bullets compatible with MM

Ok, before you do anything else, check those connectors out really good.

I was having cogging issues just like this with a Mamba Max setup. Come to find out, it was arcing inside one of the connectors. I replaced all 3 connectors and it was fixed!

It was on the male side of the connector. I noticed one would slide in.........or unplug very easily. When I looked at it closer, I could see little burnt spots where it had been arcing.

Before I fixed it, it would run the motor. There was alot of cogging though until finally the ESC would thermal.

It's running strong now. Check it out. :yes:

No continuity to the case it good! :yes:

You will always have continuity between the motor wires. It's a 3 phase winding, so if you don't have continuity between them all, something would be wrong.

Hmmmm........let me know if you find anything with the connectors

Maybe it's for this reason that theother guys decide to sell it:diablo:

Connectors
 

They seem to fit tightly. The motor came with 5mm Quark style connectors which I removed and replaced with 4mm to match all my other stuff. The cogging didn't change with the motor ends or the esc ends, I've swapped out both now.

I agree!
 

I changed nothing, the problem was pre-existing. You know, this kind of thing really grinds my gears!!!

Do you have any other brushless controller? One that you can set the timing in degrees would do and see if it works with the motor. I had the Plettenberg Extreme running with the MM and it did cog some times, but it worked good.

MM have a hard time with some 4 Pole motors right?.. The BIGMaXX is 4 Poles...

Aaaaaaaaah, I bet you're onto something there!

Try it with that Quark 80 amp you have! If it's going to run right, the Quark will do it. :yes:

I would say it's because the bigmaxximum has got this nasty startup resistance.

It's about the same as a Neu, which doesn't seem to run very well on an MM either.

According to Plettenberg, the BigMax is a 6-Pole Motor, so the Mamba Max will have to work much harder than with 2-Pole or 4-Pole Motor

http://www.plettenberg-motoren.com/U...MAXX/Motor.htm

??? :lol:

I asked Plettenberg and they told me that the Maxx has 4 Poles and the BigMaxx 6 Poles!

Right on...:mdr:

I have been running my MM/BigMaxximum setup a little over 8 months now with no issues. I think from what I am reading your issue may be with the connecters. Try cutting the connectors completely out of the loop by hard wiring the ESC to the motor and see if the cogging issue persists.

My 2 Cents...

Cool.. I did not know this was possible.... that's sweet....

Thanks guys
 

I'm going to try hardwiring first. If that still isn't it, I'll try the Quark. I was really hoping to run the MM since I have an extra one. Any input from other MM users on the best settings?

how many cells are you running with that setup skillx?

4 now because I have a newer MM. But when I had an older MM i ran 5 all the time with no issues.

It is the motor!
 

I finally got back to this project. Using the Plettenberg, I swapped in my Quark 80b and the same cogging and extreme heating up occurs. I'm now convinced that there's something like a short in the motor. I have no continuity to the case on any wire but the heat build up is so fast that it could really only be a short.

BTW, with my feigao 8xl in the same set up with the MM, there is a little bit of cogging on start. Not much, but enough so you can't just grab WOT. With the Quark 80b, the cogging completely stops. Much smoother.

Is there anyone in N America who can fix this motor?

I know that ICARE-RC sells them, but as for repair.... unknown. Another possible cause could be that a mounting screw was screwed in too far, and damaged the windings. This is known to cause poor performance and rapid heating of the esc and/or motor. Me thinks the previous owner got a bit careless, then sold the system on to some unsupecting person; you. If the windings are damaged though, the cost of repair would be more than the motor cost you to begin with, since its not a simple task to to remove & replace them.... :no:

I have removed the windings from some big motors I have and it was fairly simple. All I did was heat the motor's can and the stator assembly came right off. Contact Plettenberg and see what they say.