Introduction
The Phaserunner is a compact state-of-the-art field oriented motor controller (FOC) from Grin Technologies based around the sophisticated control electronics from Accelerated Systems Inc. of Waterloo. It is ideally suited for running brushless motors for electric vehicles in the 500-2000 watt power range, and once you have experienced the smooth response of a FOC with a torque throttle it's hard to go back to a the setup you had before.
This controller was designed as a universal device that can fit on almost any bicycle frame and handle almost any motor system. You can power it from a 24V battery or a 72V battery, and run your phase current to peaks of over 90 amps, though the continuous current capability without additional heatsinking is typically 45-50A. The wiring is pared down to the bare basics for a nice clutter-free installation with two models for different applications. The Phaserunner_L10 has a cable exit for compatibility with all the motors suppled by Grin with the L1019 connector, while the Phaserunner_MT is connectorized for separate cable harnesses betweeen the controller and motor.
Features
Remote on/off switch compatible
Proportional regen available through throttle signal or stand alone wire
Works both Sensored and Sensorless, and even with very high eRPMs
Waterproof, 100% potted electronics
Fully programmable parameters (regen voltage, max phase and battery currents etc.)
Field Weakening allows you to run motors faster than normal back-emf limit
Virtual Electronics Freewheeling allows you to experience zero drag with direct drive motors
Higher motor efficiency than typical trapezoidal controllers
Torque based throttle command (no twitchy throttle with powerful system)
Wide Operating voltage range from 20V to 90V (21S Li-Ion, 24s LiFe)
Automatic thermal rollback to prevent controller overheating
MT Particulars
On the Phaserunner_MT, the hookup between the motor and the controller is done via 3 separate plugs rather than through a single cable with an overmolded connector.
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Motor Phase - MT60: The 3 motor phases are terminated with a male MT60 bullet connector. This compact plug supports high phase amperages in a very small connector size. |
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Motor Hall - JST-SM: The hall plug is a 5 pin female JST connector using the same pinout standard we adopted since 2008. |
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Speed/Thermistor Pass Thru - JST-SM: The extra 2 pin female JST-SM plug is present in order to hook up additional inputs to the WP8 Cycle Analyst plug. If the motor has a built in temperature sensor, this signal can be fed to JST Pin1 to show motor temp on the CA3 and enable thermal rollback. Geared motors that have an internal speed sensor should use Pin2 as a pass-thru of the speedometer signal line to get speed display on the CA3. In this case, the setting at address 174 "HDQ Replicating Hall" should be unchecked. For direct drive motors, the motor speed will go through automatically to the CA3 as long as "HDQ Replicating Hall" is selected. |
With the Phaserunner_MT, we provide the following optional motor cable harnesses for different motor applications. The Anderson terminated cable is compatible with our hub motors sold from 2019 and earlier and is recommended for 3rd party motors for which there isn't another compatible plug type
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Battery Cable: Both Phaserunner models come stock with a 84cm long XT60 to Anderson battery cable for mating with batteries that use Anderson Powerpoles. |
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Stock Motor Harness: The standard motor cable has staggered MT60 + male JST-SM connectors on the controller end and Anderson + female JST-SM connectors for the motor. This is compatible with all of the medium to high power hub motors that Grin has sold since about 2009, and is available in both a short (45cm) and long (120cm) cable length option. Note that the Phaserunner is capable of delivering high enough continuous phase current to melt the anderson plugs, and we don't recommend using this connector in applications that will be sustaining more than 70 amps of phase current for extended periods. |
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HiGo Z910 Motor Harness: This cable harness terminates at the motor end with the 9 pin waterproof HiGo motor plug popular in many lower power hub motors. We recommend limiting the phase current to no more than 50 amps with this connector harness and plug standard. Notice that if the motor has a speedometer sensor built in, that signal will not be connected to the Phaserunner's CA Plug and you will need to use a CA with an external speedo.; |
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L1019 Motor Harness: This cable harness can be used to connect the Phaserunner_MT controller to hub motors that use the L1019 plug standard. In general we recommend the Phaserunner_L10 model in this application, but we made this for customers who already have a Phaserunner_MT and now want to use it on a new motor with the L1019 connector. |
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BBSHD Motor Harness: This cable harness supports upgrading the stock internal controller in a BBSHD mid-drive system with an external Phaserunner for improved handling and higher power levels. It has motor and hall terminals that mate with the plugs present in the central motor, and has a secondary cable harness to bring the PAS sensor and motor temperature signals up to the V3 Cycle Analyst on the handlebar. |