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
- Compatible with new CA3-WP display and control device
- 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
Cables and Connectors
Both models of the V3 Phaserunner use the same connectors for the Battery, Cycle Analyst, Throttle, and Communication plugs, but they differe in how they hook up to the motor.
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Battery - XT60: The hookup for the battery pack is with an embedded XT60 style male bullet connector. Each Phaserunner includes an 80cm battery cable terminated with an XT60 female plug at one end and Anderson Powerpoles on the other for hookup to your battery pack. We recommend not using the XT60 plug for making a live connection to the battery as the inrush current spark to the controller capacitors can damage the gold plated bullet plugs. |
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CA Display - WP8: The V3 Phaserunner uses the waterproof WP8 Cycle Analyst plug standard which includes motor temperature and on/off power lines to the CA3. Please use the WP8->JST adapter for use with older models of Cycle Analyst using the 6-pin JST-SM plug. |
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Throttle - JST-SM: The throttle connector is our same standard 3-pin JST plug we have used since day one. This throttle hookup on the controller is only used on systems that don't have a Cycle Analyst display, otherwise your actual throttle connects to the CA3's throttle input and the throttle plug on the controller is left unused. Underneath the shrink tubing of this throttle cable are additional wires for remote on/off switch, for fwd/rev control, and for separating the ebrake and throttle inputs as two separate lines to do proportional regen without a CA3. |
| Communications - TRRS: The Phaserunner V3 uses a TRRS jack to support communication to computers and smart phones using our USB->TTL adapter cable. As shipped there is a rubber plug to seal this jack from water. Unlike the V2 and earlier Phaserunners which had a similar looking TRS jack, the TRRS in the Phaseurnner V3 also has 5V present to support the future release of powered serial to bluetooth adapters. |
L10 Particulars
The only additional wire on the Phaserunner_L10 is the motor cable, which is 52cm long and terminated with the female L1019 plug for a rugged connection to Grin motors that use this connector standard
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Motor - L1019: The motor connection on the Phaserunner_L10 is through the locking and waterproof Higo L1019 plug or the Cusmade equivalent. The cable uses 3mm^2 (12 awg) wire for the 3 motor phase leads to support high amperage, and has a total of 7 smaller gauge signal connectors. Five of these are used for the hall signals and power, while the extra two serve for the motor temperature sensor (grey) and a wheel speed sensor (white). |
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. |