The SineWave Grinfineon

Motor Controller
User Manual - Rev 2.1

Grin Technologies Ltd

Vancouver, BC, Canada

ph: (604) 569-0902

email: [email protected]
web: http://www.ebikes.ca

Copyright © 2017
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

Table of Contents

1 Introduction............................................................. 3
1.1 Key Features ................................................................................... 3
2 Installation and Hookup......................................... 4
2.1 Basic Hookup .................................................................................. 4
2.2 Cycle Analyst Hookup.................................................................... 7
2.3 Sensored vs. Sensorless................................................................... 9
2.4 Hall / Phase Mapping Procedure................................................... 9
3 Core Features ........................................................ 11
3.1 Silent Sine Wave Mode................................................................. 11
3.2 LED Indicator............................................................................... 11
3.3 On/Off Switch ............................................................................... 12
3.4 Regenerative Braking via Ebrake ............................................... 12
3.5 Proportional Regen via 0-0.8V Throttle Signal.......................... 13
3.6 Fwd / Rev....................................................................................... 14
3.7 Fault Tolerant Hall....................................................................... 15
4 Limitations............................................................. 15
4.1 eRPM Sensorless & Sensored ...................................................... 15
4.2 Power Oscillations at Full Throttle when Sensored .................. 16
4.3 60 Degree Hall Timing ................................................................. 17
4.4 No Change to Internal Settings ................................................... 17
4.5 Max Regen Voltage....................................................................... 17
4.6 Won't Show CA Accessory Current Draw ................................. 18
5 Specifications......................................................... 19
5.1 Electrical........................................................................................ 19
5.2 Mechanical .................................................................................... 19
5.3 Connector Pinout.......................................................................... 19

-2-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

1 Introduction

The Grinfineon SineWave controller is based around the popular Xie Chang
device with the XCKJ3232C control chip, but with custom firmware to allow both
sensored and sensorless operation and proportional regenerative braking. The
generous cable harness lengths and crimpable connector standards make it
broadly useful in aftermarket and DIY ebike applications for just about any
geared or direct-drive brushless motor in the 500-3000 watt power range.

1.1 Key Features

Here are some of the features that make this controller stand out which you won’t
rd
usually find with most 3 party ebike motor controllers
• Long phase leads (120cm)
• On/Off Switch
• Proportional Regenerative Braking
• Dual Mode, works With and Without Hall Sensors
• Silent Sine Wave Operation in Sensored Mode
• High Sensorless eRPM Compatible with Geared Motors
• Fwd/Rev Input
• LED Status Indicator
• Watertight Enclosure
• Direct Cycle Analyst Plug
• User Crimpable Connectors (JST-SM and Anderson Powerpoles)

Figure 1: Key Controller Hardware Features

-3-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

2 Installation and Hookup

The motor controller end plates have a flange with holes to facilitate securing to
the vehicle. We recommend locating it in place where the ON/OFF switch is
accessible and where it still has good exposure to air flow. Common bicycle
locations include on the front of the rear rack support, between the seat tube and
the rear wheel, or on the top tube with front motors.

Figure 2: Common mounting locations and orientations

Although it is tempting, we do not recommend putting the controller inside a bag
or enclosure box that blocks exposure to air flow, as it will be more susceptible to
overheating. The silicone grommets on the controller end plates do an excellent
job of keeping water out, so there is little concern about having the controller
exposed to the elements, and the orientation of the installed controller does not
matter.

2.1 Basic Hookup

The controller has 6 cables coming out of it: Battery, Motor Phase, Motor Hall,
Throttle, Ebrake, and Cycle Analyst. At the bare minimum, the controller just
needs a throttle, battery pack, and motor connection in order to work:

-4-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

Figure 3: Basic hookup diagram (motor, throttle, and battery)

The throttle is a 3-pin JST-SM plug intended for Hall Effect throttle devices. It
supplies 4.3V to power the throttle plug and expects a signal of 0.9V - 3.6V as
the throttle is twisted. Throttle signal voltages higher than 4.0V are considered a
fault condition, so if a potentiometer based throttle is used then appropriate
resistors are needed to keep the voltage swing within range.

Figure 4: Controller Throttle Pinout

-5-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

The brushless hub motor will have 3 phase wires that need to terminate with the
3 controller wires. Typically these are green, yellow, and blue, but many other
possibilities exist. If you are running the motor sensorless, then it is only these 3
wires you need to connect and the color pairing does not really matter. If the
motor spins backwards, then simply swap any pair of wires to reverse it.

Figure 5: Example of Motor Direction Change by Swapping Phase Wires

If you want regenerative braking in a basic setup, then you can connect either an
ebrake cutoff lever or other momentary push switch to the 4-pin ebrake plug.

-6-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
2.2 Cycle Analyst Hookup

You can also add a V2 Cycle Analyst to this basic setup in order to have an
informative display of all your vehicle and battery stats. The system still responds
the same way to your throttle, but the V2 Cycle Analyst has the ability to over-
ride and limit the throttle signal if you are exceeding the CA's programmed
current limit, speed limit, or battery low voltage cutoff.

Figure 6: CA V2 Hookup. Throttle and eBrake Plug into Controller

(motor and battery not Shown)

-7-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
Finally, if you are using a V3 Cycle Analyst, then your throttle and ebrake signals
will connect to the Cycle Analyst rather than to your motor controller. Only the 6-
pin CA-DP plug of the controller is used.

Figure 7: CA V3 Hookup. Throttle and eBrake Plug into CA (not controller)

The V3 Cycle Analyst is useful when much more advanced control features are
desired, like PAS operation, motor over-temperature protection, torque sensing
pedalec, mode presets etc.

-8-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
2.3 Sensored vs. Sensorless

While the Grinfineon controller will work sensorless with the hall connector
unplugged, there are several limitations to this mode.
• Starting from a standstill can be a little bit jerky while the controller
attempts to self start the wheel.
• The controller will operate in a trapezoidal rather than the more silent
sine wave mode, resulting in some audible buzz or hum from the motor.
• With high gear reduction geared hub motors, you may hit the sensorless
eRPM limit of the controller (~28000 eRPM, see 4.1)
• When using a Cycle Analyst, you won't have the option of picking up the
speed signal from the motor hall line and will require an external speedo
sensor and spoke magnet (i.e. CA-DPS or CA3-DPS).
If the motor has hall sensor wires, then we recommend connecting them to the
controller as well so that you can benefit from sensored sinusoidal operation.
The hall sensor plug has 5 wires, red and black supply power to the hall sensors
in the motor, and the yellow, green, and blue wires carry the resulting hall
signals.

Figure 8: Hall Signal Plug

2.4 Hall / Phase Mapping Procedure

Previous generations of Grinfineon controller had the ability to automatically map

the hall and phase wires so that the exact pinout details did not matter. This was
very convenient but it is no longer possible with the addition of sinusoidal
sensored mode. It is essential that the hall and phase pinout is correct.
The hall and phase pinout mapping on the SineWave Grinfineon controller is
consistent with how both eZee and Crystalyte motors choose their colour coding,
and they can be matched yellow to yellow, green to green, and blue to blue.
Other popular motor series use a different colour interpretation, and some trial
and error is usually needed to determine the correct pinout.

-9-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
Of the 36 possible ways to map the hall and phase wires, only 3 will spin the
motor properly in the forwards direction. Another 3 combinations will spin the
motor in reverse, and the remaining 30 combinations will either not turn the motor
at all, or will turn it with great inefficiency.
We recommend using a systematic approach to determine the hall and phase
mapping. First, plug together the hall wires in any pinout that you like. Then
connect the 3 phase wires together and test the motor. If it spins smoothly with
low current draw, then great. If not, then separate the Anderson phase plugs
(they dovetail slide into each other) and keep cycling through the 6 possible
alignments testing each one. An easy way to keep track of this is by first ‘rotating’
the phase connectors through the first 3 positions as shown below.

Figure 9: Systematic Approach to Phase Pinout Mapping

Then swap any pair of plugs (yellow and blue swapped in above example), and
rotate through the 3 positions again. This will cover all 6 possible phase pinouts,
and one of those 6 should allow the motor to run smoothly.
If that one position spins the motor backwards, then you can swap a pair of the
hall sensor wires, repeat the test to find the correct phase pinout and it will spin
the forwards direction.
Be aware that there are some incorrect hall/phase pinouts which will still spin the
motor when you apply throttle, but the motor will turn with great inefficiency and
draw higher than normal current, usually with a small ‘kick’ when the throttle is
first applied. You do not want to run the motor under load in this condition.
When the motor is running in sensored mode, the LED will be on steady without
blinking unless there is a fault error. In sensorless mode, the LED will flash at a
slow ~1 Hz rate.

-10-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

3 Core Features
3.1 Silent Sine Wave Mode
When the controller has hall sensors connected, the 3 phase output drive
waveform is sinusoidal rather than trapezoidal. On most direct drive hub motors,
this means a butter smooth feeling as you apply the throttle rather than the
normal buzz or growl you may be used to. And even on geared motors the
audibly sound from the hub is somewhat reduced.

Figure 10: Illustration of Voltage Waveform of Trapezoidal vs Sine Wave Outputs

3.2 LED Indicator

The LED status indicator lets you know if the controller is powered up, what state
it's in, and most importantly if there are any fault conditions that would cause
things not to work. The following are normal operating modes:
LED Off No power to controller (either battery is disconnected,
or ON/OFF switch is OFF)
LED Slow Flash Controller powered up, throttle is not pressed or it is
running but in sensorless mode
LED Steady On Controller is running the motor in sensored mode

The following state flash signals occur with quick blinks and then a pause. Note
though that in sensorless mode, the error flash codes may not be visible due to
the regular blinking that happens when running sensorless:
3 Blinks Controller is in over voltage fault
4 Blinks Battery voltage below low voltage cutoff
5 Blink Brake cutoff is engaged
6 Blinks Throttle either too high or engaged when controller
turned on

-11-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

3.3 On/Off Switch

The included ON/OFF toggle switch on

the controller end plate allows for
conveniently switching your ebike on and
off without disconnecting the main battery
pack. When the switch is off, both the
Controller and the Cycle Analyst (if
attached) will power down and cease
Figure 11: On Off Switch Details drawing current from the battery.
If you want the switch to be accessible from the handlebars or mounted on a
dashboard, then it is possible to remove it from the end plate and extend the
wires up to your desired switch location and then seal the hole with a grommet.
The wire gauge can be fairly thin, but if it is being used with a Cycle Analyst with
light or other accessories powered form the DC jack, then we recommend using
at least 20 AWG.

3.4 Regenerative Braking via Ebrake

The Grinfineon controllers have regenerative braking capabilities, allowing you to

use the hub motor as a brake and return kinetic energy back into the battery
pack. This can be achieved either with the ebrake lever for a constant 50%
braking force, or with a 0.0 to 0.8V throttle signal for variable 0-100% braking.
In the first method, you connect an ebrake cutoff lever or other momentary switch
between pins 2 and 4 of the 4-pin ebrake plug (Pin 1 = 4.3V power is useful for
powering Hall Effect ebrake cutoffs). When the ebrake signal is pulled to ground,
then the controller switches to a baseline level of regenerative braking, putting
drag on the wheel and a small amount of current in the battery pack.

Figure 12: eBrake Connector. 5V+ for Hall Brakes

The intensity of this regenerative braking torque is fixed at about 50% of max
regen, and is not affected by applying the throttle.

-12-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
3.5 Proportional Regen via 0-0.8V Throttle Signal
The second method to engage regen is with a throttle signal that is less than 0.8
Volts. Normally a Hall Effect throttle will only swing from 0.9V to about 3.6V,
leaving the range of 0.0-0.9V unused. In the Grinfineon controllers, this unused
range is mapped to regenerative braking, with regen starting below 0.8V and
then increasing to a maximum as the throttle signal goes down to 0.0V. This can
be seen in the graph below showing the torque measured from a hub motor as
the throttle signal is swept from 0.0V to 4.0V.

Figure 13: Regen intensity for throttle 0V-0.8V

The test was done with the motor spinning at 100, 200, and 300 rpm. You can
see that at lower RPMs, the breaking intensity was higher for a given throttle
voltage.
Even though the regenerative braking intensity is reduced at higher speeds, the
actual regen current flowing into the battery pack increases at high speeds as
there is more mechanical power being converted into electrical energy.
You can see this relationship clearly in Figure 14, which shows both the torque
and the amperage flowing back into the battery at 4 different levels of throttle
regen (0.0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6V) versus the motor RPM. It also shows mow much
regen current and braking force you can expect from the fixed ebrake input
switch, which is shown by the dashed black lines.

-13-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

Figure 14: Regenerative Braking Torque and Current as a Function of Motor RPM at 4 different
throttle regen voltages and also with ebrake lever pressed (Ebk, dashed lines)

This throttle mapped regen is handy since it allows for variable braking without
any additional wires to the controller, and in principle a small bidirectional throttle
would allow you to both accelerate and slow down without the need for any kind
of brake sensors. It is also how regenerative braking is activated with the V3
Cycle Analyst, which can send any voltage signal to the throttle line.
If you have a geared motor or mid-drive motor, then the regen won't have much
effect. It will cause the motor to quickly stop spinning when you squeeze the
brakes, but it won't be able to help slow the bike down due to the intrinsic
freewheel of these systems. There is no need to disable controller regen in this
situation, it is harmless.

3.6 Fwd / Rev

If you have an application where the motor direction needs to be reversed at
times, as is handy with trike and quad applications, then there is an additional
white forwards/reverse direction wire that is tucked under the ebrake heatshrink.
If this wire is exposed and then connected via a switch to the adjacent black
ground wire, it will enable you to change the motor direction on the fly without
swapping the motor phase and hall leads.

-14-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

Figure 15: FWD/REV, Remove heatshrink tubing over ebrake connector to expose
spare white and black signal wires, and extend those to your reverse switch.

3.7 Fault Tolerant Hall

Normally a sensored motor/controller setup is somewhat vulnerable to damage of

the hall sensor itself, the hall wires, or the hall connector pins. If this happens, the
motor will run very rough or not at all. On the Sinewave Grinfineon controllers,
the control logic will still be able to operate in sensored sine wave mode even if
one of the hall sensors is damaged as it can interpolate the missing signal.
However, the initial starting can be a bit rough, and the ebrake input no longer
does regenerative braking but just does a controller cutoff.

4 Limitations

Although we tried to make this controller fairly universal, there are also more than
a few limitations that can affect its use in some applications.

4.1 eRPM Sensorless & Sensored

The maximum commutation frequency in sensorless mode is about 28000

eRPM. This is substantially higher than previous Grinfineon controllers (13000
eRPM) and will work with most geared hub motors just fine at typical ebike
speeds, but may still be limiting in very fast setups.
The electrical RPM is easy to calculate by taking the mechanical RPM of the
motor, multiplying it by the number of magnetic pole pairs in rotor, and then again
by the gear ratio if it is a geared hub.
For instance, Figure 16 is a diagram of a direct drive motor with 40 magnets.
That means there are 20 magnetic pole pairs. A 28000 eRPM would correspond
to a 1400 maximum mechanical RPM at the wheel, which is much faster than
you would have on a bicycle (200-400 rpm is more common); therefore this hub
would have no problem running sensorless at bicycle speeds.

-15-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
The geared motor in Figure 16 has 32 magnets and a 7:1 gear reduction. In this
case, the maximum speed in sensorless mode would be 28000 eRPM / 16 / 7 =
250 rpm. In a 26” wheel that would correspond to 31 kph. Below this speed the
bike would run fine but any faster and the controller is liable to shut down in a
fault mode.

Figure 16: Direct Drive and Geared Hub Motor eRPM examples

The maximum speed when running with hall sensors is much higher, but at
values over 50,000 eRPM the commutation timing can be off and motor
performance will suffer.

4.2 Power Oscillations at Full Throttle when Sensored

In sensored sine wave mode, the motor controller is always attempting to
interpolate the exact motor position at any given moment in between hall sensor
events.
With certain geared hub motor installations, the controller can be prone to having
large power fluctuations at full throttle while this interpolation overshoots and
undershoots. This can be triggered by sudden changes in motor RPM (such as
hitting a pothole or popping a wheelie) and it may require releasing and
reapplying the throttle to smooth out. If the motor setup is prone to this behavior,
we recommend unplugging the halls and running the sensorless.

-16-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
4.3 60 Degree Hall Timing

Most brushless motors use 120 degree hall timing, where at any given point
there is always at least 1 hall signal that is high, and 1 hall signal that is low. But
some motors use 60 degree hall spacing, where 000 and 111 are also valid hall
patterns.
The Sine Wave Grinfineon controller will not work in sensored modes with
brushless motors that have 60 degree hall timing. If your motor has 60 degree
halls, then you will have to run it sensorless and leave the halls unplugged.

4.4 No Change to Internal Settings

For a number of reasons the controller's internal settings for low voltage cutoff,
battery and phase current limits, max regen current etc. are fixed in the controller
IC and can't be reprogrammed by the user. The fixed values are sensibly chosen
to be around the maximum allowable range for flexibility while keeping the
controller in a conservative operating area.
If you want to further limit these settings for custom low voltage rollbacks or
current/power limits, then either a V2 or V3 Cycle Analyst will provide that
functionality and a lot more just via modulation of the throttle signal.

4.5 Max Regen Voltage

The maximum regen voltage is set to ~58V for the 25A and 35A controllers,
allowing them to work with up to 14s (52V) lithium batteries, but without risk of
high voltage spikes if the battery BMS circuit trips.
The 40A controllers have a maximum regen voltage of 88V, allowing them to
work with 72V (20s) lithium and LiFePO4 batteries.
This upper voltage regen cutoff is critical to prevent damage to the controller if
ever the battery is disconnected during regenerative braking, since the regen will
stop abruptly before the voltage has a chance to spike. It is also higher than the
full charge voltage on most battery packs you would use, and there can be a
possibility of overcharging a battery if you start with a full charge at the top of a
hill and your battery's BMS circuit does not have an overvoltage cutoff.
In that scenario it is prudent to have a Cycle Analyst or other volt meter to keep
an eye on the battery voltage level. In practice you will almost always consume
many more amp-hours than you put back in while braking and overcharging from
regen is not much of a concern.

-17-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1
4.6 Won't Show CA Accessory Current Draw

The CA-DP plug on the motor controller is wired up so that it will show the
current draw of the motor and controller, but not the current draw of any other
devices (like front lights) that are plugged into the CA's power tap. If you want the
Cycle Analyst to show auxiliary device current, then the controller can be opened
up and the black wire from the CA-DP cable moved from the - side of the shunt
(adjacent to the blue wire) to the + side of the shunt (adjacent to white wire).

-18-
 SINEWAVE GRINFINEON CONTROLLER MANUAL
Rev 2.1

5 Specifications
5.1 Electrical
C4820-GR C4825-GR C4835-GR C7240-GR
Battery Current ( +2% / - 10%) 20 A 25 A 35 A 40 A
Phase Current Limit (+/- 10%) 50 A 75 A 90 A 120 A
Nominal Battery Voltage 36V-52V 36V-52V 36V-52V 36V-72V
MOSFETs 6x 12x
AOT460 IRFB4110 AOT460 IRFB4110
Max Regen Voltage (+/- 2%) 58 V 58 V 58 V 88 V
Low Voltage Cutoff (+/- 2%) 27 V 27 V 27 V 31 V
Control Chip XCKJ3232C
eRPM Limit Sensorless ~28,000

5.2 Mechanical
C4820 C4825 C4835 C7240
Dimensions (mm) 110x71x34 154x87x46
Weight (kg) 0.47 0.49 0.75 0.78
Chassis Material Extruded Aluminum
DC Battery Connector Genuine Anderson Power Poles
Motor Phase Connector Genuine Anderson Power Poles
Hall Sensor Connector JST-SM Series
Other Signal Connectors JST-SM Series
Waterproofing Gasketed at end plates and wire exits, sealed switch

5.3 Connector Pinout

* White wire in sheath is for FWD/REV - Jump to GND to enable

** Leave hall sensors unplugged for sensorless operation
*** Caution with Old Small Screen Cycle Analysts (will go full throttle
unless additional diode wired inline with green throttle-override wire)

-19-