Vesc Conversion Status (Rose/Mika)
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UPDATE TYME
So, some news on the board!Got inserts put in, and the board no longer sounds like a maraca on trails or rough terrain. No more bouncy/floppy bumpers! Rent EBoards did them, and they did them well!
The headlight situation needs to be solved. My headlights are dimmer than an iPod color screen in the sun. I'm thinking of making external lights that clip onto the side of the rails via magnets. The only problem is finding bright LEDs that won't require their own cooling solution. I would like something as bright as my phone's LED, but with a more controlled spread. I'll probably run it off of either AAA batteries or something that won't burn my living situation at college down. If anyone knows where I can go to find some pretty bright LEDs and figure out how bright they are, lmk.
Oh, one thing
Remember the Charge-Only mod that I wanted to avoid?
It's come to bite me in the ass.
And it took a chunk. Learned that the funny problem with the board completely shutting off during curb nudges and freespin?I learned that no matter what amp level or max you set in VESC tool, whenever you go up a curb or go up a steep incline, you naturally draw more amps than you would normally since the board needs to do more work. The FM bms, being the spoiled, idiotic little brat that it is, will freak out and cut the power. Now, I'd try and charge-only mod again, but I'm not feeling like getting down into another bad project, so I'm at a crossroads
Risk-it biscuit and do the charge-only mod and hope to God it works
Or wait until I can get my hands on the unobtanium ZBMS since apparently those like to re-create the 2020 silicone shortage.
Personally, I'd like to throw the FM BMS out and buy a ZBMS, but I don't think I'm lucky enough for that.
Also, I'm starting a small project on the side.
Remember the flight fins? I'm gonna re-use those. But I'm gonna have them mounted on the nose and tail of my board instead of the fender. I ride goofy and with my feet on the edges of the board. It would be better to have them mounted there. I'm currently trying to reverse-engineer the measurements and dimensions of the flightfins, which hopefully won't be too much of an issue.I'm gonna make a 3D printed mach-up of the finished product to see if it works or needs fixing, then I'm going to attempt to get them made out of metal using CendcutCend
I just need to learn how to model and made parts for sheet metalthat'll be fun!I will see about trying to release any stl/source files, though I am a bit nervous about making the FlightFins peeps angry. It would be interesting to wake up one morning with a C&D letter in the mail, but I don't want that kind of stress right now.
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@loaffette I thought with "charge only" the FM bms is bypassed for discharge and the battery is directly connected to the vesc?
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@lemur it is
Sorry, I wrote the update in the middle of the night with barely enough sleep
The charge-only is to bypass the FM BMS's ability to cut power to the board
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Hi again!
So, it's been a while. A long while.
About... Eh, two months?I've made a couple of notes and changes to the board while I was gone!
Let me catch you guys up.First, a slight problem.
My battery voltage is reading a lil' low. It usually stops charging at around 90%, according to the VESC tool. It never goes past 61-ish volts. My new top speed is 22, barely pushing 23.
For reference, I was able to comfortably push my board pre-VESC to mid-24 before nosediveAlso, in the past two weeks, I've had to take my board apart three times due to it refusing to charge. Either the 5-pin connector on the BMS comes loose, or the charge wire will come loose.
I'm in college now, and I don't have a good workstation or all of my tools, making repairs very janky and temporary. Normally, I'd buy my way out of the problem.
I can't really do that. I'm having to save money since I'm now in college, and I can't spend extraordinary amounts of money on new parts. Plus, ZMBs won't be available for a while, and I could go for the ENNOID 24s-V3, I don't know what that lead time is and I don't want to have to deal with a smart BMS and configuring that.Another slight problem:
The battery box lid's thread inserts are coming out or spinning. That means I need a new lid, but I don't know where I would buy or get that. I also may need new rubber seals.That's about it, really. I haven't made any major changes, apart from adding WAGO connectors to everything which adds some peace of mind.
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@loaffette Mario recommends a bead of hot glue to those connectors to help keep them in place.
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@biell I’m using superglue since it’s what I have
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@loaffette said in Vesc Conversion Status (Rose/Mika):
I’m using superglue since it’s what I have
"This is future Loaf's problem" :3
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@lia Future loafs solution:
just solder the wire onto another connector and use that one!
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@lia lol
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Back again!
Remember when I said that future loafs problem would be the super-glued jst connector on the bms?
No longer. I switched to a torque box. I the JST connector came off. Completely. I didnt want to deal with it any longer, so I soldered the purple bms wire directly to the same pin on the board. And it worked! The board charged, fully actually and the charger didn't throw a hissy-fit!
That was until last night, when the board stopped charging mid-way after a long ride on campus. No clue why, and I'm getting tired of this really.
I'm starting to seriously look at what my options are now if I can't fix this soon.
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Ennoid is the safe and immedeite solution, but I don't want to deal with setting up a smart BMS and I don't know how I'd wire that for a stock XR battery. I'm considering this the last ditch effort just behind buying a used pint.
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ZBMs would be the obvious choice but they aren't going to be in stock for a looong while. I haven't found one that anyone was willing to sell me. Not an option currently.
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someone on the vescify discord is working on a BMS, but it's about 3-4 weeks out. An option in the future, but I am not sure if I could buy one in time before they go out of stock, as ZBMs usually sell out quickly, and this could be the same situation for the pickleworks
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BMS-less is not an option, I live in an apartment, and I'm not going to be the reason that it burns down.
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buying a used XR BMS and trying to work with that could work, but I'd be spending money on something that will get rid of in the long run anyways, so it's not worth it.
I shuold have honestly done this during the summer when I had a job and lots more money, but hindisght is 20-20. I may have to talk to my parents about this, but I'm worried about the conversation that will come with that.
Man, adulting is hard. :(
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@loaffette follow-up:
Will check the BMS tomorrow and make sure it still works. If it's busted, I'm going to be very very sad.
Would like to hear from the wise @TheBoardGarage and what he thinks, but I would assume the worst. -
That's weird, shutting off mid ride. Were you able to turn it back on after at all?
Let us know if it's working or not when you can. I'm fine to do some diagnostics with you.
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@lia not mid-ride. It stopped charging mid-charging
the BMS is bypassed so it runs charge-only.going to look at it later today
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found the problem
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@loaffette That looks misshapen, did it melt?
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@biell no clue. I'll find out later with its replacement. I will need to figure out a better fix later on
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I'm back!
The board is badgered, the grip tape is replaced just in time for the Texas Rain to start hitting!
I've been thinking about it, and I'm not jiving with the current connectors for the footpad and the hall sensor. I don't like that connector, it's stressful to deal with.
I looked around online, and found these options.
This is a weird one i found :)
What do you guys think for these? I want something that isn't finicky and easier to work with, source and replace.
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@loaffette I looked at all of these and decided that, for what I wanted, I felt they were all too long. But, if you do get one, please post your experience because I would love to be wrong.
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Hello!
I'm back with another update!I've decided to start on a project to make a CAD replica of my board just so I can easily reference where everything is and better plan out mods and upgrades in the future.
To add to this, I've also run into a slight problem
My battery is cooked.Ok, let me be less dramatic. The board still powers on, it still runs and it still goes over 20 mph, but it's range is abysmal. After 3-4 miles of riding, the board is left at around 50-60 percent capacity. It's top speed has also significantly dropped over the past month or so, going from a top speed of 23 down to 21 at 80 percent duty cycle.
I checked my odometer, and it is right now at around 2960 miles. (Adding in the odometer reading from the stock XR controller and onto the current VESCs odometer, which is 2500 miles off)
That's... a lot for one year of owning the board. I'm proud that I've used something that much, but it's left me stressed with how much longer it'll last. I'm hoping to make it to winter break and to Christmas so I can buy a new battery, BMS and charger but with the cost of all of that, I'm uncertain
For now, I won't ride the board too much or be excessive with it. I'm going to try and make sure I don't do anything too crazy and I'm going to keep an eye on how the battery is doing. I may try to do an OWIE mod for the BMS, just need to find the time to do it
In other news, the board hasn't had any major breakdowns of any kind! Nothing has melted, broken or snapped off! That is good for me, since it means I have less to worry about.
