ESC Replacement Questions/WallofText

Alright so all the parts came in and I finally got a power supply working for my new TS100 iron. This thing is dope! I Picked up a MakerX DV6 Pro, Maytech V2/R2 remote + transceiver + 1 ft antenna extension and a Maytech 180A anti-spark switch. I’m just going to stick with the OEM power switch if possible for now… so many damn questions.

How do I identify which phase wires from the motors connect to which on the VESC? The gauge of the phase wires coming from the motors seems pretty high. Maybe they are 16 or 18 gauge? The phase wires coming from the VESC are 11 gauge. Will it be OK if I just swap out the MT30 connecters with the provided 5.5mm bullet connectors?

The VESC came with 2x 8-pin, 2x 6-pin, 2x smaller 3-pin (black;red;white), 1x smaller 3-pin (black;red;yellow) and 1x smaller 4 pin JST connectors.

Would I be able to just connect the 6 sensor wires already connected to a 6-pin JST connector to the DV6 Pro or should I just splice the 6 sensor wires together with the provided 6-pin wiring harness and match all the same colored wires together?

I bought a Matech 180A anti-spark switch, but I’d prefer to use the OEM power switch for now. Which JST harness provided with the VESC should I splice with the power button wires and where does this connect on the VESC?

I need to swap out the xt60 connector on the battery with an XT90 connector that came with the VESC. How do I safely do this? Basically just avoid crossing/connecting the positive/negative connections? If I would cross them would that just destroy the BMS? What would happen?

There is an air gap between a metal exterier plate and where the VESC is going to go. I want to fill this gap with something thermally conductive to help with cooling the VESC. Was thinking some foam thermal material like this:

I have some 3M 5952 VHB tape as well… would this work well to hold stuff in place? Or is it overkill? Sounds like a pain in the ass to remove.

I also need to attach the transceiver/antenna for the Maytech remote. Where do I connect those jumpers on the remote PCB and on the MakerX? How do I secure the jumper cables to the pins? The vibrations would rattle those off quickly.

Why are there 2 micro USB ports on the VESC?!?!?!

Sorry for the wall of text and questions. Just want to get this done as best I can. Please let me know any questions in regards.

Thanks!

Air gap with external plate:

power switch:

Most of the wiring. Current state:

Top of DV6 Pro:

hypothetical “after” I’m done:

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You can switch out the MT connector just fine. You also do not need to find what goes where since vesc tool will automatically re-adjust accordingly. You just have to tell it what’s moving the wrong way and fix that.

If they already are 6 pin connectors assuming you’re talking about the motor sensor wires, you don’t need to do much. If they are 5 pin, then yes, you have to either solder the pins or detach them from the jst and add it to the 6 pin (skip white since that would be the temperature sensor)

I don’t recall it having something for that, hence, why it has an antispark switch. That is how you would turn the esc on or off via the switch.

Cut off one side of the battery and cover it with electrical tape. Then proceed to remove the other and prepare it for soldering on the XT90. Failure to do this may fry something badly. But I never had that issue doing what I did. Make sure you covered the soldered side of the xt90 before doing the second side.

That’s fine. I didn’t do that for my build but you do you.

I use velcro tape.

The red/black and white wire that you get from the esc, use that and connect it to the receiver, assuming it has the black servo connector attached to connect it. If you want it secured, add something to keep it there.

So you can program each side if the canbus that connects the two ever broke. You only need one side to be the dominant side. So where ever you placed your remote at, that would be your dominant choice. It don’t matter though since you can access the canbus side as well.

Last note: if your esc is telling you that you need to update the firmware, make sure you download the bootloader first before you update your firmware. Failure to do that will cause the esc to keep booting the old firmware.

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Thanks for all the advice. I’m going to attempt to install everything here shortly. I’ll update with pics of my terrible craftsmanship.

Noted.

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Alright. The bullet connectors are on the phase wires and the XT90 is on the battery → VESC connection. Have questions on how to connect the power switch. Let me put that post together.

So how do I wire to the existing/OEM power switch?

Red: This is the existing 3 pin JST. Blue: This is the harness and small JST that came with the MakerX. I presume I will be using this harness to connect to it. Green: I presume I connect the power switch connection to this spot. Is that correct?

How do I connect this thin wire? Just cut the old 3 pin JST off and splice the new one on?

You have to connect the antispark switch wires to the esc. Make sure it is going towards the esc side. If you wish to keep the power switch that you originally have on, then you have to match what goes where with the power switch that came with the antispark switch itself. But to be honest, you can easily just unscrew the existing one and just replace it, if it’s the same size as the existing one.

Less headache this way.

If the wire for the antispark is too long, you can make it shorter. No issues doing that.

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I just want to use the original power switch. I do not want to use the Maytech anti-spark switch. If absolutely necessary, I will install it.

So the question is which wires coming from the existing power switch to which wires on the harness. Also want to confirm that is the correct connection on the VESC. There’s no documentation to this stuff!!! :sweat_smile:

To clarify, that isn’t an esc that has a built-in power switch. It’s not like the lingye esc or the stormcore/focbox. You have to either use an antispark or create a loop key. Hope this cleared up on why you need to install the antispark.

Edit: Also, the green circle is a canbus connector. That’s how you make it an AWD.

I forgot to mention that.

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Ahhhhhhhhh… OK. That makes sense now. I’m assuming some things I didn’t even think about. OK so I removed the old switch just now.

So it will be installed in between the battery and the VESC. Would the following be correct?

VESC XT90-male <–> (antispark OUT) XT90-female <–> (antispark IN) XT90-male <–> Battery XT90-female

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Correct. “In” is for the battery. “Out” is for the esc. Exactly how you’ve given.

Your xt connectors should match it accordingly.

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Spark switch should be good. Just waiting on those thermal pads and velcro to come in. Might be able to get this running today… :crossed_fingers:

melted the shit out of one of the male XT90 connectors.

I did the same thing.

Question about the 6 pin sensor JST connector coming from the motors. The female connector side (motor side) is not compatible with the male 6 pin connector on the VESC. There is a clip on the female connector and no available connector slot on the male side. Reference pics.

  1. Can I just break the clip off and insert, secure with something like electrical tape, silicon or potting? Or should I just connect typical PC jumper pin connector and secure somehow?
  2. Are you sure it doesn’t matter which colored wires got into which pin connectors on the VESC? The VESC shows pin order as (GND, H3, H2, H1, TEMP, 5V). Reference 2nd pic. I presume we would have to have ground wired correctly at the least.
  3. Is there anywhere that explains what color each wire coming from a motor like this is supposed to indicate or is that really just arbitrary depending on the manufacturer or person that installed it?

You have to change that one with the one that comes with the esc itself since that jst is a clip connector. That doesn’t go with that jst pin connector. If black is where gnd is and red is where 5v is, then you can break the clip above, but there’s no guarantee it’ll fit.

Look at the photo to understand what goes where:

Gnd will always be black and 5v will always be red. On that motor, I’m not sure if your motor has white as temp. Usually it’s white. But if not, I would follow the blue and yellow since they are the h1-3 connectors.

Can you show the 6 color wires in one photo? Flat would be best.

You can remove the pin without cutting the wires by using a knife and lifting the tab behind the jst connector that holds the wires.

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Here is pic of both bundles with pin side up.

Thanks for your help!!

Done. Make sure you make the 6 pin connectors in this following.

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Ok so I’ll attempt to swap out the pins on each sensor wire bundle with the provided harness/connector that came with the VESC. I’ll install in this order.

  1. GND-black
  2. H3-green
  3. H2-yellow
  4. H1-blue
  5. TEMP-white
  6. 5V-red

Do the “H*” wires matter which order? I’ll look for some videos on removing/installing JST connectors.

No. H wires don’t really matter. It will be adjusted by vesc tools.

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I got the sensor wires in the right order on the existing 6-pin JST connectors. I just ripped off the tabs/clips that were on there.

How do I connect the bluetooth receiver to the VESC? Looks like it has standard PC style jumpers.1x 7-pin connector and 2x 3-pin connectors that are still conjoined.