So I finally completed my “first build”, although I’ll be the first one to admit its hardly a build so much as a rebuild.
I used the Serpent-W as the shell, but replaced all the guts. It has a Flipsky 4.20 dual for the ESCs, Skullboard wheels and motors, a Samsung 30Q 10S4P battery, Hoyt St. puck for remote/receiver and just an Anti-Spark loop key for power.
I rewound the motors to 15 turns of 2 strands of 21AWG wire instead of 16 turns of 10 strands of ~28.5AWG. As a result, I am able to deliver more power to them without anywhere near as much heat generation. Details of the rewinding can be found here
I currently have the VESCs set at: 40A motor current -40A brake current 40A battery max -6A battery regen max
I’m also using Ackmaniac firmware, and am using it in current mode so that I can go from forward to backward without hitting a switch, since I’m used to and enjoy Boosted Board controls.
I burned through 2 separate anti-spark switches in the process of re-building this thing, and finally gave up and went the route of the loop key.
The charging port is everyone’s favorite DC jack 5.5mm x 2.1mm with a rubber waterproof plug. I have an 8A charger for it, so I also used a micro deans connector between the battery and charge port to ensure it doesn’t melt (the battery I had came with a JST connector which would probably melt at that current over time)
I installed a voltage meter at the front bottom, which only works when the loop key is inserted. I like that it lights up the undercarriage some.
I’m using a Hoyt St puck for the remote. I love it!
This board is heavyAF at 25lbs. It has zero flex!
Can anyone tell me how to better diagnose issues with the VESC? While everything seems to work great at the moment, I have had repeated issues that I’m pretty sure I can reproduce if I want to, and that is that if I go from full acceleration to full brake/reverse, I can make the VESC power down, until I turn it off and back on again. I’m not sure how to get the faults from the VESC if they exist, or if I need to change my settings so that this doesn’t happen, or if its just something I need to not do (stop going from full acceleration to full reverse/brake).
This is my first (re)build, so any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance!
I still plan to take it apart again and basically seal everything up with black silicone gasket maker to make it as watertight as possible.
(pictures forthcoming, I know this thread sucks otherwise)