Inboard M1 build/upgrade advice

[maddec]

Hello everyone, I bought the M1 almost 1 year ago, when I was a total noob about everything regarding electric skateboards. I use it almost everyday to commute to work but I almost regret buying it now that I’ve spend some time reading this forum and learned more about other brands and custom builds, also the huge price drop!

Some background:

After one month the first board died with water damage and that’s when I realized it wasn’t at all waterproof. Luckily I got it from a local store and they sold me as waterproof so they gave me a new one. Then I started googling because I was pretty sure the Inboard was waterproof, that’s when I found out this forum and this post: https://www.inboardtechnology.com/blogs/behind-the-design/2017-1-20-water-resistance-battery-safety-update

Blockquote Inboard cannot 100% guarantee weight shifting won’t briefly break the seal of the battery lid while the battery lid flexes.

The lid isn’t the only problem but, in their defense, I only got the first gen… they made small updates after that so I can’t tell if that’s improved.

Finding this forum was the only good outcome of that episode, so I thrown my warranty away, opened it and with your help I made it waterproof myself. That worked for almost a year but last week I opened for maintenance… was lazy to make it water tight again and well… a puddle fried the ESC almost instantaneously… my bad I know.

I was mad at first that I just lost 1.2k euro… but I started reading more and more here and figured out it not so hard to fix the board and probably make it even better than it was before.

Rebuild:

Ofc I need a VESC so I’m thinking Flipsky Dual FSESC4.20 Plus that seems compatible with 12s1p (can anyone confirm that? I get mixed opinions and confusions btw the normal and plus version).I’m also open to other VESC suggestions.

I want to have telemetry in the remote and some way to control/play with the M1 lights like flashing when breaking, on/off etc. The Advanced Electric Skateboard Remote seems to be a great option, what to you think?

I started doing some clean up:

They look good know but one of them had a bit of corrosion and dirt in the magnets.

This is the fried ESC:

As you can see the connectors for the sensors are standard and the pcb even has the order of the wires printed. I think I should have no problem connecting the motors to a VESC. So the plan here is just to get a VESC, remote, receiver and have the light controlled with the remote and telemetry

Questions:

• Is Flipsky Dual FSESC4.20 Plus + Advanced Electric Skateboard Remote + receiver a good combo?
• I plan to upgrade the battery in the future but for now I’ll just use this 12s1p, I think it already as BMS? Would it be fine connecting directly to the VESC?
• What parameters (mins/max’s) should I use for the inboard motors?
• Will there be enough current in the receiver to power the lights? How can I test that before hand?
• The board as two connectors for heat dissipation plate underneath (they say it’s used for regenbrakes when battery is full) can I somehow take advantage of that? See pic bellow:

Overall I still love to ride this board and I hope with your help I can make it better than before. I don’t need range and insane top speeds, I need to be able to travel with it and get to work everyday even if it’s dripping a bit.

Sorry for the long post hehe… any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Popeye2719]

I have a broken M1, something happened to the ESC, so I bought a VESC to replace the old one.

Unfortunately I can’t manage to complete the motor calibration, I have a problem with the resistance reading 0.

Did you found a way to make it work?

[maddec]

@Popeye2719 Yes I was able to change to Flipsky Dual FSESC4.20 Plus. I did not have any issues with the calibration.

You should try to calibrate one motor at the time and see if that happens on both. What VESC do you have?

Btw, you will notice a difference with the new vesc hehe. I put mine in FOC mode so I lost a but of top speed but it’s buttery smooth and makes no noise.

I’m also trying to figure out a way to connect the original lights to the VESC, I will try to update this thread when that happens.

[Popeye2719]

I have the exact same setup, I’m using the Flipsky 4.2 plus with the power shift battery and the manta drive motors. So everything but the ESC is original from Inboard.

I have 3 motors (all from inboard) and one of those is brand new and I have the same problem. I think it might have something to do with the VESC, or maybe (probably) I did something wrong.

What where the specs you used for the battery? Can you show me how/where you conectes the motor sensors to the ESC?

The problem is that the hall sensor setup always fails. So I’m only able to finish the setup as a FOC sensorless. And I’m not sure if that could damage the motors.

How did you did the setup?

[maddec]

@Popeye2719 Fun to see someone going through the same as me and having the same idea. I’m at work at the moment, when I get home I’ll post some pictures and information about my configuration and the tutorial I’v followed to setup VESC. Hold tight

[MysticalDork]

If you have the extra cash and room, I’d recommend spending the extra $70 for a FSESC6.6, instead of the 4.2. The 4.x hardware had some flaws that caused issues for me (Blew DRVs at 10s on the maiden ride of both my original vesc 4.12s) and a lot of other people, especially at 12s. I know Flipsky and others have made improvements to the 4.x design over time so I can’t say outright that it’ll be problematic, but the 6.x design is just better IMO.

[maddec]

You are right, the 6.6 is superior in every aspect, but are you talking about regular 4.2 or the PLUS? I have the plus and run in with the original Inboard 12s and never had any issues, I run it on low amps tho, maybe that’s why

[MysticalDork]

I have no direct experience with the plus, but I have a bias against anything 4.x in general from my own problems, and seeing lots of others. The 4.2 plus may be perfectly capable and have no issues, but if I were in the position to choose, I’d most likely spend the extra money just for peace of mind.

[AlanZhou]

I’m surprised imboard’s esc runs on DRV8302.

[Notbig]

Just finished my setup with Vesc 4.20, there was some issues that I encountered, like some here I got incorrect readings and noticed that the Hall Sensors from the Manta Drive were not the same as it should be on the Vesc, after changing 4 of the cables stuff started to work like it should! Also running this as FOC since that gave the best results maybe lost some at maximum speed but think it is enough Still got some issues for the remote that I bought VX1 from Flipsky, don’t get the different speed settings to work as they should so if anyone got a clue about this that would be great to get that info!

[Notbig]

Can you tell me your setup, think that I have done something wrong but sure, far from a pro builder?

[maddec]

I’m also not a pro builder, but I’ll share my setup with you guys as soon as I can. Very busy with work atm.

With FOC is normal to loose top speed but you get less noise, if you go for BLDC mode you will get the top speed but more noise. It’s way more complex than that but you get the point Also add the same issue with the Flipsky VX1 remote, but it’s not an issue at all. The speed modes of that remote don’t change the topspeed, they only change the acceleration curve. If you go full throttle in the lowest setting you will fell way less acceleration. It works, just not as you expected

In my board I only switched one wire, I think the temperature one but not sure. The order of the sensor wires don’t matter. I’ll show more details when I share my setup. Hopefully this weekend.

[Notbig]

Might help me getting the correct break settings, probably set the Amps to low but really not sure about anything

[maddec]

@Popeye2719 @Notbig

Here is my setup. First the order of the sensor wires:

I think I only switched the temperature wire with one of the sensor wires. You can use a nail to do that.

This is the configuration per VESC (same for both):

I think I’ll increase the brake to -30A, I hope it will be the sweet spot.

And the battery (for original powershift):

Let me know if you need anything else. Hope it helps

[Notbig]

Thank you very much, I think that I have set the Battery Current a lot lower not sure it is good or not so thinking about set it up like you! Happy rides

[maddec]

I’ve been using this setup for 3 months daily with no issues. But I only ride in flat surfaces, there are no inclines in the Netherlands

I think is much better than the original, the only thing I lost is a bit of topspeed. And that is actually a pro for me because I want to attract the less attention possible hehe

[Notbig]

Got a bit more hills to go over here in Sweden then

[linkus]

Hey, how have you managed to open up the manta drives? I’ve been going over my head trying to figure that out. Mine don’t want to open up. Got them off the truck, managed to remove the outer bearing, but the inner side I just can’t figure out…

[maddec]

You don’t need or even should take the bearings before opening it… hehe

If you take a look at the side covers of the motor you will notice that one of them as bigger lip (the one facing the inside of the motor). That’s where you need to open it. One of mine got loose easily but the other didn’t. You should use a rubber hammer or something not too hard and hit it a little until you see a gap, then use some pliers to open a little bit more and it will get loose. It will not look like it because the magnets inside are very strong but just pull it out firmly and carefully to avoid scratching the magnets. No brute force needed at all

[Hansdieter]

@maddec so i have nearly the same problem, need a new Mainboard. So with the Flipsky Dual FSESC4.20 Plus i still can use the og inboard battery ? is that right ? Could you aktivate the regenerative brake ability ? And (In my board I only switched one wire, I think the temperature one but not sure. I Ithink I only switched the temperature wire with one of the sensor wires. You can use a nail to do that.) what ya mean with that. Please help me to keep ma board riding