Sounds like your VESC is overheating, your options are, switch to a smaller motor, add another large motor and run dual, or add an auxiliary fan and attempt to keep the VESC cool.
I’m running a Carvon V2 single hub. I weigh 135, so I figure I would be fine with a similar setup as Runplayback and his single Carvon hub build. Not sure if he uses a heatsink on his VESC, but I’m hoping that I can get a similar level of performance without adding another motor or fan.
I’ll take my laptop today and see if I can get a temp read.
@RunPlayBack is in a relatively flat area so I am not sure if he has done much hill climbing but that is when things start to heat up. Maybe he can chime in with his experience on those hubs.
FYI, I am not sue where you got your VESC but if you purchased from me at Ollin Board Company you can send it in for repair if it keeps giving you problems with the over voltage fault.
If the problem was related to the VESC, it will occur whatever the battery voltage were. So, because the problem stop when the battery reach around 90%, it most likely to be a BMS problem (probably a protection circuit when out, and now the BMS is unable to do it job properly). Also, it not because this is a DRV fault, that the problem is coming from the VESC. Problem on electronics circuit are often more complex that you might think.
Just took a temp reading right after my board started to cut out. It was a couple minutes after and was at 75. So I’m sure I had passed 80 degrees and cut out. The heat sinks must be working. I was able to go a lot further without it cutting out and it’s 91F out here.
So is it safe to go any higher than 80? I also have a much bigger and better heats ink on order that should help even more.
Right about to go over a bridge, so giving it awhile to cool off. Last time I got about 1/8 mile before it cut out.
@chaka, got my VESC from Enertion.
If you have the space for it you can add a small fan off the 5v from the VESC and remove the heat from those heatsinks. Remember 80 C equals about 180 degrees Fahrenheit so it best to keep things cooler if you can.
Good idea. Plenty of space in there. It’s 10s version and about 6" of the case is just foam. I can probably move that back a bit and make room for a fan and my larger heatsink. That should definitely take care of the heat issue. I was able to go 1/4 miles before it shut down. So twice as far as before. Plus it cooled off much quicker and I just had to push a few times to get up. Once I got onto a flat, it was fine again. Previously it would take a few minutes even after I came to a flat to get power back.
Quick question. Would one of these fans work? Also, one has 3 cables, the other has 2. Do you know which of the 4 pins on the VESC I should connect to?
i bet some vesc get hotter than others. some people have them encased and also, more so, I think some of them are just made better. Is this possible? I know of people who are always being stopped and even have fans attached and I can completely seal my stuff up in bubble wrap and never get too hot despite having motors closely attached that will get up to 200f
How hot do you let your MOSFET’s get before you have them cut off? I have mine set to 80c, but I’m not sure how safe it is to let them get much hotter. 200f would give me and extra 13 degrees. That would definitely solve part of my issue.
@onloop, any suggestions on max MOSFET and Motor Start + End temps?
I have this issue every time I ride. After a good push to full throttle for a seconds, the the problem goes away. I always assumed it’s an over voltage protection by the VESC, stopping the breaking from occurring cause it would over charge the battery. This cuase me to fall last week, only the second times I’ve gone down on an eboard.
@Mrmoonlight I’ve never encountered that issue and I’m running the older Space Cell with @chaka VESC without heatsink. The only issues I’ve ever had with his VESC are user error because my phase wires came loose otherwise everything is working in tip top shape through all kinds of weather since last November. I weigh just under 130lbs so our build specs are pretty much identical. Here’s my “city safe” settings:
Motor Max: 60.00 A Motor Min: -60.00 A Bat Max: 30.00 A Batt Min: -12.00 A Absolute Max: 130.00 A
Max ERPM: 60000.00
Min input voltage: 8.00 V Max input voltage: 57.00 V Battery cut off start: 35.20 V Battery cut off end: 33.20 V
Shouldn’t your battery regen be less since, I’m assuming, you’re running 3p on 4a max charge current cells. The max i would set battery regen at is -12A
Yup sorry that was a typo! I meant to put -12.00 just updated it 
Thanks! What effect does having the Max ERPM at 60000 do? Does in have any effect in FOC mode?
Couple questions: Do your brakes work fine with a fully charged or even a 95% charged battery? After your board is warmed up, can you take on a 2.5% grade for more than 600ft before the Temp limits start cutting power?
60,000 limits my top speed to around 23-25mph. Yup brakes work fine on flats, I don’t really take many high grade hills around where I live but even on the occasional time where I pushed it hard up a hill it’s never cut power off on me with these settings.
Makes sense. I never need to go that fast. I’m fine with maxing out my speed around 20mph.
My brakes won’t work on flats or anything unless my Batt max is less than 10A if I’m close to a full charge.
If my board is warmed up and if I took off the heatsinks, it would cut power on even a 1% grade after a couple blocks. Once it cuts off, it won’t even do flats for awhile until it cools off. With the heatsinks I can ride flats no problem and 1% grades are not much of an issue unless I’m going for a longer than a mile. Then I have to coast every so often for a few seconds to keep it going.
How far do you usually ride? My usual ride is around 7 - 8 miles, but I start having issues after around a mile.
Sounds like my board is not even close to performing the way it should. I’m hoping I can figure this out when Enertion Support gets back to me.
Thanks!
Did you ever resolve your issue with power cutting when going up hill?
Yes, it was the VESC over heating. With chakas heatsinks, this issue went away. I believe the high kv created huge inefficiencies which heated the vesc’s more than they should have.
Yup you are having the same Issues I am. The brakes work fine after adjusting the max input voltage. Still having the loose of Power issue. Will try again tonight with @onloop recommendation of bat max
where to buy chakas heatsinks?