Do it, it is very important in order for 1.0 firmware to run correctly on 0.9 boards, instructions:
100 posts back rusins had cutout issues similar to yours:
Do those and let us know if anything changes. I have 220N cap and it is running fine
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Interesting. I’m running fw 5.1 on the HW 0.9 CFOC2’s. I think that’s the firmware that’s intended for them - right?
In any event, those sound like a couple of easy fixes that are worth trying. Thanks!
I’ve been running the resistor mod with FW 5.03 and you can flash them directly from the vesc tool without downloading any firmware externally. Highly recommended, removes a lot of room for error!
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I wasn’t aware there is a 5.03 firmware version. I’m running the one from the above “here” link. Charclo tells me that’s fw 5.02, but it shows up in vesc_tool_300.exe as fw 5.2. I had another fw version that was labeled 5.01 (if I recall correctly) but showed up in vesc_tool as 5.1.
Do you know if these later versions of firmware are compatible with both hardware versions (0.9 and 1.0)? If I add the above hardware mods to hw 0.9 would that make it possible to use the hw 1.0 firmware versions?
Thanks.
VESC versioning is weird like that…5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 are actually 5.01, 5.02 and 5.03 respectively. 5.03 is still in beta, you can find the tool here.
I did the mod before updating to 5.02, so as far as I know 5.01 is the last one compiled for v0.9, but I could be wrong. Once you do the resistor mod, as far as the VESC tool is concerned, the FOCer is a v1.0 and every firmware version should work!
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Can you point me to a link or tell me where the 10K resistor goes? Do I add it, or does it replace an existing resistor of another value? After I do it, do I have to upgrade to the HW 1.0 firmware?
Thanks!
Resistor mod here.
Same here, after resistor mod everything gets reckonized correctly and runs flawlessly
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Thanks!
I was having trouble with my left-wheel drive (CFOC2 hw 0.9) and I decided to install my newer hw 1.0 to see if that fixed it. Kinda yes and kinda no. I no longer get over current faults - or any faults for that matter. But every so often that same motor will go into a stuttering mode while riding. When it goes into this mode, there’s a definite braking effect. If I release the throttle, it just coasts - with no braking and no thrust.
So I tried some other things. I tried changing from sensor-hybrid to sensorless. It actually seemed like that fixed it. I couldn’t quite figure out why, because the stuttering always occurs above the hybrid cut-off speed. But ultimately I did get another stutter eventually. I’m not sure whether or not to make anything of the fact that it took much longer for it to happen, and it seemed less severe.
So then I tried putting it in full-sensor (not hybrid) mode. This one really surprised me. It was a lot louder, had significantly less power and lower top speed, and the motors got real hot (and I’ve never had them get hot). After going around the block, it had gotten slower still. I was sort of crawling back home.
But I’m kind of settling on the idea that one of my motors could be bad. I figured it was a problem with the sensors (that I installed). But I’m starting to wonder if maybe I have an intermittent short or something.
I’m running Keda 6364 motors. I know somewhere on this thread I read that they’re challenging (because they’re low impedance if I recall correctly). So I ordered a couple of these guys from Amazon. The specs are very similar to my Keda 6364’s, so I’m not sure if the impedance (or inductance?) will be an issue. But they come with sensors from the factory.
So that’s a lot, but I’m kind of hoping that something in there jumps out to someone here. Why would sensor mode perform so poorly? How can a motor fail in such a manner to cause this occasional stutter? Will these new motors solve all my problems? Why do hot dogs come in packs of 8 and buns come in packs of 10? So many questions.
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Sensor misalignment comes to mind. Especially since going full sensor mode cause such bad behavior.
You could try the suspect controller in a known good motor and see if the issue follows. If not, then yeah probably a new motor is needed.
Yes
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Also thanks everyone for supporting each other here while I’ve been kinda unresponsive. It was nice to see the community supporting itself around the CFOC2.
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Thanks for all those useful thoughts. I’ll try to expand on what I can there…
Sensor misalignment comes to mind. Especially since going full sensor mode cause such bad behavior.
It’s certainly possible since I added the sensors. But here are the things that make me question it…
- I’ve been running with these sensors for a long time now. But perhaps they were always like this, because I think I’ve always run them in hybrid mode, so maybe I just never saw how they behaved above 2000 erpm.
- The motor detection goes fine without any errors. Now I don’t know enough about what happens in the guts of the motor detection code. Perhaps it doesn’t catch such problems(?)
- They’re wedged tightly between the windings. In fact there is so little room for them to move around that I actually had to file their enclosures a bit to get them wedged in there. Then they’re epoxied in place. They’re placed in three consecutive gaps between the windings. I believe that’s the desired angular separation - right?
What I have wondered about is whether I could have an intermittent short or open on one or more of them. That would be really easy to believe.
Also, one of my motors (that one?) did get a short in one of the windings many months ago. I was able to separate it from the other windings very carefully with a dental pick and then epoxy coat all the windings to prevent it from happening again. But it certainly might have happened again.
You could try the suspect controller in a known good motor and see if the issue follows. If not, then yeah probably a new motor is needed.
That’s the first thing I thought of. But the skateboard has two motors and two controllers. If I put the “bad” controller on the “good” motor, it means I have to then put the “good” controller on the “bad” motor. And I worry that there’s a chance I have a bad motor damaging controllers. I don’t really want to risk that.
But I have ordered new motors. That should at least help me sort the problem out if it doesn’t solve it.
Actually, thinking back on it, I believe I have the Hall sensors inserted between every 4th winding (so 120 deg apart).
I did and it appears there are a few others posted on thingiverse.
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Hi,
Ive built up a batch of FOCers for a project.
Is it possible to use the spare gpio pinouts to trigger high/low in response to another pin? I would like to modify the state of 3 of the pins in a defined sequence when there is an interrupt on the 4th pin. ive already written the routine in c++ to run on an arduino but is there a relatively simple way for me to implement this to the FOCer firmware without mastering the stm32 ecosystem first?
Thanks
Hi Shaman,
things have moved on a bit since I last emailed. The e-bike motor with built in 8 speed gearbox is at working demonstrator stage, and we’re now developing an integrated motor controller.
We are keen to use VESC 6 architecture, and wanted to test the cheap FOCer 2 as it could form a good starting point for our application. So we ordered some PCB’s and have populated them, but unfortunately can’t get them working.
I wondered if you’d be interested in assisting us, as a sub-contractor?
Here’ si the product we’re developing: https://www.intra-drive.com/
We’re a very small start-up, with limited funds, developing a product which aims to be far more durable and low maintenance than market leading e-bike drives, and we’re also keen to manufacture it in a truly sustainable way, using 100% renewable electricity.
If you want to get in touch, the best way would be to email mark@intra-drive.com, or call +44 7812 364290
Many thanks,
Mark
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I sent an email offering to try and help. I haven’t heard back.
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Pretty sure Shaman has enough to do with his day job ontop of the FOCer project, as do most involved in this industry right now cause of the IC shortage 
But nice of you to reach out! Usually no response is a good sign, hopefully they solved whatever problem they had
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I actually did reach out via PM and email.
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Might be a stupid question… I don’t remember if by board is version 0.9 or v1.0. How can I tell?
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