So, I guess I am a little paranoid but I am afraid that there is no redundancy/fail-safe built into E-skate brakes. Any of the component in the Remote - Receiver - VESC could fail unexpectedly at the most unfortunate moment. Besides just riding sensibly, I would like to know if having multiple ESCs decreases the chance of one ESC fault making the whole board inoperable. In other words, is having 2x single ESCs instead of a single dual ESC safer? Is having a 4wd board by having 4x single ESCs or 2x dual ESCs safer? By safety, I specifically mean “will I have brakes when one ESC decides to die?”
Since multiple ESCs are daisy-chained by CANBUS, if master ESC faults out, is the slave ESC also immediately inoperable? Also, I understand some ESCs like Unity/Stormcore have a single DRV chip controlling both channels so that’s yet another single component that if fails will render both channels inoperable.
Could this be an excuse to make my board 4wd? (I don’t need it for “performance” reasons, but for better brakes and a peace of mind)
yes it can be safer but more gear more risks. i dont use can though so no worries about network issues. i did lose a phase at speed tho which means risk for the wallet but i bailed to save my board. limping home using fwd could have damaged my rear stormcore so i walked…the breaks were there to help me stop but it sounded like it was dying. thats just one thing of many that can happen
basically im still commanding it to go but with a wire missing it can cause damage. if you have a way to d/c your rear or fron drivetrain you can get around it. if you dc halt though you street face no matter waht
Related post that I dredged up, I got more questions than answers. Turns out CANBUS chips can burn and it’s important to power on/off the different VESCs at the same time? Some people just split from receiver to multiple VESCs via PPM/UART splitter. Unclear to me whether these are plug-n-play. Some RC remotes (not ESK8 dedicated remotes) can “pair” with multiple receivers too.
I personally like the peace of mind being able to rub my back foot on the motor cans worst case scenario - a skill I learnt some years ago on evolve GT running gear as a means of not letting go of the trigger and it landing in eco mode.
I’ve lost brakes/throttle on a board once and it appeared to be no PPM signal between a stormcore and vx1 receiver. It was definitely in the board not the remote, and not 5v or 0v because the remote still showed battery level. Maybe a dicky plug or soldering, because I cleaned the plug contacts, jammed foam against the plug to keep it tight, and resoldered all the components on the receiver board.
I guess splitting the ppm to two ESC’s, and using separate discharge fusing for each ESC might provide more redundancy, but I still see using reliable components and improving build quality to be more beneficial and splitting ppm won’t allow for traction control to be used.
Regarding fusing, I’ve been using a 125A fuse as one of the interconnects between P groups and appreciate the peace of mind having it there. Some guys I know don’t use any fuse on the battery, which scares me.
I have one board that spins wheels like a bitch if it isn’t enabled. It’s an enertion raptor 2, which is an aweful board anyway but it cost me less than the worth of the unity in it at the time.
To my knowledge, having TC turned on hasn’t caused me any problems.
Vesc traction control can cause random cutouts, usually when a wheel slips or you take a tight turn. Many folks here have taken nasty spills because of it.
Hmm, okay. I do lose a lot of drive in the other wheel too when a belt breaks.
I had blamed drinking too much rum for the last crash involving DKP’s / evolve 97’s, and wet roads from the previous crash involving wet roads and Abec 97’s.
I might try switching it off for pub night tomorrow and giving that a go.
I find E-skate and pubs or beer-fests go well together. If post pub XC Esk8 was a sport, I’d compete at the highest of levels. It’s mostly what I use my boards for.
A VESC bike sounds good. I’ve only tried one ebike, a giant e-trance of some sort. Found it too heavy and clumsy so have stuck with normal mountain bikes, it doesn’t take that long to get up the hill from home.
I do need to build a new garage before starting more eskates or other projects. Started pulling down the old one at least. The hardest part is not getting distracted by going out skating for a beer, and not starting the next fibreglass enclosure mould for one of three potential next builds. Being an adult sure has it’s challenges.
I’ve been wondering about the roll flex plays on ESC longevity when mounted to heatsinks which are mounted to enclosures, which flex to some degree when the board flexes.
Obviously escs and most electronics have to be able to handle heat, but it seems the cooler they are kept, the longer the components last.
Thermal expansion and contraction is reduced with a bigger heatsink, which should put less stress on PCB traces.
A bigger heatsink should be stiffer, and an esc firmly mounted to it should then flex less.
A bigger heatsink should also reduce the rate at which components get hot and thermally expand, though it also likely increases the rate at which they cool and contract when the source of heating is reduced or eliminated.
I think reducing the amplitude of the heat cycling, can only help longevity.
My plan for my future builds are for oversized heatsinks big enough to mount the biggest likely esc, and screw the extra weight.
Multiple vescs with their multiple motors are a liability. If one breaks and the board stutters you’ll likely get launched. I had a motor burn with just an internal short within a winding as opposed to a phase to phase short and that happened.
This is a valid rationale. You need all VESC channels/motors to accelerate, cruise, and stop. By sake of “redundancy”, are we just introducing more components that can fail, and any one of them crapping out is dangerous? Maybe just having less number of components that are of high quality and plenty of headroom the best approach?
in california you can get a dui on an esk8 and on private property… the previous owner of my board broke several ribs riding under the influence. just a heads up