The stock battery is a 10s4p - but a cheap one rated for, I think, 20A total Li-ion. It still outputs more than I need. My daily ride is 3mi to the beach, 2 mi around, 3mi back. And even in the dead of summer I wear jeans, gloves, and my old motorcycle helmet. I have hit 23mph once or twice on a bike path on my pervious board (back when I could walk better) and while it was fun for a few minutes I don’t need to scratch that itch anymore. Thanks for chiming in…I’m kind of excited to re-learn some of this stuff. I expected there would be some real advancements since my last endeavor, and as you say - lots of vendors, lots of choices now. Still shocked I don’t see more of these around -especially given our weather profile, I’ve gone past a couple (and thrown out the Jeep wave) but 5 yrs ago I thought by now there would be more esk8s than bicycles. Special breed I guess.
can confirm. I just ordered my second makerx vesc (originally had the DV4 which is a vesc4, ordered a DV6 which is vesc6 based.) I also got my second FSESC, which was DOA. My first one is a meh performer, but for what I do its sufficient.
For low amp solutions the DV4 and GoFoc retro are great
I’m currently testing/working on a review of the DV6 and it’s been great so far for higher amps
Because the female part (with the antispark circuit) will eventually wear out and the antispark will fail, and its much easier to just make a new key than to replace the connector that you panel-mounted in your enclosure.
See above.
Also regaring shorting the male panel mounted pins, it’s not that big of a deal. When the esk8 is in use (i.e. the key is inserted) then those pins are already shorted. If the esk8 is just sitting in your closet or whatever and something happens to bridge those pins, there will be a little spark as the capacitors in the ESC’s rush to get energized, but its no worse than plugging in a non-antispark connector one time. It’s definitely not good, but unless you are very unlucky it probably wont brick your ESC’s. If you are worried about it, you can put something non-conductive in the connector when the esk8 is not in use.
I’ll be running mine at like 30a per motor, so this is great to hear
gottcha no idea where I got 24 lol
Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense!
I knew nothing biggie would happen in case of short, after all that circuit is closed every time a loopkey is plugged in. I also knew a few sparks wouldn’t harm the connector as I used loopkey back in the days without antispark connector. What I didnt consider what happens if it wears out.
so you are keeping with the original one you bought and are just modifying? changing the motors was a good choice, the esc will make a huge difference too. totally recommend getting a Go-Foc Retro. it’s perfect for you as it’s not expensive and has the benefit of being a dual esc making setup easier. also comes with a chunky heatsink.
And a nifty little upgrade you could do is get a Freesk8 robogotchi. it’s handy to have, can diagnose faults, have different speed modes, and a bunch of other cool telemetry that’s just practical.
Again, as i said, i think you’d have more fun starting from scratch, using proper parts and using 6’’ wheels.
I can appreciate your opinion, I really do - but I’ve got some money into it and I truly believe swapping out the electronics will give me more than I need. I don’t want to start from scratch and I’ll keep an eye on the trucks and such. If something starts to look dodgy then I’ll swap it out. I’ve ridden it about 15 miles so far and I like the pneumatics. It rides good (so far).
Everyone seems to like Maker-X so it’s either DV6 or, as you recommended, the Retro. My only hesitation is that this is my first vesc-based esc - and I dread all of posts I see about FW/SW upgrades, motor detection weirdness, limit settings, etc. I just don’t want to fry the damn thing. I’d pay extra to have it shipped with the latest FW/SW if I could. According to the motor specs the FlipSky 6355 / 10mm can draw 65 amps?!? I think that will choke the shit out of my battery (and I’ll never accelerate like that - combined with the fact that there is no such thing as “uphill” here) so I will want to set it up properly so it doesn’t try to draw more than the battery can supply. Whatever it draws right now through the cheapo-esc is more than enough, I couldn’t punch it today and survive.
All of the reading I have done and I have never heard of the Robogotchi…that thing looks cool. Nice to have black box when I screw up and they have to search through the wreckage to reconstruct the chain of events that led to my demise 
I was originally going to wait until I put the new motors in to see if my issue is gone before I buy an ESC but I kind of see it as inevitable (read in Thanos voice) - so maybe just grab it now while they are in-stock. MrDrunkenMonster says the 6 is better is every way, so maybe pony up the extra $50 and get something as stable as I can? That said, I feel pretty confident I’ll never really tax the 4 and can use that money for the remote (and an anti-spark). Ultimately I just want something I can turn on, do my 8 miles, plug it back in and know it will work again tomorrow. It’s always something with this hobby…
No worries, i totally understand you.
That’s a thing of the past. you can’t really fry an esc with what you want to do.
setup is super easy, you have a ‘‘set up wizard’’ in vesc tool that get’s you through it. and have firmware 5.1 on your esc with ‘‘duty current limit start’’ to 85%. that’s all you need to know, and if that sounds complicated just ping us when you come to that.
also you can’t push more than what you battery can give, and all this has settings in the vesc tool. you have battery settings and motor setting (completly different) to limit the total output. even if you set you motor amps to 90a it will never go above the battery/Esc max output.
That is a relief to hear. I am pretty savvy from a tech standpoint, but like anything I hate to go into it without the confidence that comes from knowing everything inside and out. It’s good to know the forum is here to look out for me. Look for a post in the future, I’ll let you know how it all turned out. Thanks again for your attention.
I thought the same thing when I went into using programmable escs. I started using the Maker x retro as my first, along with that same exact trucks you got. The only downside to those is that it can be lopped sided and may not give you enough turning. But if you really want a good esc, you can get what @b264 said in the list of escs. Maker X has a better record for making a good esc than flipsky, which is why it’s a recommendation.
In the end, you will want to upgrade your board like I did. Buy matrix ll trucks and go with a DV6. No regrets. Oh, when you get the Maker X escs, make sure you install the bootloader first before updating it. It won’t update otherwise.
Yeah I’m not sure why this is. I’m editing my DV6 upgrade/setup video (hopefully I can publish by Friday) and I made sure to flash the bootloader first, had no issues.
When I was setting up my last board, it just wouldn’t update firmware without a bootloader flash. Simple enough though
I was just about to pull the trigger on a DV4 or a Retro - but now I’m having second thoughts…get the 6 and don’t look back? Better to be over-spec’d and have the headroom? Also, I need a loop key and a remote.
I was disappointed with the amp capability of the retro, with no external facing heatsink I would only expect to be capable of 30-40a on urethane wheels.
Pneumatic probably less. So far the dv6 has performed great with pneummies and 50a x2 so I would recommend just getting the DV6 to start. It is very thick though make sure to check on dimensions
Another option for an ESC that may be a bit less headache would be a BKB Xenith. It’s very well proven and reliable hardware, that has an integrated anti-spark (so you would have a button or roll-to-start instead of a loop key) and a very simple to use setup and config app.
Looks like those are a little more $ than the DV6 (which is more than the 4) and out of stock. Seems like DV6, bootloader first, follow the wizard, ask the forum beyond that should be easy enough.
Here is the remote style I like…nice and simple
US $20.83 15％ Off | New Mini 2.4Ghz Electric Scooter Remote Control Electric Skateboard 4-Channel Receiver
One thing about this mtb - a giant metal enclosure. Lots of room. Since it’s metal, can I use thermal paste (for a CPU cooler) and mount it to the metal enclosure to turn it into a giant heat sink?
You definitely could do that, you could even use thermal adhesive if you wanted, but thermal pad or paste works
Make sure it’s secured well otherwise the vibrations/rattling will bother you eternally
With the DV6 it has a ton of thermal mass in the first place. I’m going to be really railing on it soon to see how much it heats up, but on a mostly casual ride yesterday maxing out at 31mph and probably max of 10% grade hill, I maxed out at around 54C which is super cool compared to the 80 that I can usually push ESC’s to
You will be fine though if you’re riding slow, probably won’t heat it up at all lol