Everything was connected and fine. I just ripped out all the cables when I got home.
I was gonna say the same, usually any time I’ve seen a reading like that is when one lead isn’t right and it throws off the next one
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Totally understand if you’re just throwing your toys out of the pram, i’ve been there several times. I just find it EXTREMELY unlikely that those are true readings on the battery. That’s exactly what a faulty balance wire shows up like on the bms app.
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I really don’t want to mess around with this stuff anymore. If you really think that would be the case I’ll try again. The other thing that happened is my vesc smoked. It was only at 145f when it smoked and I thought that was reasonable but apparently it wasn’t. When I opened up the board and pulled on the positive and negative leads the both can straight out. I don’t think solder melts at 140f so idk why shit melted.
Edit: just checked the bms wire and it’s disconnected.
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I cut my battery negative on the bms about an hour ago. Do I still need that to get readings for the battery or no? I just realized another thing. When it started burning my bms started trying to balance cells all my other cells even when they were relatively balanced. Group 11 is also kinda low and I’m thinking maybe it was from group 12. But now that the bms wire is bad (I might have snapped it whilst trying to get the heat shrink off) I’m really confused on what I should do.
Yes
Very much doubt any of the groups are low. When a balnce wire is faulty it can mess up the readings of multiple cells
Also you shouldnt have always on balancing. You wanna change that to charge only
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Man, what a bummer! 
Sorry this happened, bud. Unfortunately, there is a steep learning curve for the DIY stuff. I hope you can learn to take a break from it, rather than give up completely.
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Ik it sucks. It’s just the stress about “what if my battery blows up” or “what if the house burns down”. Those are the thoughts I have at night because I’m not completely confident in my ability’s at building esk8. My family also doesn’t want me riding because of the inherent risks of esk8. I really want to keep the board but who knows. Love esk8 and everything about it.
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Definitely don’t blame you—that fear is very real, especially when it comes to the possibility of someone getting hurt.
Have you thought about starting with a prebuilt? The first board I was able to put real miles on was an Evolve.
Eventually, the fun of customizing the board and finally dealing with a blown ESC pushed me into learning more about DIY.
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What do you guys think I should do? I have another vesc I could put in but I don’t wanna blow up my house or die on the road. The other option is to save for a prebuilt and not do diy in the near future. The last option is to quit esk8 for a year and save for my car.
Option 1: try this board 1 last time and sink more money in.
Option 2: part this board out and save for a prebuilt (there’s not much to part out)
Option 3: quit esk8 for the time being and save for my car.
I am hesitant to recommend any of your three options, as this is your decision.
back in late 80’s when I was about to get my drivers License, I was really into RC cars, even though they were so limited by NiCad batteries. When I did get my License my newfound freedom had me far less obsessed with the RC cars, and a while later when I got my own can the RC stuff was basically abandoned after I stripped some gears and blew up a speed controller and my money was spent on my Actual car.
Esk8 is indeed dangerous, but many Families seems to think everybody under 20 should be wrapped in bubblewrap before being allowed outside these days and have any fun. If you are a skilled analog skater who knows how to fall, I’d be more likely to recommend continuing. If Esk8 is your first experiences skating, then I’d me more likely to recommend playing it safe.
I know for a fact that all the falling I did as a Kid has served me well since.
Your VESC failure mode is interesting. In one of your pictures it looks like a phase wire is exposed outside the heat shrink.
The rats nest of BMS wiring in one of your photos is also concerning. I do not know what was going on with that, but all the best battery builds i have seen, the balance wire routing is freaking ART. Having built a few myself and trying to achieve similar is not nearly as easy as one might think.
I approachmy enclosures as though it is going into a vibration machine and everything will flex twisty and normally under rider weight. I envision what would happen if board gets run over by a car, and balance wires pushed down onto the cells.
I want the wiring to be able to flex only enough to not be stressed when board and enclosure flexes, but also i do not want anything to be able to move or rattle. Your complaints of board noise, like the enclosure was acting like a speaker seems to paint a picture that things inside were not properly secured, and added to that resonance.
Confidence is a double edged sword with a sticky and sharp handle.
Yeah, didn’t really want to shorten the wires so I just zip tied them all together and folded them on top of the bms.
I do skate with and actual board in the park. I fall occasionally but not to the point where I can confidently say “ I know how to fall on a skateboard”
I still have no clue why my Vesc failed. I was just riding up a hill with around 5-10a of power draw. I could be something to do with an old mofset blowing or something of the sorts. I bought it untested and that’s what I got.
All in all this has been a great learning experience and I really want to ride this board more and sink more money in, but right now I think I’m just gonna save for my car.