VESC/Motor Screech

I have a Dual FSESC4.20 with a pair of 6354 180Kv motors running an up to date firmware.

There’s a horrible screeching sound and lack of power when the board is under load. Flipped on its deck with the wheels up, the motor in question is easy to identify. Not sure how to determine the issue though. Take a look at the video, any and all help is very greatly appreciated.

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Did you change the software version or anything else before this started?

Are your phase wires rubbed or abraded at all?

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No, I didn’t change anything until today. A week or so ago, weather in VA was upper 60’s/low 70’s and so I wanted to take it out for a spin, it’s been sitting on the hook since November. Didn’t even get 1/3 of a mile before I heard the screeching sound and lost 50% of my power. Acceleration/braking under load causes the sound to be so much worse.

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I don’t see any breaks in the wire coating, which seems to be standard heat shrink tubing.

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Swap which motor is connected to each ESC. Does the problem change sides?

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I’ll give swapping them a try when I get home from work tonight, thanks for the recommendation!

My guess is that one of your phase wires is loose. That’s why sometimes the ESC manages to spin the motor up, and sometimes it doesn’t. Either that, or the windings in your motor itself broke apart.

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@rusins I hope that’s all it is :sweat_smile:

Update: all motor wires are confirmed to be tight in their connectors. I took the motors off, swapped sides, and now both motors are having the issues. I’m stumped. I’m going to ohm out each motor to see if there is anything I can detect that way. Will be back for updates… wish there was a way to test the VESC.

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On VESC 5.2 or 5.3?

The VESC is updated to 5.3.

All the motor tests I’m doing point to the motors being okay. I may have to replace the VESC. Given the other things I currently have, any recommendations?

10S5P battery
2x 6354 180Kv motors
Flipsky VX1 remote

I don’t know if it would help or not, but I would recommend sticking to FW 5.2 since FW 5.3 has some motor parameter detection bugs.

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I’m looking for ways to downgrade back to 5.2 and I haven’t found anything. Do you have a link to instructions of this?

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You are constantly saving my ass man, I appreciate you more than I can express.

Follow up question - I want to be more on top of this stuff, was there a major thread regarding the bugs with 5.3?

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We’re a bit disorganized, maybe there is some thread for reporting general vesc fw issues and workarounds, but since 5.3 is new it’s all in the main thread:

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Much appreciation to you as well! I’ll get my software downgraded and see if that helps. I couldn’t tell you what it was before I went to 5.3, but it was last updated before Nov 2021, and even there I’m not sure what version of the VESC tool I used. It’s tough having 6 month gaps in being able to focus attention on this stuff :sweat_smile: