VESC V4.12 to BLDC mower motor.

Hi, new user here. I have a Bosch Rotak 37Li mower that keeps cutting out until it won’t start at all so I wanted to replace the driver with a Flipsky V4.12 and was wondering if I could get some advice before I start. I was going to connect the 3 wires to the motor (no sense wires) then the battery then the usb to pc. After that I could only find tutorials for FOC but I thought I need BLDC however I haven’t hooked it up yet so I don’t know what the program will offer. I just wanted to know if anyone has used this for a mower and have I missed something silly before I go and connect this to the mower battery.
Thanx for any advice your willing to part with :blush:

What battery do you use and what is the actual charge voltage of it?

It’s the original 36v 4Ah battery

That’s probably a 42V battery.

I don’t see any reason that might not have a good chance of working. Make sure you don’t feed 5V into the ADC (throttle) inputs, they are 3.3V maximum. At 42V on that controller you should be able to use FOC or BLDC commutation mode, but the “FLIPSKY Mini FSESC6.7 PRO” would probably be a much better choice than the 4.20 or 4.12.

Either way though, Flipsky as a company is garbage-tier. You’re supporting a bad player and will get zero customer service. If the one you get works, awesome. Otherwise, oh well.

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Maker X sells singles V6, IIRC.

Thanx, I will hook it up in soon and let you know how it holds up.

I just wanted to use what I had and at those prices (without a link) I could buy an original replacement for this.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn’t mean to upset you, just trying to explain my situation.

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Hi all, sorry for the late reply but I ran into problems updating the flipsky firmware via the vesc tool. It keeps asking to do it over and over without actually updating it.
I hit auto connect and get the following message:
The connected vesc has too old firmware. Since the connected vesc has firmware with bootloader support, it can be updated from the firmware page.
Note: If the old firmware is loaded again after the reboot then a bootloader is probably missing.

I also tried uploading a bootloader from the bootloader tab but the same thing keeps happening.
Is it necessary to use the ST-Link v2 for uploading the boot-loader (don’t have one), or are there any alternative means. Any links to simple instructions would be greatly appreciated :+1:

You need to start by updating to a less old firmware. What firmware is your ESC on right now?

I already tried updating the firmware, quote: I ran into problems updating the flipsky firmware via the vesc tool. It keeps asking to do it over and over without actually updating it.
I don’t have it with me atm but I think it’s close to the original firmware.

Original firmware is time dependant. Depends on when you bought it. If it’s old enough, you can’t update it straight to current firmware unless you use an stlink. You’ll have to do a few updates in steps.

Thanx Evwan, I have Fw: v3.40, Hw:: 410 using vesc tool 6.02.
I hit Auto Connect and get the ‘Old Firmware’ message then goto Connection and it says it’s on com1 @ 115200.
I goto Firmware, load the archive and highlighted Fw: v3.55 (first on the list) and hit the down arrow icon to ‘Update the firmware on the connected vesc’. I get a flashing green light then it says it’s done and will reboot within 10 seconds. I leave it for about 30 seconds but can’t ‘Read Firmware Version’ to check the update.
I try the ‘ReConnect last Connection’ but it says ‘invalid serial port com20’? so I just hit the ‘Connect’ icon to connect to com1 but then it says ‘Could not read firmware version, make sure that port really belongs to the vesc’ and if I hit autoconnect it can’t connect at all unless I power down and up again.
I hit ‘Auto connect’ and the process starts all over again.

If I do need an stlink can you point me in the direction of an easy to follow instruction page and possibly a link to a cheapy on ebay so I know I’m getting the right one?
If so then I will try to come and mow your lawn when I get this mower working :innocent:

I meant get it through an older version of vesc tool. The VESC bootloader has had a few changes, especially the one for FW6 and onward.

old vesc tool can be found here

Download 2.03 (FW4.2) vesc tool. Should be a good intermediary

Upload the bootloader from the bootloader tab of the firmware section, then try updating to firmware 4.2

Then from there try the latest vesc tool. If that still doesnt work, update to FW5.3, then latest, but it should work without that step

It’s doing the same thing when I try updating to 4.2 :frowning:
Cant get past that so no point trying Fw: v5.3?

If you’re doing everything right (emphasis on uploading the bootloader first) then I couldn’t tell you how to proceed. I have no experience with an STLink, so I cant say much in that dept.

Thanx for the help and for the link to the older versions, I might try V1.09 Fw355 to see if that works being the next available one up from my version but I think it’s going to be the stlink path. I’ll let you know how it goes however I have a lot on my plate atm so it might be a while.

Thanx again :+1:

The bigger question here is: why are you trying to update the firmware?

If it’s only because VESC Tool says you should, then that’s not a valid reason. Their goal is to make Trampa money, not to get your lawnmower working. This is MCU firmware that isn’t connected to the internet, not a PC operating system. For a lawnmower, you can probably use the firmware that’s on it now. Remember the goal here is to spin a motor.

If you had some other reason you needed the firmware updated, then that’s another story entirely.

@b264: As I said earlier I can’t connect as is.
I have the stlink now but cant find the vesc default.bin in the vedder github page pointed to in this video.

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