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Fault finding on failed VESC

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dmcke5
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Fault finding on failed VESC

Hi guys, so I think I killed my VESC 4.

I'm hoping to be able to work out what component has failed so I can replace it if possible but I'm not really sure where to start looking. I've given the board a visual inspection and I can't see any components that appear to have signs of failure. I was testing it on my new setup at 13s, which I know is above the recommended specs but all of the important components are rated for the voltage as far as I can see and I won't be using braking as this is fitted to a scooter with a free wheeling hub and traditional brakes so I shouldn't have to worry about voltage spikes from regenerative braking.
All I did was plug it in got what I thought was a short spark across the front of the board and then that was it, no lights and won't power on.

The only cause I can think of is that I accidentally left off the 3 large Caps from the main power wires when I re-did the wiring, and didn't notice until after I'd tried plugging it in. Perhaps the inrush current is too much for the components on the board without the caps there to absorb it? I'm no electronics expert so I'm not even sure if that will make enough of a difference. I'm thinking since the power isn't coming on at all now the first thing to check would be the voltage regulator but any suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers!

dmcke5
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Okay, so I had a bit closer look at it tonight. There's no 5v supply anywhere on the board so I'm assuming the regulator that's built into the DRV chip has failed so I have ordered a replacement. Fingers crossed!

benjamin
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Plugging in power without the big CAPs will most certainly kill the hardware the instant it is plugged it, as it easily creates voltage spike at twice the input voltage. Changing the DRV could help, but most likely there is more damage.