I have been trying to get a 100/250 VESC to use a HPM5000B 72v 5kw Golden Motor Motor but when I go through the motor wizard I get stuck at "Failed to Detect Motor Sensors." When I decided which sensor wire to plug into which hall I went with this: The sensor wire that matches the color of the motor wire that I plugged into motor wire A goes into sensor 1, motor wire B goes into sensor 2, etc. (I would attach a picture of the motor sensor connector but I can't figure out how to attach a picture.)
What I Know
The motor has worked previously with an ESC
The VESC is turning on
The receiver wizard was able to work without issue.
Flashing the firmware didn't fix it
The sensor wire is getting 5v
The 3v setting didn't work
The motor has 5 pole pairs
What I Have Questions About
Why is the biggest outrunner only 2000g (The motor weighs 11kg)
Why did it automatically set itself to 14 pole pairs, I tried setting it to ten (the motor has ten) and that didn't help
Is there some way to check if one or two of the sensors are working?
Any help would be appreciated
The sensors on this motor work, we tested that. Big Outrunner should work for detection, but the motor runs best with tweaked parameters. Search for golden motor in this forum and you will find the tweaks.
Pole pairs need to be set manually to the number of magnetc pole pairs. This only affects the real time data like speed, range, profiles etc. It doesn't affect how well the motor runs.
Found the info:
The Goldenmotor can be detected with the wizard. Then you go to Motor FOC and change the Time Constant ( T ) from 1000uS to 250uS. After that you re-calcualte Ki and KP via the button Calc Apply Old.
Then write the motor config to the ESC and you should be good.
Thank you, I will try this and get back asap. (I am in high school and it is AP exams time so I'm not entirely sure when that will be.)
Reichen Schaller
I connected to the software, changed the constant time from 1000uS to 250uS, and hit calc apply old to find the ki KP values. After that, I wrote the motor config to the vesc and when I then tried to go through the wizard it said "failed to detect sensors" again. I can't figure out what the issue is. The only noticeable thing is that the vesc flashes the red light six times in a row but it has done that since the beginning so I think it is doing that because it hasn't been programmed. Again, any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Reichen Schaller
If your temperatursensor is connected try wizard without it. Some tempsensors need to be set up in general advanced tab correctly before doing the Wizard. I had this problem on older firmware, not sure if it is still a problem.
Link to forum post: VESC help offered for private persons and companies
Website: www.electricfox.de
Do you mean physically disconnect it? The white connector that you have to use for the 100/250 vesc makes it hard to remove wires. I can try that but I am not sure how that would help.
Reichen Schaller
Yes, physically disconnecting the Temp PIN on your Vesc. Its very easy to disconnect the PIN on the connector. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRVhPhfdawg
Link to forum post: VESC help offered for private persons and companies
Website: www.electricfox.de
I disconnected the temp sensor and it worked! Though do I now reattach it and set up the sensor in the advanced settings or reattach it and go through the motor wizard?
Next, I find myself now with a throttle problem. (I have never had this much trouble with vesc's) It is hard to explain and I will do my best. (I am also not sure if I should start a new thread) I think I am having trouble with recording the throttle range and its outputs to the vesc. It is a "hall effect throttle" that I am setting up as ppm. (not sure if that is correct) (Model: FSC-010) Whenever I use real app data to find the range it doesn't show it responding as I move the throttle up and down. It clicks as I move it from the resting position and only records data when it clicks back into the resting position. It doesn't read anything when the throttle is pushed to 100% or is moved back and forth between 20%-100%. After it clicks back it comes up with end, center, and start numbers and they are always random numbers, ranging from ~0.0000ms to ~80.0000ms. After the numbers are recorded it finishes the programming wizard fine but when I try to use the kart the motor doesn't spin up at all. One time it would spin up to 100% if I turned the throttle on and off twice very fast but other than that it seems dead.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Reichen Schaller
Nice to hear! A "thank you" would be appreciated. Just set up the temperature sensor whenever you want in the "Advanced" Tab in "General". You don't have to do the Wizard again. You have to know the type of temperature sensor and beta value/coefficient to set it up correctly. Ask Frank or the manufacturer.
For hall sensor throttle you have to use ADC in the input setup. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube for that.
Link to forum post: VESC help offered for private persons and companies
Website: www.electricfox.de
Thank you for the help! This would have taken much much longer without your help! Though, I do have one last question. Do I still put the motor wires in the ppm socket on the 100/250 or in another socket?
Reichen Schaller
So I watched a few videos on setting up ADC throttles and found myself running into a few problems that I don't see in the tutorials. Before I say anything, I want to mention that the foot throttle I am using has three main wires that I plugged into the ppm connector on the 100/250 and two more wires that have a different connector and are off to the side. When I used an ESC, I never plugged them in and it worked. I think that they are for regenerative breaking or some kind of cruise control, but since I don't care about either and I have a separate disk brake, I never used them. However, whenever I go to set up the throttle, it does the thing where the percentage shifts back and forth between a certain percentage since it can't get a perfect reading but instead of being at zero, it is stuck at about ~25% when it is in the resting position. Furthermore, when I move the throttle, it stays at that ~25% without reflecting me moving the throttle. I tried to change the voltages manually, but that didn't work. On the throttle, it says the range is from 0.8v to 4.2v, but the software only lefts me increase the max ADC voltage to 3.3. (Also, there is an adc1 and an adc2 and I don't know which to use/change.) If you can point me toward the correct video on setting it up or give me any advice, I would be very thankful.
Reichen Schaller
Ok, I spent an hour going through YouTube videos till I found the correct wiring method, followed it, and now everything works! I did the first test drive and on the vesc side everything worked well. (On the mechanical side I had some chain tension issues.) Though for some reason the vesc is limiting me to 300amps max draw from the batteries and therefore 300 amps max draw for the motor. Trampa says the 100/250 should be able do do burst 400 amps and I cnc milled an entire water cooling block and thermal pasted it on the back to cool it down to be able to do the 400 amps. Also, the batteries I am using are from the Nissan Leaf and have a max draw of the over 1000 amps. I can't figure out where the 300 amp limit is coming from.
Reichen Schaller
You're Welcome! Nice to see you got it running. Vesc 100/250 is Limited to 250A batteryamps and 300A Phaseamps in its firmware. There is a big difference between Phaseamps and Batteryamps and it depends on lots of factors if you get even close to 250 batteryamps. You could flash the NO_HW_LIMITS firmware but it's not recommended and you will loose your "warranty" on the product.
Link to forum post: VESC help offered for private persons and companies
Website: www.electricfox.de
Ok, I plan on putting an amp meter to see how much the vesc is really drawing. It feels like it is using only 150 amps so I wonder if there is some setting somewhere that is throttling the system. I made a truly overkill water cooling system to ensure that the vesc can pull a ton of amps and I bought it specifically for the numbers it boasted.
After the first test drive, I have run into a really annoying problem with the receiver. Where the software thinks 100% is is actually at about 70% of the throttle's range so whenever I push it to full the whole system cuts off. Also, for the first 30% of turning there is zero power and instead, I hear a loud buzzing noise from the motor. It reminded me of how sensorless motors act when they first startup. The software says the max voltage is 3.38v while on the throttle itself it says the range is 0.8v-4.2v. I keep messing with it but it maxes out at 3.38v and keeps cutting off. I wonder if I have to plug it into a different port on the comm connector to be able to go to 4.2v, the software keeps saying that for adc1 the max is 3.3v.
Also, I still haven't reconnected the motor temp sensor if that has any bearing on this. (Haven't looked into how to set it up for that motor yet.)
P.S. Do I have to buy a third-party Bluetooth module for the 100/250? If so, what would be a good chip and can you point me in the direction of wiring diagram?
Thank you in advance, I know this is a lot, I am just super inexperienced with larger scale electronics like these.
Reichen Schaller
Since the thread has thoroughly left the original topic, I will just say I won't be adding anything to it anymore, and with my ADC receiver issue plan to either search through the forum or create a new thread. (Quite possible the latter since I have already gone through the first 3 pages of threads and none of the discussions seem to give an answer to my issue.)
Reichen Schaller