Fizzit's RC freeride build log - now with videos

[fizzit]

I just received 5 of these caps:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic/EEU-FM1H681L/?qs=3buz8ytw9h213HsDKDKoOw%3d%3d

Should give me a cool 15 amps of ripple current handling 8)
I'm expecting a small mushroom cloud whenever I hook the controller up, at least until I get together a no-spark circuit :lol:

Oh and I found a nice extruded aluminum hard drive enclosure that I think i'll be using for the controller/electronics enclosure. It even has a fan on the bottom. I'll post pictures once I've hacked it some more

 

[fizzit]

So here's my enclosure/ wiring. You can never post too many pictures of a box

I bent a piece of plexiglass to fit over the ESC

Everything crammed inside, with the throttle converter, watt meter, 5 low esr caps, and ESC.

I also made another chain tensioner. I think it's a lot better

 

[AussieJester]

Wholey snappin' duck shit would ya checkout the caps :-|
Nice job on the conneting of them, i would offer one small suggestion though, move them as close to the ESC as you can possibly get them, its been drummed into me by a few of the gurus here how important it is to have them close to the ESC to be effective... Have you bought the data link cable to program the HV160?

Look forward to this running hurry the hell up will ya hehehe

KiM

 

[recumpence]

Yup, move them caps REALLY close. I mean, like an inch of wire from the board if at all possible. It makes big difference.

Looks good!

Matt

 

[fizzit]

Thanks guys! I moved the caps. And redid all the solder joints for good measure, cuz they sucked.

They are not quite 1" away, but they're 4" away. which is half the previous distance. I hope thats good enough for now

I'm guessing 3 weeks until I can afford batteries and they arrive. And finally, I'll be able to test it out. I'll probably find time to write my will this weekend

 

[AussieJester]

Its your HV160 and all, so do as you like, but again
highly recommend moving the caps as close as you
can get them, they are miles too far away
now to be effective



^^^At least this close, pull the wires from the hv160 close together and wrap the legs
of the caps around them, dont hang the caps of long lengths of wire.

KiM

 

[liveforphysics]

Caps need to be as close as possible to do any good.
Caps that far away are mostly for show.

 

[fizzit]

Well alright, I shall move them. But I have one question. Is around 1.5" on the negative lead and .5" distance to the caps on the positive lead too long? That way I can put the caps next to the controller and not have to redesign the enclosure.

 

[AussieJester]

Well alright, I shall move them. But I have one question. Is around 1.5" on the negative lead and .5" distance to the caps on the positive lead too long? That way I can put the caps next to the controller and not have to redesign the enclosure.

If you wish to keep the enclosure, flip the ESC onto its side, the positive and negative wires will then be side by side, you need to do what it takes to get them close as possible, if they don't work properly you run a very real risk of smoking the ESC.

KiM

 

[dequinox]

Just out of curiosity what do the caps do for the ESC?

 

[Brushlessboy16]

Just out of curiosity what do the caps do for the ESC?

see this post

I just received 5 of these caps:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic/EEU-FM1H681L/?qs=3buz8ytw9h213HsDKDKoOw%3d%3d

Should give me a cool 15 amps of ripple current handling 8)
I'm expecting a small mushroom cloud whenever I hook the controller up, at least until I get together a no-spark circuit :lol:

Oh and I found a nice extruded aluminum hard drive enclosure that I think i'll be using for the controller/electronics enclosure. It even has a fan on the bottom. I'll post pictures once I've hacked it some more

680uf 50v


edit- A not to Fizzit. The no spark adapter is not compatible with castle esc's. the fluxuating voltage upon start up is not kosher with the main processor startup.. Best option would be to go to a set of tiny 2mm bullet connectors as sacrificial connectors instead of destroying your good plugs with the wonderful HV spark as it charges all 7 of the capacitors

More info on No spark adapters:
http://rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16456
http://rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14194&highlight=mmm+spark+resistor

A quote from Patrick Del Castillo- Castle creations president

I don't suggest the "no spark" resistor for the MMM -- for a few reasons. First, the resistors that are suggested are WAY too big. They can cause the beeps (during startup) to cause a boost (with the motor inductance) that creates voltage spikes -- without the battery there to absorb them. -- So if you plug in through the resistor, the caps charge fully, then the ESC beeps the motor -- can cause enough of a "boost" spike to damage some of the more voltage sensitive parts.

Even just the brake turning on (which happens on power-up for safety reasons) can also cause a "boost" spike --

So to be safe, just say no to the resistor. :no:

Really, it's easy on the caps to charge fast -- they don't mind at all. :yes: It is hard on the connectors -- but connectors are cheap compared to ESCs... :wink:

Thread can be found here- http://rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14194

-Ben

 

[dequinox]

Hows that thar build coming fizzit? Made any sparks yet?

 

[fizzit]

I haven't had much time to work on it in the last week or so, but I've come up with a way to rearrange the enclosure to allow for the caps being on the ESC and I will probably de-and re-solder them today.

And I better do it soon, because I ordered batteries from the USA warehouse yesterday and it says they shipped
Glorious showers of sparks can be expected soon... Also, thanks to brushlessboy for letting me know about the no-spark circuit, I didn't know that, and I'll probably use some deans as sacrificial connectors like you suggested.

Edit:

 

[fizzit]

A couple of things:

-If you are wondering why your 140w soldering gun is not comparing to 80w soldering irons and all your solder joints suck, take the tip out and scrape some of the corrosion off

-It seems like everyone uses case-hardened shafts for their jackshafts... am I making a humongous n00b mistake by using a non-hardened shaft?

 

[dontsendbubbamail]

A couple of things:

-If you are wondering why your 140w soldering gun is not comparing to 80w soldering irons and all your solder joints suck, take the tip out and scrape some of the corrosion off

-It seems like everyone uses case-hardened shafts for their jackshafts... am I making a humongous n00b mistake by using a non-hardened shaft?

You only need hardened jack shafts if you are using the type of bearing that run directly on the shaft. I use unhardened drill rod for my jackshafts.

Bubba

 

[fizzit]

OK. Since this video I have done some stuff (namely, stuck stuff onto the bike and hooked up the main chain), but it was taken earlier today, so it's not that far behind:

[youtube]t73gNhzxOyY[/youtube]

I still haven't applied loctite to the set screws, but I probably should now...

-Before I soldered on the sacrificial deans connectors, I plugged together the connectors about twice and they're already pitted as hell.

-When I tested it with the wheel off the ground for the first time, it went into uncontrolled full throttle. Should have checked the throttle wires

 

[dequinox]

You might want to reconsider locktite on the set-screws. Its better to dimple the shaft to give them something to dig into. If you loctite them they might not come out without heating the whole part. Also don't worry too much about hardened shafts, unless like Bubba says you are running bearing rollers directly on the shaft. I'm just using regular cold-rolled with a keyway. (At least I think its just cold rolled...)

 

[fizzit]

OK. Thanks guys for letting me know about the hardened shaft. I feel better

When you say dimple, do you mean drilling a hole into the shaft? Because I already have flats ground into the shaft, two per sprocket, and each sprocket has two set screws. However, if I should drill a hole into the shaft, I can probably do it.

 

[dequinox]

Typically the angel of contact for the drill bit and that of the set screw are very close, so just barely drilling a little hole in the shaft...that is...just deep enough to NOT cause a hole, just a "dent". Leave it so that the corner of the drill bit doesn't enter the shaft. See the diagram below. Irish cream is my friend so it yma ton eb auraccte:

 

[fizzit]

OK. I just trusted that you were right and did what you said. Probably still going to use loctite though, because I'm kinda paranoid

So finally, I rode the bikea bit. (it's not complete, a 9v battery still powers the throttle converter)

Two things I noticed: After riding in the street some, the ESC started beeping twice every few seconds instead of once every minute or so, which is what it used to do...

Also, on semi-hard acceleration, I noticed the power briefly cutting out a few times... and a couple other things, but I'm gonna go chase these things down before I do anything else.

Edit: So I looked in the manual, and the beeping the low voltage cutout. Apparently when I draw 100 amps or so the voltage dips below 40, haha. This may somehow be related to the motor cutting out. I'll take the esc off the bike and set it up to log stuff on the next run, maybe I can get answers. AND maybe I'll figure out the other way it's cutting out, which is the occasional mechanical clicking that sounds like the chain slipping

 

[fizzit]

Yeah! I lowered the voltage cutoff and it cuts out a lot less now. I think I figured out the mechanical clicking too, it was my homemade sprocket. It still does both of these a little bit though

I'm going to post video and pictures soon. I just have to find someone that will take a video for me, haha. This is the most fun thing I've ever ridden, I have to say, and I haven't even taken it past 30mph or offroad yet

Another thing. At 26C, my 6s 25C continuous Turnigy batteries sag to about 19.2v each. Is that normal? The batteries were probably around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit at the time.

 

[fizzit]

Edit: Here are some specs and stuff

-It weighs 47 lbs! So I added about 21 lbs overall. Not too bad, right?

-The most I've hit so far is 5kw peak. Amazingly the tiny motor survived

-I went for a ride of about 3 miles doing around 25 mph and pulled about 2 AH, so the range is about 6 miles on 44v 5ah @ 25mph. I can't wait to get another 5ah and start riding it to school. Some more waterproofing needs to happen before that, such as fenders and a mudguard for the motor

Also, I need to figure out this stupid thing where the power occasionally randomly cuts out. I can't tell what's making it happen. It seems like it cuts out more at a certain speed, and above or below that speed, it doesn't. It always cuts out for half a second or so and resumes accelerating immediately. Hopefully if I set the ESC to log the voltage ripple and throttle input the next ride at 5 hz, I should get some answers.

I promise I'll stop bumping my own thread now

-more.

If you are wondering what the white tubing is, that's the battery enclosure. It's metal gutter pipe. I chose it just because it's easy to cut to length, it was in my garage, and it fits the batteries well . One end is plugged with a piece of wood and silicone sealant. I bent a piece of plexiglas that fit over the other end and had a little hole for the wires, and I was going to seal it, but I went through a bumpy vacant lot and my knee knocked on one of the edges, breaking it in half

The cover for the electronics that are in the hard drive enclosure is another bent piece of plexiglas. As you can see, I lit that one on fire when I was bending it. I'm better at bending plexiglas now, however

And I rigged up a parallel harness for my 150w turnigy charger so I can parallel balance and charge both packs simultaneously, and eventually, all 4 or six packs 8)

I had almost kept my build tape-free (electrical tape was used) and then I discovered this cool, thick, really sticky, and transparent tape that I think would do a good job of sealing the electronics enclosure. Oh well, it's not too visible from far away.

There's another day's worth of updates.

 

[fizzit]

Well, it happened pretty quickly: I blew the motor. Great timing too after I just ordered more batteries yesterday

I was in this dirt-filled vacant lot and I turned my bike around at the bottom of a slight hill and almost hammered the throttle to go up it. Genius, right? Anyways, at the very top, I hear this popping sound and the bike stops moving. I look down and see smoke coming out of the end of the motor. So I roll it back to the garage, and realize I should probably unplug the ESC. When you look into the motor, you can see that on one of the phases, the insulation is melted and there's a little bit of black fried wires...

I haven't checked the ESC yet but I'm hopeful because it didn't get hot and didn't let the magic smoke out yet. We shall see. Any tips?

It doesn't seem like anyone reads this thread, I understand why, my build simply does not compare to the other RC stuff out there, but if there is anyone that comes across this: how much of an improvement in shipping time does EMS make? I'm going to buy another motor soon (I'm addicted!) and I will pay the extra $10 for ems if it means arrival a week earlier. Thanks!

 

[fizzit]

One of my turnigy long lipo packs is dead (showing connection break on charger, and all cells 4.0v except for the last two, which read as 0v from the balance wires...)
I assume this means the cell's fusible tabs are broken. That doesn't sound like something that can be fixed, if the tab itself is vaporized. I'm going to find out if I have to send it to China to get it replaced or if they can replace it from the USA warehouse before I take it apart... Anyone have any experience with replacing HK batteries?

On the bright side, it appears that my ESC still works

 

[spinningmagnets]

...It doesn't seem like anyone reads this thread,...

The counter says that your thread has had 1775 views from its beginning until now. Don't take the lack of comments to mean that nobody is interested. I read MANY posts, but I try to keep my comments down unless I think I have something useful to add. Many others are the same. Keep up the good work!