Flipsky ft85bd usb connection problem

[Wheelsandall]

Working on replacing the esc on a solar pro1 scooter with an Amazon flipsky ft85bd dual motor controller and for the life of me I can’t get it to connect to the laptop to even begin to get it running. First of all it took me hours just to figure out what software I needed but now I just can connect to the controller. I’ve tried different cords. I’ve measured the cords to make sure they have continuity. I’ve tried connecting to the slave esc and get the same error message everytime. The only thing I can adjust is the baud rate which does nothing. I’m using version 1.6. I’ve used spintend and FarDriver controllers before with no issues but this is the first (and last) time ive used a flipsky.

I’ve see people with this issue and some people were updating the usb driver on their computers but mines just telling me it’s up to date. I’m using windows 10. Anyone have any ideas before I order a replacement?

 

[mrmojorising]

Can you post some pics of your USB connections or clarify this further? I have the same controller and didn't have issues connecting to my Macbook via USB-C, so just wanting to compare. If you're using some other generic USB A to USB C cables, there's a chance it's just missing the correct data connections

Is the controller already installed and connected to your battery?

And just to confirm, you mentioned 1.6. Is this the version of the Windows program you downloaded directly from Flipsky's cloud link? I couldn't tell from your screenshot

Despite drivers being up to date, I'd also recommend uninstalling and reinstalling USB drivers to be sure. This often fixes problems with weird USB read issues

Overall, the controller has been great, and Flipsky support has been good, albeit a bit slow, responding to any questions I had, so I wouldn't discount it before you actually get to use it. Their main issue is confusing and disjointed documentation

 

[mrmojorising]

I also just checked my cables for reference, the JST connector should be pinned as seen in the photo below, with black linking to GND, red to D+, white to D-, and the USB power should be empty

 

[Wheelsandall]

I am running the 1.6v of the flipsky esc tool. I finally got the tool to download onto my mac so I’m going to try that tomorrow I also ordered a usbc data cable just in case. I did check continuity between the 3 connections and the data lines on the usb cable and they are good.

 

[Wheelsandall]

Don’t mind the rats nest of wires but here the connection

 

[Wheelsandall]

Ok I finally got it after 2 days. I used my MacBook and version 1.6 and tried different usb cords. I messed with the port and baud rate settings and it finally saw it and connected. I wish I knew exactly what did it but I’m just happy I’m finally in and the motors are turning

 

[mrmojorising]

Nice! It's weird that it has been so temperamental

Let me know if you run into any tuning issues, there were a few quirks I had to figure out due to lack of clear documentation

A couple off the top of my head: the controller only supports one ADC port for control when using dual motors, the roll-start feature can't be disabled in firmware but it can be disabled by removing a single resistor on the board, and the 12V brake light port is linked to the brake sensor input and will output low/high without needing any special wiring

 

[Wheelsandall]

I’m glad you asked because the brake setting is what I’m having a problem with. It’s is seeing the brake coming on but it doesn’t kill the motor or turn on the brake light. I have the brake light hooked up to a 12v relay because the brake light takes full battery voltage but I can’t seem to get anything to happen when applying the brakes.

 

[mrmojorising]

Ok, there are a few different settings you'll need for this to work:
1. Make sure you've calibrated the brake sensor input under the Control Setup tab where it shows "realtime brake ADC" and that you have clicked "write setup" after the min & max have been set.
2. Set control mode to "Current Brake"
3. Since you're using a relay, set the "Brake Light Level" to 0%. This is because the brake output will always output a lower power when set to anything above 0%, which may trigger your relay when no brake is applied. If set to 0% it should only ouput when the brake is applied
4. Set "Emergency Switch" to "Brake ADC Low" or "High" depending on how your brake sensor output works

Hope some of that helps

 

[Wheelsandall]

Ok that would explain why the brake light is on all the time I set it to 100% just because I thought that would give me something. I did set it to current brake and it wouldn’t even move the wheels but now that I’m typing this maybe that’s because I had it set to 100%.

 

[Wheelsandall]

Got back to it today and set everting up like you told me and the the brake light finally started working but it everytime you push the throttle it would spin then shut right down and the brake light would come on. I finally figured out that I had to bump up the minimum brake switch voltage on top of the brake light voltage. Any tiny change in the voltage at the brake ADC connection beyond the minimum would turn the brakes on. I set the minimum to 2v instead of .2v that way a small voltage change won’t be noticed. Both motors are turning brakes are working. Just waiting on the new throttle assembly and I’ll be able to test ride it. Thanks again!

 

[mrmojorising]

Nice!

Yeah I think I also adjusted the min value slightly for this reason, definitely seems to be a small amount of voltage fluctuating in the ADC ports. Also why I enabled safe start, which prevents throttle running away if the voltage is abnormal

 

[Wheelsandall]

Ok cool I was wondering what that was I thought maybe you had to hit the brake before you take off or something. I’ll turn that on too.

 

[mrmojorising]

The "brake unlock and start" setting does that, which I also have enabled. Another good extra safety setting if there's a chance someone else might whiskey throttle it

 

[ljbred08]

The "brake unlock and start" setting does that, which I also have enabled. Another good extra safety setting if there's a chance someone else might whiskey throttle it

That actually sounds like a great feature--I have had my share of mishaps caused by standing with a scooter holding it by the throttle grip and accidentally throttling it. Can you explain what exactly this feature does? I wonder how many undocumented extras the Flipsky controllers have compared to the VESC. I searched for a while to find a safety feature such as kick start to prevent the said behavior on VESC and couldn't find anything; I concluded that I would end up having to play around with LISP scripts to get something.

 

[mrmojorising]

That actually sounds like a great feature--I have had my share of mishaps caused by standing with a scooter holding it by the throttle grip and accidentally throttling it. Can you explain what exactly this feature does?

It does pretty much what it says. After turning on the controller, it needs to receive a brake signal before the throttle is enabled. I have a standard hall sensor brake hooked up, so I turn on > press brake lever > scooter is ready to go

Also, annoyingly by default, the non-vesc units all have roll start, which is activated when enough back emf is produced by the motors (usually by spinning them backwards). This is a feature designed primarily for esk8, but makes security on a scooter worse. I contacted flipsky and they showed me there's a resistor you can remove as it's not a firmware based feature (which I haven't done yet because it's already wired up), otherwise you can request to have them remove it before ordering.

The manual for the v1.6 esc tool is actually not bad, just some of the wording can be confusing at times. Pretty much all features are listed there. You can find it via the QR code link on their non-vesc products on their website

 

[Wheelsandall]

Have you wired up a display for these yet? I’ve see there’s a tft display for them but it’s specific for flipsky. The one that was on there was a throttle/display combo and is proprietary to solar and their fingerprint lock. I’m assuming the display uses the uart connection but I already have Bluetooth there.

 

[mrmojorising]

Not yet, I haven't really needed one on my scooter. I have a voltage readout for the battery which is the main thing I care about.

Maybe when I have time I'll figure out how to build a simple one. The UART protocols are available from Flipsky so building a super simple app/display unit should be possible similar to VESC controllers. I also have Bluetooth so maybe even a wireless one

 

[Wheelsandall]

I got it moving with a makeshift throttle but it is very slow off the line can you think of anything I might have missed n the programming? What I will say it that the battery is not fully charged or balanced so its currently balancing itself before it will take a charge but its still at 79v in a 20s battery so I figure that should be enough to get it going

 

[mrmojorising]

What do your throttle, power, and battery settings look like?

I have throttle response level set to level 4, and am running 20a per motor, also with 20S battery, power settings left at max since I'm not using a power/gear switch. Throttle is very smooth and I get relatively quick takeoff, although my two motors are both geared so they have much more torque than direct drive hubs.

I'm using a pretty standard 3pin hall throttle. I'm guessing you've already calibrated the min and max throttle voltages too?

 

[Wheelsandall]

Ya everything is calibrated. Im not sure but I don’t think my motors are geared. I haven’t done a full speed run because it needs brake pads and I’m waiting for the battery to balance. Maybe it’s just the way it since I never rode it with the original module.

 

[Wheelsandall]

Welp. It kept sending the BMS into short protection mode and now it just won’t even turn on so I’ve got another one on the way.