Flipsky FT85DB troubleshooting

[LRICKMA]

Hello, first time here but thought it would be a good place to ask.
I have recently got a solar scooter not sure on specific but I essentially just ripped the 60v battery out and slapped a 72v straight in there (very tight tolerance) .
It worked fine even though the controller was only rated for 60v just had a bit of a weird power curve. But basically that controller eventually gave up after about 3 weeks of daily usage , I assume due to the over voltage. I still wanted to ride the scooter so ordered a controller capable of handling the power of the new battery. Landed on a flipsky FT85BD which looked ideal for the circumstances.

Ordered it and it arrived decently quick which was happy days. Unboxed the whole operation and got her wired in nicely and resdy to power on.

This is where the problems started…

First issue was that I was getting no activity from the controller after connecting the battery and power switch. So I did some research and established that the controller needed an anti spark connection from the battery to slowly charge the capacitors before full power. Fair enough swapped my original xt60 connectors for xt90s and that solved thay issue. Now when u connect the battery and turn on the switch a single green LED turns on but that was it. No flashing no beeps no motor movement nothing. (Would also not connect to Bluetooth even thought it showed up with an extremly weak signal (-95db) nor show any signs of life when I attempted usb connection)
I then triple checked everything and came across a balance wire that had disconnected from the cells in the battery connected to the bms. I assumed this had to be the problem to went about fixing that hoping it was a bms issue causing all this madness.

After repairing the balance cable I still got nothing.

So just to clarify.
Controller has a single solid green LED when powered and has an extremly faint signal showing up on nRF scanner when my phone is literally on top of the controller.

Could anyone please offer any sort of assistance on this matter ?

Thankyou in advance.

 

[mrmojorising]

Do you have the Bluetooth module connected to UART? These controllers don't have built in Bluetooth

When connected to USB, are you using the latest Flipsky ESC software (v1.6)? Are you using windows or mac to connect? There is software for both, but windows sometimes requires USB drivers to be updated

They require tuning out of the box so you won't get any motor response until you've actually set it up via the software/app

It also doesn't need anti spark to work, that's purely just to stop the spark when connecting a high voltage battery

 

[LRICKMA]

Hello, Thankyou for replying.

I’m using a windows pc with a dataline usb c cable going to the usb pin out that came with the controller.
I have not connected a Bluetooth module as I was under the impression it already had it on board. But Thankyou I will order one shortly. However does that still not change the fact there was no activity from the usb ?

What was weird was I got a Bluetooth signal from it on nRF scanner and it showed up in the flipsky mobile app on my IOS device as HTZML (or something similar) however when I tried to connect it just said EBL connection times out. I assume from what you have said that this may boost thay signal and fix it ?

Regarding the anti spark, i initially had xt60 connectors on the battery and controller and with that set up the battery showed voltage before connection but then as soon as was connected it dropped down to around 1.7-0v and then disconnected it returned back to normal. Also when connected to the controller and it turned on using the xt60 I saw no activity from it at all untill I changed over to the xt90s and I got the single green LED.

I shall order the Bluetooth module shortly and attempt the drivers tommrow and get back to you.

Thanks for your help so far.

 

[mrmojorising]

You don't necessarily need the Bluetooth module, but it does help when you want to change settings while the USB port is not accessible I.e. once everything is put together

The mobile app is much more limited vs the desktop program so it's better to use a computer for initial setup. Make sure you have the latest one installed via the cloud drive which you can find on Flipskys website by scanning the QR code on the FT85BD listing or here

For the USB connection, I'd suggest either updating your PCs USB drivers or uninstalling and reinstalling them if it's still not showing up in the program.

The anti spark issue you had sounds like a result of the battery issue you described, because "anti-spark" is literally all they do. They reduce inrush current via a small resistor. If it wasn't working with a different connector, it's likely a different issue altogether

 

[LRICKMA]

I think the issue was the BMS balance wire I found disconnected from the end of the pack. (Now reconnected)
I have ordered the Bluetooth module, will be here on Monday. So will update then if nothing changes.

Regarding the USB input. The pc doesnt recognise that I have input anything, don’t even get a noise that it has registered a new device being plugged in nor does it show it anywhere on device manager. Could this still purely be down to the wrong drivers being used ? Or a more serious issue lile the board not fully booting (stuck in loop or corrupted firmware ) ?

Thankyou

 

[mrmojorising]

Are you seeing it in the Flipsky program though? You haven't mentioned if you have it installed. I'm pretty sure it only shows here. I used a Mac when first tuning, and don't remember seeing it recognized as a device

 

[LRICKMA]

I have attempted to connect to the specific Flipsky tool this evening and in all software versions willing connect. Apart from the the BLE versions as they’re the form of app file which I’m not able to open

 

[LRICKMA]

Are you seeing it in the Flipsky program though? You haven't mentioned if you have it installed. I'm pretty sure it only shows here. I used a Mac when first tuning, and don't remember seeing it recognized as a device

Have tried in legit flips software on all different updates and is not showing up on any.
Is my last hope the Bluetooth module

 

[mrmojorising]

If it's not showing up via USB, it's unlikely Bluetooth will make any difference.

If you've tried all troubleshooting for the USB connection, it's possible there's another issue with the controller. I don't know every step you've taken, so that could be anything, including a dead controller because of an incorrect connection

These controllers are pretty straightforward to setup, so if it's not connecting then it's more than likely a fault somewhere