Enertion Raptor | First Batch Problems & Solutions

Electric Skateboard Companies Enertion
173

I think we all know that this is a learning curve for some of us, and you could only really set it up as you ride. Dont think there is a way for you to test each new board. Plus the fact I dont think theres that many hrs in your day to do that, even with help.

The one thing I gathered with the boosted is it has the 4 settings on the remote which give the rider instant control. I could not just let a stranger use my Raptor in fear of injury.

I understand your baby has a few niggles, but it looks like there is hope. Ive got another board now to do all my beginner testing with the full Raptor 1.0 ready for blasting when were all comfortable with the speed.

We all want it to be a success, and I think thats why we are sharing on here our niggles. I dont think anyone with one of these boards is wanting to aim their frustration on you or the company. It does show with what Xusia is saying that maybe the contoller is not set up the way you think for other users which was what Nasty was also trying to say. IMO

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Based on what I saw and what others have described, my theory is that each remote is just a bit different. The numbers that worked for me, might not work perfectly for someone else. But I didn’t have to ride the board to find those settings. I found them fairly easy on the “bench,” and I think Jason could easily do the same. I don’t think it would take that much time, and I think it would be time well spent.

While generic settings “work” they don’t present the product in it’s best light. Also of concern (I would think) is that this is a higher level of performance than virtually all other boards, and therefore the difference between “works” and “works well” can be significant.

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175

fantastic work on the video @Xusia!!

especially mentioning that you need a data USB cable as opposed to just a power one; I feel like a lot of people miss that when trying to set up their VESC’s.

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Wanted to give some extra protection to the battery LCD, so have cut up some clear dvd blank which a is about 1.5-2mm and taped it to back of lid. Much better.

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so i’m off to the mall now to get one of those USB angles and see if something shows in the setup that’s out of the ordinary. i lost overview of the posts so could someone tell me if I only have to plug in the USB to one VESC or repeat the process for both? thanks!

i don’t want to start this topic again but my problem seems of a different nature. it’s impossible to keep my board at a steady speed other then full speed. after 1mm of stick movement it wants to accelerate to 100% speed. keeping the thumb steady in such a tiny margin on a moving platform is not doable. the riding tips video of onloop cruising at the beach at lower speeds, or in the promo where the guys cruising at the mall? simply not possible with my board due to this.

but i’m confident i can adjust this behavior with the guides posted so far. will post the results!

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@xusia 's video and comments make it clear we should have a lot of flexibility for getting the control behavior modified to our likeing.

You’ll only need program the master VESC on your Raptor dual.

I’ve linked all the “numbers” posts from this thread and Raptor Specific VESC information here :

It’s my hope that people will share their Raptor specific VESC programing information there. I hope to keep it about the numbers, and results, so that is the go to sorce for this type of information and troubleshooting.

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179

May I also suggest car door edge trim from Autozone for the LCD? I use them for my Space Cell enclosures and its surprisingly helpful in protecting it from the elements. I’ve ridden through very harsh Michigan weather recently and it holds up.

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Please reconstruct this video in you living room.

That’s impossible with the raptor and the remote settings! The torque isn’t the problem. It’s the unpredictable communication between controller and VESC.

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181

I own an evolve skateboard and I’ve been very impressed with the durability and the way the skateboard behave , everything is under control and predictable !! but the only thing is missing is a little bit of speed !! 35km/h is nice but 45km/h it would be super !! . That’s why I was looking forward to buy the raptor . But after reading what happen with the first batch I thought it would be huge mistake !!! Now don’t get me wrong I know enertion is high-quality . what’s worrying me , is I know the raptor is not ready yet for a friendly user mode , like my evolve skate that you don’t need to worry about configuration and what not ! You just hop on the board and you’re good to go !

So here’s my dilemma . what enertion Will do for the second ,3th, 4th,5th … and the future batch Of raptors ??? Because trust me this product has huge potential !! But if enertion cannot spare me this whole programming thing and the few issues that we saw this passed day!! Ex battery not working , Remote control lossing signal , falling motors !! Lol ( sorry but that was a good one ) . All this potential will be lost and it will be sad, because now evolve is not doing anything that run 45 km an hour .

So what will you do for the future of the raptor !! Because I could be one of your future customers and many more !! :wink:

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182

The main thing I’d take into account is that this is Enertion’s first production electric skateboard-

Look at teslas first car, the roadster: It was plagued with some early production issues, but after revamping and creating the model S, they are now a super successful company.

Or look at marbel, another eboard that was funded insanely fast in kickstarter… they had parts falling off inside the deck, motors coming apart (because of a screw issue) and motors burning out. That said, after the first month of issues, they made sure everyone had solid customer support and eliminated the issues on all the boards since.

Long story short, just because there are problems with bringing something new and large scale to the market right now, doesn’t mean those problems with remain during batch 2 and so on.

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We know the CF lid affects remote range, and that all new lids will be fiberglass, eliminating that issue.

I also know (from more testing done today) that the remote settings make a HUGE difference. We don’t yet know how Jason will handle this, but we do know that good settings can be found (I’ll post my results separately). I can’t say enough how big of a difference this has made for me, and I believe every Raptor owner can benefit from adjusting these settings. So this is yet another problem more-or-less solved. (you don’t want to have to do it yourself - I get that!)

I would also add that this is not Honda Civic, or even a Porsche. It’s more like a Dodge Viper. Tons of power and no electronic nanny’s to help you manage it. And the more power you have just in general, the more control issues you will have. I don’t know if you’ve driven cars with VERY high horsepower (like 700+) but daily drivers they are not - I don’t care what the manufacturer may claim. Such cars are beasts, as is the Raptor, and they are not for everyone. What I’m saying is you can’t have a super high performance board, and expect it to behave sedately. It’s just not going to happen.

Last thought: Have you considered the Raptor Mono? Based on my testing today, I’m very seriously considering a custom build based on the Enertion mono motor/setup. The only real difference I can see is the massive torque off the line. But if you don’t need that, meaning, you don’t need to blast off the line, the dual is kind of a waste in my opinion. The top speed of the Mono is the same (27mph), and it still goes up steep hills better than a Boosted Dual+, so not sure what more would really be needed. The positive of Mono, I believe (not having tested it personally), is that it should have more predictable acceleration and control than the dual. Would it meet your needs? I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s very likely.

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184

I agree with all of you !!! but think about something imagine your kid look at your board and he said I want to go for a ride !! what you going to say! hold on I got a hook up the raptor to my computer first so I can change the settings and five hours later you can say to your kid OK go ahead but be careful with the break they are very sensitive !! because is like driving a viper and you can get killed !!so be careful I’m not sure if is going to break Lol !!!

When you all saw the preview of the raptor like a week or so! I’m sure in the back of your head you thought the guy who made the raptor have a lot of experience he been working for like more than a year on this project,he tested the raptor in all possible ways ??? But what happen!!! You guy almost kill yourself and you did pay him good money !!! Right!! And don’t get me wrong if I’m a businessman i’ll test my product first to make sure if safe and if it is I’ll sell it !!

So my next question is did he really test the final product that he sold you or he was too busy making money and he said this fool will test it for me ???

This is nothing personal , is because I feel bad for you guys for what happened because that guy could it be me !!!

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This is the first batch. Issues are to be expected (at least in my opinion), but so far I have not encountered anything that I think is gross negligence. Jason has been very open and honest and all the details are in this thread. There are some scenarios he didn’t account for, but for every issue he has offered solutions. Some involve me doing the work, which may not be for everyone, but what’s the alternative? Send it back so he can update it? That would take a while and cost money, so in this case I’d much rather do it myself (I also enjoy learning and playing around, even when it’s occasionally frustrating).

To answer your question about kids, my 8-year old son asked me if he could try it and I said “Hell no!” I did let him try a friend’s self-balancing scooter (aka hoverboard), and he did fine with it, so it’s not like I’m a worry wart or over protective. It’s just that like my motorcycle, this particular board is not a toy and it’s not suitable for all ages. If you want an electric skateboard a kid can ride, I’ve seen some kid-friendly models for ~$160 on Amazon. They go like 6mph.

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I have several boards that my kids as well as my friends don’t get to ride. I built a board specific for my 6 year old son that won’t go faster than 15mph. That’s called responsibility. Fact is, our boards aren’t 12v ride on toys.

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NOT impossible! Proof!!!

The next couple days are SUPPOSED to be rain free, so hopefully I can get some video in a more appropriate environment (that would be OUT-SIDE) to really show it off. As I state in the video, I am literally BLOWN AWAY at how much of a difference optimizing the settings have made. The board is totally controllable and a pleasure to ride.

I don’t feel like making a complete tutorial on how I derived my settings (the method in the video Jason posted didn’t get me totally dialed in), but:

  1. One thing I will say is that I found I needed the forward motion range on the remote stick to be .55 or greater or it was too sensitive. For example, the “neutral” value on my remote was reading 1.55. Adding .55 to this results in 2.1, which is the value I used for the Max Pulsewidth. Any lesser value and it was too sensitive.
  2. I’m happy to answer questions.
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188

Great Video man… I really appreciate that.

I really hope everyone has a chance to watch this and make the changes. Some of you might not need to though. It Seems some remotes are way out of range & some are ok…

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Hi Ermac

I fully understand this dilemma & I suppose it’s the same question everyone ask themselves before they buy anything. Can I trust this Brand/Company/Person etc… when it boils down buying/selling is all about trust.

Let me tell you a story about myself & enertion.

I am not the kinda guy who sits on his hands and does nothing… I promise you, I am not sitting at my desk counting my fortune either. In fact, in most cases there is no money in the bank. Because every single dollar that is generated from selling products has all gone back into R&D, building better products, buying larger quantities to get better deals & building a better business. It might surprise you but I don’t actually draw a wage from this business and I probably won’t anytime soon! There is too much more to achieve and money doesn’t make me happy anyway… Innovating, designing and building cool shit is what makes me happy,.

enertion is only about 20months old. The first year was really only focused on making motor mounts & learning as much as I could about the technology & the engineering… I also spent a lot of time blowing up other people electronics… learning from mistakes, mine & others, is what I excel at.

Here is the first ever board I built. It’s a piece of shit, But I learned a lot from it

This was the next evolution, it looked nice, but wasn’t good enough.

Now we are here, it looks great & performance is market leading, but some minor teething problems

So use your imagination, look at what I have achieved in 20 months… ask yourself what will be next?.

This progression has all happened because of my relentless hunger to build the best electric skateboard ever made, I am also extremely passionate about growing the “self-built eboard industry”… I now have a product that ‘on paper’ beats all/most of the competition. Yeah, First batch was not 100% perfect yet, some very minor problems & some very silly mistakes on my behalf have made the last week one of the toughest I’ve had in the last 20 months, it was gut wrenching… Do I know where I went wrong? YES!!

So do people really think I’m just going to hang up the gloves and let these teething problems be the end of my dream? No way! I am far from done in my pursuit to make the best eboard! If anything has come from this less than desirable Raptor launch, it is that good is not good enough… I need to do better… & I will. You are only as good as your harshest critic.

I also need to keep reminding myself that if this was easy everyone would have done it… Also, I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars from crowd-funding campaigns…

This image I posted on my Instagram account last year is a perfect example of what drives me… doing great things, being the underdog… I am certainly not finished. https://www.instagram.com/p/6zD_YNgWxJ/?taken-by=enertionboards

A summary of improvements to be made in the 2nd batch

  1. No pure CF lids as it block the signal. (all first batch customers will get a new lid at end of the month)
  2. Customize each VESC PPM settings, don’t copy them generically across each Raptor.
  3. Utilise the VESC Soft Voltage Limit so that the boards doesn’t shut down rapidly due to voltage sag when bat is low.
  4. Maybe reduce the motor current slightly so it is less wild on startup.
  5. Maybe reduce the brake strength so it is softer.
  6. Double Check that all the bolts are properly installed & the thread locker is set & secure.

These are all really easy things to implement, there is no extra cost or labour required.

Some near future improvements.

  1. Phone app for changing VESC settings without cable. Will have presets: beginner/advanced.
  2. IP68 rated electronics enclosure. Raptor will be entirely water proof.
  3. Battery option with 33% greater capacity.

anyway… i hope this solves your dilemma.

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Xusia !! you are a good man ! And I see that you’re very positive person and honestly I admire that ! and I’m happy that your issue with the board is almost solved!!! :slight_smile: but what about everybody else?

I know enertion will do something!!
but specifically what??? I think everybody Deserve to know what’s going to happen with the new batch of raptor??? So this is a special question for Mr. Enertion? Because hell yeah I want to ride a raptor ! but before buying one I want to make sure they wont be no surprise! Lol Is like when you bought your PS4 you were expecting to play call duty All the weekend not thinking if there is a piece of Harward missing inside the console !! I thing you all get the point :slight_smile:

so If i spend 1500$ on the raptor what i should expect from the next batch???

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maybe you missed this, or i am misunderstanding your question

this is what happens before any more raptors gets sent.

A summary of improvements to be made in the 2nd batch

  1. No pure CF lids as it block the signal. (all first batch customers will get a new lid at end of the month)
  2. Customize each VESC PPM settings, don’t copy them generically across each Raptor.
  3. Utilise the VESC Soft Voltage Limit so that the boards doesn’t shut down rapidly due to voltage sag when bat is low.
  4. Maybe reduce the motor current slightly so it is less wild on startup.
  5. Maybe reduce the brake strength so it is softer.
  6. Double Check that all the bolts are properly installed & the thread locker is set & secure.
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I want to thank you for all the answers and I think is very impressive all that you achieve ! Honestly I wasn’t expecting that , but hey !! I will be probably your next customer who knows !! Now listen if you can make the raptor enjoyable like my evolve but with twice the speed !! Bro I promise, I will order 10 of them right now !! Thanks again for your time !! :wink: