I finally got around to picking up the VESC from Axle that I ordered. Here’s what I experienced:
The VESC works perfectly in pretty much every way. BLDC worked first try, FOC worked first try. (FOC is awesome btw, really reduced the noise of my chain drive)
Thick gauge wire is also flexible
Not super impressed by the quality of the hand-soldered components. I think it might have been just low-quality solder and nothing more. I re-did the hand-soldered connections with my leaded solder with extra flux and then they were nice and shiny!
Random hotglue in some places on the PCB.
Like other users have mentioned, the heat-shrink isn’t too neat. Oh well.
I tried PPM mode at first and got strange results. The VESC read the signal as being 1.8ms than the 1.5ms I was expecting. I double-checked with a oscilloscope and it read 1.5. I had to calibrate my GT2B and my Bluetooth receiver in order to get the correct signal. This could by anything from a bad timing signal to a software glitch.
One thing that bugged be a lot was the fact that the PPM input is in the form of a 3-pin header and not a cable. I had to make my own adapter-cable, and when I plugged it in, the capacitor bank kinked the cable enough to stop the signal. I might just solder a cable directly to the VESC.
Software version came with 2.18. I downloaded the first BLDC tool that Google provided and it worked.
All in all, this VESC works and you get what you pay for. It’s not perfect, and Axle does have room for improvement, but overall I am happy with my purchase. If you guys have any questions just ask!
Sounds good. I cant wait to get mine. So far .my contact with @zmoney was perfect. Guys we all need to remember that AXLE has just started their business and I am sure they will polish all the details in the future…so keep on doing good work guys !
So much neater compared to the first gen VESCs, but why the heck does he use so much heat shrink on the cables? This is absolutely not necessary!? Just reduces the flex and looks plain ugly!
I should be able to report by next week. Hoping the build will be complete by then. Life might happen though (finals week). I did hook everything up and do the motor detection on both of the vescs I ordered from AXLE and it went great. They also look really good.
Thanks! OMG I just realized I forgot to get the package in the mail! I will do it tomorrow! It’s just sitting here all ready to go by my desk. I need to get my crap together.
Just wanted to say I finally got around to plugging in my vesc and start bench testing my new 12s setup. Just ran for an hour and a half and it wasn’t even warm. looking forward to getting this under a deck and shredding around the neighborhood.
