"Spudnik" | 29" Jet Spud / Single Motor / VESC / 8s LifePo4 Build

Thanks for mentioning, I’ll insulate that connector immediately. For those using the connector with ppm it might be no issue though, but for everybody else it will cause a shortcircuit even with heatshrink.

Dammit! That’s sucks man…

@siggs3000 No! Oh what terrible luck! Sorry to hear it man! Ye olde version of VESC that I use doesn’t have those prongs, I had to solder PPM/servo extension directly to the port on the pcb. Now I feel lucky because I never would have thought of that potential for a short! So does it seem like you’ll need a new VESC?

Bad luck for sure but in a way, I’m glad it happened early so I know what avoid in the future.

I think that probably fried it pretty well indeed. It was 8S and that’s a lot of voltage to put into that servo port! It was a pretty epic sight when it went off. Three massive sparks came off the board and actually landed on the floor, staying hot and bright for a split second or two!

Sorry bro. Do you think you can fix it? Or do you need to get a new one?

I’m going to order a new one this morning. I think it’s toast.

Everyone with this model should insulate those prongs or even trim them down.

There’s also the option of casting it in potting epoxy. If the whole thing’s encapsulated in plastic (except the bus ports) it would be very difficult to short anything out, and probably make the VESC hella easier to work with since it would then be a plastic brick instead of a series of shorts waiting to happen.

it would, however, make repairs to the components impossible, so i suppose that’s a downside if you’re used to fixing things and not replacing them.

@chaka I just placed an order for a new one from you. I’m going to mount it permanently before wiring it up this time…

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That’s a pretty good idea. Someone should also make a minimalist housing for it that utilizes it’s mounting holes on raised threaded posts like the ones for arduino boards. The only thing we would have to add is a way to lash the caps in place to keep them separated from that servo port. It would be a cool 3D printing project for those that know how to design them.

Hey @siggs3000 I got your email about this i just didn’t get a chance to reply yet.

It sux man… I have personally destroyed 3 vesc so far from shorting accidentally.

I don’t think it’s a design flaw per se, the problem is the product is just not a finished product. It’s a bare pcb! which is just asking for trouble…

Its worth nothing that a short can pretty much occur anywhere on the vesc when it’s powered. I destroyed two vesc because the usb port touched a pcb mounted cap on the other vesc it was connected to. Boom.

@jacobbloy and i have been working on a design for a lid and base made from pcb that will screw onto the vesc to help prevent this from happening… it all adds to the cost though. Might have something by end of month.

The other option is some shrink tube. Or i saw one guy use liquid tape.

You can send the vesc back and I’ll try to get it repaired for you. Submit an RA through the user account page at enertion.

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Thanks @onloop - I wasn’t asking for a warranty or anything. I definitely blew it up.

I just wanted to provide some feedback about having the contacts of the caps in such close proximity to those servo pins that are pointed right at it! With the cap board able to move freely, it’s just something to keep in mind for future iterations.

I ordered a new one already so I can move forward without much delay. I appreciate the offer to RA it though.

Maybe Jan order we will add 3 16mm X 25mm caps to the pcb, already designed the board, still have wires going from the power pads to the cap part but it won’t move and will be small enough to still fit in a case, you have them at 90deg or standing up!

I think that would be sweet!

I hope you don’t mind it in white.

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Oh sweet! Looks a little more designer-edition in white

first thing that came to mind was storm trooper VESC, lol.

Hopefully one of those is mine too

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As I await my new vesc, I found myself with a little free time tonight so I decided to mount the enclosure. The spud has a lot of concave and on top of that, my LifePo batteries are pretty thick. (8400 mah each) that combination means that things are going to be tricky. I had this carbon-look enclosure measured for my original batteries but I decided to try to make this work.

I got some extra long screws and some super thick, cushy, rubbery weatherstripping. The batteries fit into the enclosure perfectly side-by-side without a mm to spare. And though I planned to have a second smaller enclosure for the vesc and power switch, I think there might just be enough space to squeeze it into the one bigger enclosure with the batteries.

It came out looking a lot cleaner than I thought it might.

Tight fit but there might just be enough space for the VESC in here too…

On first mounting, we may have some fit and finish issues… Thick batteries and a lot of concave…

Weatherstripping to the rescue! Luckily it doesn’t rain in San Diego so I’m not worried about weatherproofing for real but we do need to look good…

Can’t see the cool lips design anymore but it’s a good tradeoff.

Just an ESC away from a first ride now

nice job on taking something that most people would just discard for not fitting, and making it work!

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Looks great. I just bought one of those decks too :smile:

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Wow. That board really does have a lot on concave. It is like a hole you can’t get out of lol