Hey there, new to the esk8 world and I have some uncertainties on how exactly I should set up my current/amperage parameters for my specific build. Building a mountain board on a slimmer budget so the last thing I want to do is burn something up when I could have easily prevented it. Build components:
-FS vesc 4.12 50a cont. 240a peak
-7s4p li-ion 8ah (2 hoverboard battery packs in parallel, not ideal but dirt cheap with a built in bms and will be upgrading later)
-180kv 6354 1920w 80a max sensrd unbranded Chinese (figured I could get away with running way under the max amps to greatly reduce risk of burning up my cheap motor)
-16t pinion pulley
-72t drive pulley
200mm (7.9 inch) off road pneumatics
I know its not the greatest set up and definitely not a performance set up but its all that budget will allow for the time being. I do have a second identical vesc and motor in the mail on its way so will be doing a dual drive set up mainly for off road traction purposes. But the main thing I want to know is how many amps can the vesc safely handle? Im just unsure because the advertised 240a peak really throws me off. Im more familiar with the RC world that has advertises esc’s with burst current ratings for a set amount of second of burst at that current that the escs can handle but they are never 5 times the max continuous like with the 4.12. I dont want to limit my vesc to 50a if it can handle way more than that. Aslo, is that 50a rating referring to the battery in current or the motor out current?
Ive done some flat ground testing with what I think is a conservative set up but I want to know very clearly what the line is so that I never cross it. Here is the setting for my initial tests with only 1 motor and vesc:
Motor max 50a
brake max 30a
absolute max 130a
battery max 35a
regen max 15a
I just left temp settings at default, I think 80c start 100c off for mosfet
*recommended settings for all would be greatly appreciated.
I was surprise at the performance considering my settings so I believe with another motor and vesc and also with turning up the power to what it can really handle, I wont need much more performance for a long time to come other than a different battery. I got up to 18 mph, which I dont think I’ll want much more speed with an off road board anyways, brakes were slow but I know I can turn up a bit, just didnt want to go flying for the first ride. And nothing got even remotely hot.
Last question for this thread, Has anybody played with installing heat sinks to their mosfets and could that greatly improve performance and lower the risk of burning something up? If you have heat sinks can you over amp your vesc a bit more as long as the temperature settings are correctly set and catch it before anything gets hot? Just thought it was crazy that nearly every RC esc comes with a heat sink and fan but these 4.12 vescs dont initially need them and they are moving much heavier objects.
Thanks in advanced. I hope this is not too much information on one post at one time.