Snuffles died today. But only for a little while, as I just need to jiggle something to the right position and glue it there.

 

I was crossing a street while on the way to, of all places, the bike shop to get a big U-lock so I can actually start using the thing as a campus and town vehicle. While cruising across the street, the ESC suddenly reset.

 

Now, brushless controllers play a setup tone through the motor, using it as a speaker. This means the motor suddenly applies power in random directions, maybe more than one direction at once. Either way, the rear wheel locks up and I almost fly off. After a few power resets and poking, the ESC wouldn’t even play the setup tone, meaning there was no control signal at all, but the main power relay still latched, so it is getting battery power.

 

Fortunately, Snuffles is small enough to kick scoot and limp back to home base. I’ll find out the problem later.

Over the past 24 hours or so, I have learned a few things.

One, giant outrunners are insanely powerful.

Two, this one is far too powerful for a small frame like the ElectricX2.

Three, I need a running start before jumping on or else the motor will torque so hard as to wheelie backwards and throw me off. That or I need to lean across the handlebars, Motocross style, so the most leverage possible is exerted againt the motor. This, however, looks really retarded.

Snuffles, so far, is completely uncontrollable and is a monster. This is a good thing, as it was the original design goal, but I have yet to tame this monster. I have a few days to practice, though!