Building first Esk8!

[abctheing]

Hey people! I’m going to build my first electric longboard!

I already have the board itself, i also have the vesc-x and a diy 433 controller. What i need is basically a battery, motor, charger, the rest i have/can build myself.

Here are pictures of my board (not finished)

Anway, i wanted to buy the SK3 6374 192kv, but it’s sold out, so now i’m thinking about the Torqueboards 6374 190KV, is that any good? I was also thinking of making my own 18650 battery. I was thinking of buying 10 of these, so in total 30 cells: https://www.banggood.com/3PCS-Elfeland-3_7v-4200mAh-18650-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery-Blue-p-1152745.html Where can i buy a cheap charger from?

I have a lot of experience with lipos, having built quadcopters and other toys before, and i would like to use 18650 for this project

I will wire the batteries so i get around 50 volts/12s and i have a budget at around 240 dollars for the motor/battery.

I weight around 85kg/185pounds but will probably become a little lighter in the next few months I want to build my board for torque, not speed because there are some really insane hills where i live. What kinda gearing would you recommend? Here are some hills where i live, and by the way, these are not the steepest hills around here:

I would be fine with a top speed of 20kmh/13mph, i am a skating beginner

That’s all i can think of for now, thank you very much!

[Guacamoleface]

The torqueboards 6374 is a good motor for sure - I use it myself.

but… If you wanna build for torque I would probably go for dualdrive, thoose hills(Atleast the first one) look steep but that may just be the pictures.

[t0m_r1dd1e]

Looks pretty good so far! Ambition to build a pack from scratch on your first go. But there’s plenty of resources around here. You really want to stick with name brand 18650’s though. Samsung 25r or LG HE2’s are popular. Off brands won’t be able to output enough current, or won’t last as many charge cycles, or claim to have way higher capacities than they do, or any combination of the above.

Yes, lots of people use motors from DIY, including myself.But there’s no point in gearing it to only do 13mph. I’ve run a single 6355 geared for 30mph and still had PLENTY of torque. You’ll want to go faster when you get comfortable anyway. If you’re really worried about it, you can limit speed with the vesc software until you’re more confident.

[t0m_r1dd1e]

Yeah I second this. If you’re really chasing torque, go dual and you’ll have more power than you could ever use.

[abctheing]

Hey, thanks to both of you. I had a small look at buying 2 of these: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/kd-53-30-high-voltage-brushless-outrunner-190kv.html

But the only way i’ll buy them is if my single vesc-x can handle both of them, and i’m not really sure about that. I have also soldered lipos myself and done a lot of research so i think i know what to do!

[abctheing]

I could also change the gearing later if i would so want to!

[t0m_r1dd1e]

Yeah I’ve never heard of being able to run two motors off one controller. And yeah you can definitely change gearing later.

[Guacamoleface]

You will need one vesc per motor, so no a single vesc wont handleboth.

But if you wanna stick to single drive I highly suggest going for a 15mm setup. On a 12s Im not sure but I think something like 13/36 gearing would be good. Correct me if Im wrong whomever sees this, but thats my guess.

The size of wheels also does alot, I feel like my single on 13/36 has alot of torque, but a huge difference if I go 100mm wheels vs 83mm wheels.

Edit, bigger wheels - higher top speed and less torque.

[t0m_r1dd1e]

You can play with different motor KV, gearing ratios, and wheels sizes here: http://calc.esk8.it/

[abctheing]

Thanks my wheels are 80mm. I used the speed calculator and got this, but it’s my first time using it:

[Guacamoleface]

Also, why 12s if you dont wanna go that fast?

[abctheing]

The esc supports 12s so i thought why not use a big 6374 12s motor. It will be powerful and probably have lots of torque.

Edit: I wanna go as fast as possible but still wanna climb those hills, that’s why i want to gear a little extra to be sure

[Guacamoleface]

Well as for what I recall it Volt(serial) will increase your speed,While the amperage(paralells) that your battery can deliver will give you the torque.

[abctheing]

Well i thought if 12S is the max i can give it then i’ll do that, to get the most out of the motor.

[Guacamoleface]

Im currently using a 10s myself and I dont use its full potential. And I’ve been cruising in around 40kmh.

My best suggestion I can give you is go check other peoples build out, different battery setups(6s,8s etc.) and just look how they perform.

As for now I use Ackmaniacs application for my board which means I can set the parameters for what I want my setup to deliver(Aka different modes, limit speed, power etc). May be worth checking if you wanna go for a high power setup but wanna limit it.

[abctheing]

Thanks! This project has been set on hold for a few months and now i want to finish it. I would like to order the parts tomorrow so i don’t really want to wait and do the most heavy research in the world but i’ll have a look. My vesc-x also has options for everything, so i know i can limit the speed if i want. Anyway, the gearing i found was 4.5:1, where can i buy gears that are as close as possible to that?

Edit: To stay on the safe side, maybe i’ll just solder my batteries to a 10s instead? I hope i won’t lose that much power from it thought.

[Challlsss]

Hi @abctheing VESC uses current control rather than voltage. So you are actually best off designing the build around the top speed, rather than trying to program it. That being said. The easiest way to get a lot of torque would be to go high voltage and then use a really low gear ratio. (lowet Kv motor posible and pulley ratio) plug it into the esk8 calc and see what you get. If I were you I would aim around 20-25 mph for a first build and if you decide you want more speed later you can change the pulleys.

[abctheing]

Hey, thanks a lot! I already put it in my calculator and got this, but the speed is a bit slow for you though:

But you are telling me i should stick to 12S and gear it low, just like i thought about doing from the start?

[gee]

motor pulley : 8 HOPEFULLY the belt doesn’t skip when you ride it.

[Challlsss]

yeah the motor pulley teeth # is really low. I’d reccomend getting higher teeth like 13 min. Then focusing on getting a lower kv motor.