Hi everyone I live in France and I have been wanting to build an electric long board fr quite some time now but find parts for making a chain drive has been difficult. Any links or suggestions os where I can find parts for a steel chain drive or a fully built chain drive?
That might be a little difficult if you’re doing a longboard, but if you’re going for a mountain board then @Nowind can help you with a kit.
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I wanted to use a chain for my street longboard for added torque and durability
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I’m 210 pounds and my longboard is another 15 pounds. I have used both dual and single drive using 12mm belt drive. I’m totally impressed. Could be happier with the durability of all the parts. Never had a belt skip either under torque or heavy braking. 12mm wide pulleys and belts were all bought from DIY in the US. I believe belt drive is much quieter too.
*edit I know you said chain drive. I was hoping to show that belt drive is really good.
I haven’t seen anyone use chain on longboard build. Dual 15mm belts should work.
I use chain drive on all my boards. But sadly I’m not in the EU.
Where did you get them?
I agree, some people does use them though it is a more custom made solution and not so mainstream
I used on my Street Carver a chaindrive on 87mm Wheels … it was just a test because i had left alot spares of chains and sprockets. It worked but after i changed to Belt i have to say its just nicer. If you wanna go with the chain i can check whats left from this build, maybe you can use something… I´m located in europe.
Hey ! Where are you located in France ?
No in Germany
I live right next to Paris. I thought chain would be more durable and also I haven t found a cheap pulley and belt drive system(<25euros like the chain). Any ideas? Or any chain kits to offer? Anybody know if crusing on a chain driven electric skateboard is possible(for example if the battery dies)?
I got the chain from McMaster-Carr, the sprockets I CNC’d, but you can get them here. Caveat I haven’t actually bought anything from them, it just seems like the prices are far more reasonable.
Yup! I’ve made 3 now. It’s far more durable and it doesn’t have the tight tolerances of a belt drive, but it’s a bit louder.
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First of all I want to say thank you to @VladPomogaev! It’s awesome that you responded to my thread ! I watched your videos and you truly inspired me to build an electric skateboard (especially a chain driven one). I m still wondering though: is the noise difference significant or is it just noticeable but not major at all and can you still cruise on it as good as a belt driven electric skateboard? Thank you so much.
Also here is the link to my parts list do you have any suggestions?
Hey no problem! The noise from the chain alone is not a problem. When you cruise it is barely noticeable. The only noise problem I got was when I used a BLDC braking method on one of my ESC’s. The switching frequency was very low and it produced a really awful sound, which was then amplified by the chain.
I’m getting the VESC soon, and I recon that running it in FOC mode will produce very minimal noise, to the point that it is totally worth it getting the chain over a belt. My one piece of advice is to set the tension on the belt to be a bit loose. It will not wear down your bearings that way.
Your parts list looks good, it’s missing a few critical parts so far obviously. Also, your links for the two sprockets seem to be the same. Also, how are you going to modify your sprockets? I think I had like a 3/4" bore on my large sprocket, which was why I went with buying a sprocket with a 3/4" bore already, and then I just cut off the hub.
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Yeah I just fixed the link issue. I found the larger sprocket on Amazon.fr, the only place I could actually found a srprocket with the right pitch, number of teeth and that didn t have a hub. Personally I thought it would be easier just to enlarge the hole than to grind or cut the whole hub off. Anyway thanks for the advice it really helps( because very few decide to go with a chain )
Hey guys I was just wondering, whats the lowest number of teeth a gear can have before you experience bad performance? I was thinking about going down to 10T is that too low? thanks
I’m using 11T on the motor shaft sprocket and then I’m making two sprockets to try out for the wheel sprocket. One will be 32T and the other will be 28T. If I can go down to the 28T and still get the amount of torque I want then I’ll do that one and keep the 32 around if I ever want to switch it out for a bit more torque. I figure 11T-28T being a 2.6 ratio may be enough, but 11T-32T should be super torquey!