Curved vs flat enclosure and new fiberglass enclosure build

I am making a mold for a fiberglass enclosure that will adapt to the curve of the board, but j was wondering if it is better to make it curved top or flat top…

Flat

Flat Curved Curved

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Doesnt really matter as long as all your electronics fit inside, make sure you account for the curve in the deck when thinking about the size your enclosure needs to be. As far as being flat or curved its just personal preferance

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my batteries fit and everything else will too, but I want to upgrade to lithium ion cells in the future and put foc boxes or vescs inside. Is a curved enclosure going to make it harder to put 18650 cells inside?

A flat structure will be easier to do make and easier to mount stuff to, although I’ve found that mounting to the deck is lot safer. Assuming you mount your components to the deck it’s really just whatever floats your goat, but flat looks better, I think.

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Like @mmaner, I mount my batteries and electronics to the deck and my enclosure is just a cover.

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Same here enclosures just covers. Plus when everything is mounted it vibrates less I feel and is safer

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To dampen the vibration more couldn’t you put some weather stripping on it where it is mounted to the board.

Thx for the responses. I think I will go with the flat enclosure and fill in the cracks with playdough. I modeled the curved and it would take a lot of effort to make the end enclosure to be taken off because it makes a bevel outward.

Just made the mold flat and covered it in masking tape. Used playdough to fill in the cracks and used a heat gun to dry the dough.

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Just covered the board in masking tape and blue tape. Planning to do the fiberglass on the weekend. Going to use the playdough to fill in the gap between the board and the mold.

Make a flat enclosure, create watertight ‘lid’ for said flat enclosure. Now your enclosure is water tight. Proceed to bolt enclosure onto the deck. Use washers to accommodate for the curved surface.

If done properly, the enclosure shouldn’t even be touching the deck… only the washers.

Word of caution, make sure to add some lateral play to the bolt holes on the enclosure, otherwise the sheering force from the deck flex will crack the enclosure.

I’ll remember to put a seal on it and to make the screw holes larger. Thx

Would love to see some pictures of the fibreglassing process and how it turns out!

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Wood block has to come out still and cut the enclosure to the right size (Currently a rough cut)

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Looking awesome! Finished product is going to look great :slight_smile:

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