DIY Enertion Raptor | Ollin VESC | Longhairedboy tune/polish

I just wanted to share my recent build experience and first ride. First, the build:

  1. Buy near complete enertion raptor components from a poor soul who gave up and sold for near half price on eBay.
  2. Invest hours on forums, learn how to solder, minor in EE, and start making.
  3. Burn up your VESC.
  4. Cry a little bit.
  5. Shelf project for 6 months.
  6. Get bored with current projects, buy Ollin vesc’s, send to @longhairedboy to finish.
  7. Run up to the mail man like he is Santa when your board returns.
  8. Go out and tear shit up.

Now my initial thoughts: there is a lot of fanboy loyalty to various brands on the market, be it DIY brands or complete out of box brands. I have a boosted and an all terrain evolve board I use. I like them, but they are different boards, like a like a jeep and a Porsche. They do different things. It’s stupid to compare the two.

The enertion raptor is the bees knees, that’s for sure. To follow the car analogy, it’s like a corvette that your uncle frank modded and took out the governor. It’s loud and obnoxious and does what it is supposed to do. It goes fast, questionable plastic steering wheel/remote and all.

I haven’t topped it out because I feel like it might bite back if I’m an idiot. I’ll add more thoughts after a few more rides.

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What happened to the battery box? Looks like it was repaired with a bunch of epoxy

It could just be the glare.

Yep, looks like the glare to me as well.

Awesome, longhairedboy is the messiah of Esk8. And you now have the best VESCs!

I have one coming in as well. Would love to here more about how it compares to boosted in terms of braking and ride quality. We all already know it’s faster.

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Personally, I think that Raptor looks as good as any “out of the box” E-board. And I bet anyone who didn’t know, would never guess that it was built in someones garage.

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Nice…

this story makes me really happy… one of my original dreams for enertion is simply sell parts/kits to allow people to build their own completes at home (or get LHB boy 2 do it)

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Naw, just funny lighting

Love your take on it all.

Raptors are way less complex than my own boards and i’m a huge fan of the modular design. I guess that’s why i like working on them, they sort of inspire me to continue persuing elegance. That and its easy money. lol

WEAR A HELMET.

BTW that’s not stock raptor tuning in that vesc, i set it the way i set my own boards so it might be a little silkier. However, the stock raptor tuning has changed a little since the first batch which was kind of terrifying to ride (endless acceleration and lack of slow cruising ability anyone?), the last couple i’ve had come through my shop didn’t seem to be set up so aggressively, so apparently some adjustments have been made over time. Which is to be expected, and is very welcome.

Would it be possible for you to share your settings so I can tune my future raptor after that?

I have a board with longhairedboy’s VESC settings, they are pretty nice. The best way I can describe it is a gentle start so you don’t fall off the board, and the torque and power come in later as you pick up speed. It’s like a car that you have to rev up high to get the full power, rather than the car just doing burnouts/wheel spins every time you start it.

Try the stock raptor settings, if the start is too aggressive or fast for you…then use longhairedboy’s settings on the BLDC tool if you get them from him. It might be his secret formula though so not sure if he will give it away haha. (Edit: I guess I can see the settings if I learn to use the BLDC tool).

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it’s no secret, you could plug your VESC in and see the settings yourself

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yea true, if I open up my enclosure and undo all the seals and shrink wraps he put around everything to water proof it, and if I learn the BLDC tool…I could see the settings I suppose lol.

Yea thats sounds nice!

I’m sure he did remove the shrink wrap where the usb port is :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: You only have to open bldc tool, plug your vesc in, click ‘‘connect’’ and ‘‘read configuration’’.

UPDATE: I moved to Hawaii and have had time to tinker with my board some more. Here are some notes and mods.

-TSA let me take a naked space cell on a plane in my back pack. I stashed the board in a rifle case for checked baggage. They were ultimately more concerned about the 3D printed gt2b controller case.

-I put bigger 97mm flywheels on it. Working out well, less jarring and rattle.

-I’ve never really liked the steez remote. I traded out for a gt2b in a printed shell.

-any troubles I’ve had with the board were due to controller component connections coming loose. Hotglue or liquid take all the things!

-I still have the original carbon lid that caused interference from some. I cut a thin slot on mine. No issues.

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Nice! I tried the Steez and found it wildly uncomfortable, I’d rather have a much more reasonable:

Haha, well sarcastic or not, the convenience of a standard USB micro is much preferred over the long USB mini. :wink:

Nope, not sarcasm. this is the remote I use. (ok that’s sarcasm) But yeah this has been my temporary remote while I am waiting for a new one since my old one is busted. I don’t care about the USB that much, but I much prefer micro. I just find the remote ergonomically uncomfortable.