With both builds at the same point (-1 unity) attention turned to working out a solution to keep the motor cables tidy.
After having to do a lot of maintenance on my old build i knew that it would be usefull to be able to unplug the motors from the enclosure for servicing. But after spending some time looking for compact waterproof sensor connectors we weren’t able to find much that was suitable. We decided that a better solution would be to use the factory fitted connectors but try and protect these as much as possible.
I made a custom cable rise on my last board to keep things tidy and so designed a new riser that would house and protect both the motor connectors and sensor connectors.
The idea here being that this part fits on top of the trucks and all motor cables route through it. if protects the connectors and prevents accidental unplugging during riding.this is then sandwiched shut by the board when the truck is mounted.
The part was printed from PLA at 50% infill and seems very rigid.
Connectors fit snugly into the recessed areas to avoid any damage that might be caused by vibration.
The plan here is that if additional waterproofing is needed this could also also be filled with some type of grease to form a grease box and prevent water ingress. i do have concerns that if water was to get to the sensor cables it could wick down the inside if the cable and get into the enclosures.
Next problem with the motor wires is finding a way to get them in and out of the enclosures in a watertight way.
We found that many cable glands avalable for <5mm cables (like 14AWG motor cables) were not designed to go through the thickness of the enclosure walls. additionally the sensor wire would likely be different thickness to the motor wires so it was difficult to find anything that matched in both sizes.
Eventually i decided it might be better to just design a custom cable gland that had the exact holes i need.
The plan is that motor phase wires are on the outside and sensor wires are in the middle.
The outer part applies pressure to keep a silicone sheet sealed against the outside face of the enclosure. There are 4 bolts along the length which should mean that pressure is applied evenly and that there is a good seal down the whole length. The silicone seal has holes which are smaller than the cables ensuring a tight seal around each cable, even if the cable is slightly smaller than the enclosure hole. there is then a part that sits inside the enclosure which holds the mounting nuts and also ensure there is no sharp edges for the cables to rub on.
It was relativity easy to mount into the enclosure as i was able to use the outer part as a drilling guide for all the holes. First i drilled the outer 2 holes then fitted the nuts to hold it in place. I could then drill the rest of the holes without the guide moving allowing them to all be clean and accurate.
I then unbolted the outer plate, debured all the holes then reassembled the entire seal with the cables in place.
The end result is a professional looking part that should very waterproof. I purposefully chose a non-black silicone so that you can see the seal and to make this part more of a visual feature.
The custom seal and cable riser look great when fitted together. These motor wires should be the only visible external cables and should keep the board looking clean and professional.
Last job with the enclosure was to mount the the Unity switch and waterproof charge port. These were drilled into the side of the enclosure with the Unity switch in the middle of the rear segment and the charge port just behind. We had to drill these in quite a few size steps as the enclosure plastic seems to start to tear if you jump straight to a large drill size. Unfortunately there is no pictures of this process
BMS and UNITY both got a good helping of thermal compound before being bolted down the their mounting plate, locktighting everything as I go. Mounting plate is then double sided into enclosure.
Cells are connected to unity and to BMS. Charge path from port to BMS then to cells is wired up.
15A fuse is also added to the charge circuit close to the battery in case of internal shorts or charger/BMS faults.
Motor phase cables and sensor cables are connected. Multiple Bluetooth dongles and remote receiver are installed and secured in place. system is power up and tested to check that everything is working
Enclosure is then taped around the perimeter ready for sealing.
Enclosure was then sealed, excess plastic was cut from the sealing sheet after mounting to ensure a good clean cut all the way round. Mounting holes were drilled in the sealing sheet to ensure that holes matched up with the holes in the enclosure.
By chance I somehow managed to complete both my board and my house on the same day.
The kaly mounting hardware for the enclosure went on easily and looks sweet.
Everything is shiny and nice . . . Although im sure that wont last long.
Ground clearance is a little low, might have to change up to the larger wheel size if this becomes a problem. I guess for now i will just see how it goes.
The board looks awesome along side my friends boosted boards, they look like toys in comparison.
Cant wait to take it out for its first real test ride.
Something damp may help, i also tried using a big piece of copper that i had laying around but i found that a big iron and moving quickly seemed to give the best result.
