Hi! I recently heard about DIY electric longboard building.
I got really excited and searched around the web for information.
I picked a couple of components that was recommended on the forum and that wouldnt break my budget (around 300 dollars). The important thing is that everything should be located in EU, because of cheaper shipping (i live in Sweden).
Since i am an absolute rookie, i am asking for help. Will these parts work together?
No…your system should use at least 6s battery~22.2V…the ESC can take just 11.1V (3S), you need higher voltage…Motor is OK, if you will have two of the battereis connected in series then ok, transmitter+reciever are also good, just chagne the ESC
Yeah 3D printer is nice to have and can save you a little bit here or there but what you save in $$$ you typically pay for in time. If you already have a deck and trucks that will work that can cut the cost down quite a bit can definitely do it for a few hundred when it comes to just the electronics to get it working (ESC ~$80-110, batteries ~$60-80, motor ~$60-80, motor mount assembly ~$30-100 controller/receiver $20-100, shipping probably another $30, so about $280-500 plus need to have or get board and trucks).
Obviously if you go dual motor or have a custom battery and/or BMS that all adds quite a bit to it but for a budget board I’m pretty sure those are the essentials (ah forgot a charger and loop key, both pretty essential)
Loop key is just a XT-90 or XT-60 jack with a small loop of wire connecting it to itself so when it’s not plugged into the female jack there is a break in the circuit between your batteries and the ESC and rest of the electronics.
It’s basically a fail safe and you can connect everything else up and double check it without power going to it and then plug in the loop key when you know everything else is good. If something goes wrong either while you’re bench testing or more importantly while you’re riding it’s good to have a loop key you can just pull out to cut power (also if you lock it to a bike rack or the like to go in a place good to pull the power from it so it doesn’t do anything squirrely while you’re gone). Good to make it accessible from the top of the board as well (basically at the edge sticking out) so if you ever need to cut power because something is going crazy you can do that quickly. There are switches but it’s more complicated than it sounds to make a solid switch that also allows all the power you need to flow when it’s closed, loop key is a cheap alternative to a switch.
If you use one of the anti-spark XT-90 plugs it has the added advantage that at higher voltages it won’t have big sparks as the current rushes in to fill the capacitors on the ESC (at 12S they can be bad enough to melt the connectors, below that it’s just a little spark if anything).
Actually not sure about where to get cheap premade ones I just bought a pack of XT-90 Male/Female pairs I think from an Amazon.com vendor and one antispark one to make the loop key (along with some 12AWG wire, others recommend 10AWG I’m not sure you get that much voltage drop with the slightly thinner 12AWG wire given the short distance but might be better to go with 10AWG especially with a lower voltage setup, ie something less than 10S)
cheap and easy is the loop key you make yourself! It’s not hard - there’s even pictures you can follow to do it yourself.
Some really tall and strikingly handsome gent posted a how-to even!
If you aren’t comfortable soldering - you can skip a loop key - just get used to the spark and replace plugs every once in a while as they wear out from the arc.
I would use some sort of VESC or whatever is Politically Correct now days. I had the same motor, LifePO4 packs from Hobby king and Hobby King 150 ESC. The HK ESC caught fire, then tried TB ESC, that stopped working half way to work, then EZ run ESC which I sold when I got the VESC. Moral of the story spend a hundred bucks and get a good ESC or 300 on multiple ESCs. When you upgrade the battery and motor you can still use the same VESC. My .02
VESC when used moderately (not bleeding edge like FOC and 12s) - at least the reasonably affordable 4.12 and similar - are really quite durable (easy to kill by stupidity, but harder to damage in use w/ correct config).
I just recycled two 4.7 VESC’s for brother’s first DIY build - at least 2 years old and still going strong.
Similarly my GF’s build is on old 4.7 and just got new motor and gears - running GREAT!
My choice in order of preference would be:
Chaka Direct FET VESC / or non-direct - both with heatsink!
Enertion FOCBOX
Axle VESC
DIYes VESC
Personally i’ll never use the Maytech and similar VESCs due to no $ going to Ben. Gotta support to get improvements and super nice guy.
And if $$$ is no issue - get the new VESC Six! gorgeous and no 60k ERPM limit (can run 12s FOC and >200kv motors if you want)
So to summarize, a VESC is the way to go! How much does Chaka charge for the VESC + shipping to Europe?
Another thing I was wondering about is the wiring, do all the necessary wires come with the motor, VESC and batteries?
