I have spent a few night searching builds and random threads that talk about inlaid wiring or hiding wiring between two enclosures. What I have not been able to find was a consolidated how to/how not to go about it. With as many builds…and failures… as there are here hopefully this can be an informational thread for hiding wires with channels or cut outs in the deck. How did you make your channels? What did you use to insulate the wires? Round or flat braided wiring? Epoxy filled channels or just glued in? I really think this could be informative if a few guys will hop onboard. @longhairedboy @onloop @barajabali @mmaner @Namasaki @Okami @lowGuido @psychotiller @ninja @FLATLINEcustoms
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I just put on the surface of the deck by flat braid and use kapton tape to secure the position then grip tape. there will be some pop out on the deck but is fine for me. Maybe better for me because adding some grip between shoe and my deck.
Kinda like booted did as well. I actually like the slightly raised ribs under the tape. What size wire did you use? did you use inserts to pass the wire through the deck or just pull the wire through the hole?
I’m trying to psych myself up to do @longhairedboy channels on my freebord build, I’ll post if I do.
In the past I have 3d printed a phase wire guide so I can leave the wires on the deck, but they are protected from the motor & dragging.
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I have had a few motor strikes from a motor wire but thankfully it resulted in just a minimal insulation tear. While my board is torn down I want to add a way to plug the motor into the board, near the rear truck, and have wires hidden that run into the compartment with the VESC.
There’s this method from Olin…
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A router is your friend if you’re very careful.
The way I did it is I made a channel for each wire and removed the insulation from the wire so I wouldn’t have to remove alot of material from the deck, then filled it with epoxy.
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All info how I made it is in my thread: REBUILD MY BUILD, just check it out!
I used drill and chisel for channels, but multitool would be just awesome handy tool:
How is the motor connection made beside the truck?
Here’s what i do:
and here’s a nifty trick involving hot glue and tape that i use to hold the resin in the channel while it hardens: Lay some tape down around the area you want filled, build up some silicone walls by pretending you’re a 3d hot-glue printer (it only takes a minute or two), then over-fill in the area. When its hardened you can just peel away the hot glue like so:
Then take an orbital sander with an 80 grit disc on it and grind that shit down flush, then smooth it with a 220 or so. The clear coat will fill in the scratches and make the resin look like glass.
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Dude! That is awesome!! What kind of connections are in the deck and attached to the wires?
5.5mm bullets. The xcarve drills the channels and holes for the bullets, then I tap them in with a small tack hammer. The resin doesn’t flow through the gaps because there aren’t any, its a snug fit. After the bullets are in, i cut the 12AWG phase leads to length and solder them neatly so that they lay flat on thier own. This is why its important to use a superworm type wire, aka “high strand count silicone wire”. It doesn’t kink easy and will lay flat naturally unless its twisted.
I got my last batch of colored 12AWG ‘superworm’ from ebay here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/192141078888?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=492054834135&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
This is something i do on all of my customer builds, as well as my own. Its kind of a trademark, if you will. But you’re welcome to do something similar, a few forum members here have done it.
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I used 5.5mm bullet connectors. Slightly modified the male side to to have a 90 degree angle.
something i may start doing soon is instead of putting the male connector flush in the wood box-side, i might start having about 2.5 to 3" length of wire coming out of the wood with males on the ends. I’ve done this a couple of times and the result allows you to get into the box without completely detaching it from the board.
but now i have sensor wires to deal with. Still not 100% on how i’m going to settle on doing those. It might be as simple as running a 12 conductor rbbin under the phase leads, or possibly under the board from the riser to the box. I really don’t like exposed wires there though, they’re prone to damage. More thought is definitely required.