My first Electric skateboard build

Hey everyone I was wondering if you could help me out with my first build? I had bought a bravo sports altered fantom 1.0 electric skateboard because I had always wanted to get an electric skateboard but don’t have much money.

I have to say it was a decent starter board however it only had a 100w motor which is probably why it was only 200$ considering the parts were most likely made in china.

Anyway, I wanted to build a board since I still want an electric skateboard since the fantom was still a ton of fun to ride. My parts list is as follows:

build #1 (revised after research): Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 6364-245kv Brushless Outrunner Motor ($70) 12mm-wide-pulley-drive-hub-kit ($41.26) 2x 5000mAh 20c 3 cell (11.1v) Lithium Battery ($47) TorqueBoards 120A 6S ESC ($70) Lithium Battery Charger IMAX B6 ($25) Nylon XT60 Connectors Male/Female (5 pairs) GENUINE 2x (just in case)($8) 10 gauge flexible wire (2 feet) ($7) 2 3s to 6s Balance Adapter ($1) 6s Balance Extension Cable ($1) HK-GT2B Transmitter and Receiver (25$)

alternatives: vesc esc (100-140$) LiIon Batteries and a bms (?)

the full build is going to be roughly 300-350$ depending on which esc I choose.

this was taken from the http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Longboard/ thread and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yBgsT65UPg youtube video and modified a little bit.

I am using a long board I have been riding for a while now it doesnt have fly wheels with holes in them, I am going to attempt to drill through the wheel and buy fly wheels if all else fails. the board is roughly 4 inches off the ground in the middle, and the wheels are roughly 3 inches wide. if you guys can help me with this build or see any complications or compatibility issues please let me know.

1 Like

You will probably need a 9mm or 12mm belt or you will skip theeth due to acceleration and braking.

I don’t like going over 250kv since you lose alot of torque, however you are running a 6s Lipo setup so top speed would not be over the top. I am currently riding a 6S Lipo with a SK3 245kv which gets me to a top speed of 42km/h and some great acceleration.

I am running 36/15, but 36/14 is fine, it’ll give you more torque and less top speed. You can use this to calculate top speed.

You have maybe heard that LiPos are the way to go because of it’s low weight and low cost, but trust me on this one I have been using LiPos for 6 months and they are already starting to wear. They also need alot of care, a good charger and you need to be careful to not run your battaries dry. If you have some extra money, SPEND IT ON LiIon Batteries and a bms, they will last you longer and you won’t have to worry about balancing, just plug and play. @barajabali can help you with a custom pack if you don’t want to make your own.

I would recommend XT60 connectors because you can’t plug them the wrong way, which I have done that with my banana plug, and that sucks.

Look at what others have built and get some good knowledge about it. I can recommend @whitepony he has some amazing builds and tips.

2 Likes

@karma covered a lot and it’s all good advice! Especially the battery stuff, I would recommend Li-Ion and a BMS as its just much safer and easier to deal with. @barajabali and @link5505 are both building custom packs for people I believe.

As for the wheels, if you trust yourself to drill them completely accurately, and you like those wheels then go for it, but for most any pulley you’d want to stick with at least 75mm wheels, bigger is better so of your wheels are smaller than that, you might as well just buy flywheels.

2 Likes

I have only heard @whitepony successfully drilling his own wheel holes. Since the alignment is very important I would suggest going with flywheels or Abec 11 which are 80-90mm.

2 Likes

Thank you so much! I just kind of threw a build together but I really appreciate the advice, since I live in an area that isn’t completely flat I’m glad you said something about it so I can actually get up hills :slight_smile:

I guess I’ll try my hand at it, if anything goes wrong I can always just buy the fly wheels, thanks for the advice! :slight_smile: