2021 Esk8 Revival - Harness-Less - 12s2p Nano Tech LIPO w/ Custom Battery PCB

[mynamesmatt]

Hi All,

Believe it or not i’ve missed you lot. Since i last posted, a shit load has happened.

I’ve started a pilots licence course and have since completed my private licence, and am on my way for a commercial (hopefully lmao), i’ve built a beast of an esk8 which i fucking love to bits (i’ll do a write up one day)

And now, i’m on my way to get my old board thats been sitting in my garage for nearly 2 years back up and running, and better than ever

Taipan | 10s 8000mah LiPo | TB218's | Dual Sk8 6374 192kv | Dual FocBox |...

So, the plan:

Parts as follows:

Deck: TBA (Im thinking Redember 44 or the Landyachtz Evo 40…?)
Grip: I’ll do a DIY Dope Grip as i had it on the last board and its fucking brilliant
Tub: Most likely custom out of Haircell 3mm ABS (heated and suction moulded)
Motors: SK8 6374 192KV x 2 (from the old gal)
Trucks: TB218’s from the old board, but most likely to be upgraded to a wider stance eventually (BN270’s… @glyphiks ?)
Wheels: 107mm Superflys bc i have them and they’re pretty
Gearing: Either 16/40 or 16/44, depends how im feeling i guess
ESC: Hopefully the TB Vesc 6 (when its in stock again! @torqueboards )
BMS: LLT 12 20a Charge only w/ BT
Charger: 12s WATE 15-18a Charger ( haven’t really looked yet tbh)
Remote: Just your standard mini remote ya know
Extra shit: I will be adding a boost converter for charging and a fancy plug so i can use my 10s chargers as well as a 12s charger for the board, USB output, and most likely a DAVEGA X too. I’ll most likely wire the USB/Light setup to the BMS’ P- so if it shuts off i’m aware of an issue…(thanks @b264 for that clever idea)
Batteries: I’ve left this to the end as its the most fun part.
I am going to use 6 of these batteries from HobbyKing:

Turnigy Nano-tech 6000mAh 4S 25~50C LiPo Pack w/XT90

This will make a 12s2p pack, with a bullshit amount of discharge capability.

However, i really don’t like making wiring harnesses for these lipo packs.
It’s honesty a pain in the ass that i just don’t want to have to do again

So i’ve designed a circuit board system to eliminate this issue. (This is where it gets exciting hehe)

^ View of the 4 from the front ^

^ View of the 4 from the back ^

The principle behind this design is to be a 4 layer stack of pcbs, held together with standoff’s.
The layer with the BMS goes at the bottom, and the pads to the right of the bms are to use the original BMS wiring harness cut short to go straight up into the bms. The holes on this board are lined up with all all other layers.

Layer 2 and 3 are designed to hold the batteries inside them. All exposed traces will have their current capacity increased with lengths of 3mm copper rod, and insulated with kapton tape. The ends will be where the batteries connect, with an XT90 (one pin of the xt90 on each pcb)

(i really hope im making sense here lol) Longest PCB is 185 x 499mm

The bottom of the bottom PCB will have the BMS Mounted to it, and has cable tie holes for the BT module to be mounted to the side with double sided tape.

The pcbs will be spaced with standoff’s to the appropriate widths so that the far right pcb can act as a lid, so that i can keep the batteries on the circuit board, but just unplug them, hang them out of the enclosure and insulate them as i want to take them to germany to visit my Oma and @City-Blade-101 when the world opens up again.

I also want to take it flying with me so i have transport outside of small airports when i go outback.
All the batteries will have cushioning foam around them, as well as velcro below them to hold them tight. Overall thickness ~43mm

I will be having a 12s charger hopefully at 15-18a (nano techs are great like that) so that i can get as much range as possible in the least amount of time (this will only be for longer rides…like this one ).
For normal charging, it’ll probably be like 4a or something easy.

From here, i will design a heatsink that will hold both the buck converter and my esc’s so that they can both run nice and cool. The main leads will be either 8awg or 10awg cable, as im setting this bitch right up to 80a battery amps each side straight away lol.

I’m yet to order the circuit boards from JLCPCB (MOQ of 5 of each board…ouch…anyone want to buy one…?), however i’m fairly certain this should all come up great

What do you guys think? Any suggestions on cool shit? i’m all ears

Thanks for reading, and watch this space for juicy updates

[rusins]

@mynamesmatt

Wow, those angled baseplates fit in so well with the brackets. Looks sick!

And that PCB idea is crazy, but I can’t say I don’t want to see it!

[mynamesmatt]

Yeah they are honestly fantastic! pricey but man they’re awesome

[City-Blade-101]

Awesome bro, I had a fast read through but will look at the details later on tonight. Awesome and congrats for your flight carrier
You re welcome, my friend

[mynamesmatt]

thanks bro, means alot

[City-Blade-101]

Ok MATE, I need them pcbs when you come visiting me
Awesome idea and this leads me straight to the lipo section hahahha
you told me i belong there anyways

[mynamesmatt]

im happy to send you a set to slightly offset the cost they wanna charge me Would be a big board for you though!

[City-Blade-101]

I see pcb length is round about 50cm…so thats my entire WB Have to mount vesc and stuff on top then
I will think about it and will let you know.

[mynamesmatt]

So the pcb’s came in and they fit!!! Next step is soldering on the Copper and balance plugs! So excited

[Arzamenable]

how has it fared during use? ive been perusing the 10ah-16ah 6s offerings from Tattu/gensace.

[mynamesmatt]

Hey mate! This projects been on hold for a fair while now, and we’re having absolutely shit weather here in Sydney Australia as of like the last like 6 months.

Regarding lifetime, my old nano tech 5s 4500mahs had a shit load of cycles and abuse on em and never swelled or anything. I think i got about 2500-3000km out of them.

A hobbyking representative came into my work once and said that he recommended nano tech over graphene. Graphenes too much $$ for the minor increase in performance you get

[City-Blade-101]

Thats a huge amount of km for Lipos, bro.

[mynamesmatt]

Yeah dude! When they’re looked after, you can get a fucking good lifetime out of them!

[mynamesmatt]

Alrighty so an update

The coppers on the pcb, the standoffs are in and the pcb is insulated, and pretty much ready to go.

The charger has also arrived, and boy does she charge quick. my god.

My choice of esc has changed, as i got my hands on a set of Vesc 6 mk3’s, which I’m super happy with.

Now, i need to finish off my old board, so i can get cracking onto this one’s deck, so i can get going.

[Arzamenable]

This project feels cooler and more clever each time I come back to it.

I got questions for you in the battery builders thread.

[mynamesmatt]

Thanks so much for that mate, really means alot to me

[Arzamenable]

No, Thank you for posting. I am at a fork, cut leads and shrink wrap into a 12s with multiple balance leads poking out, or do close what you did.

[mynamesmatt]

Look, my way is a bit of a fuck around, but i just hate cables also hope you have a strong as fuck soldering iron, as the copper dissipates the heat in long lengths really well

[mynamesmatt]

if i were to do it again, I’d have made the pcb only with pads at each point to solder to so that i didnt need literally a whole roll of solder lol

[Arzamenable]

“Strong AF soldering iron” you say?

I don’t like cables either, I had been pondering getting sendcutsend.com to cut me beefy copper busses I could integrate (insulated of course) into the enclosure wall.