I posted some updates to the main sections above.
Several days ago, I got my @YUTW123 MakerX esc and powered it up, did a motor detection on the second hub set with a few 3s cells I had laying around. Everything went smoothly and the small size of it is one of the only reasons 4wd is possible on this deck.
Once I get to the final wiring pictures, you guys will see how incredibly tight it is inside the enclosure.
Got my enclosure all printed out, went pretty smoothly except for the front piece, which was a sub-par print due to not having cooling fan.
After sticking all of the electronics in for the first time, I realized just how little space I had in the enclosure. With the placement of my power switch, I wasn’t going to be able to fit the long battery between the front esc / battery indicator, and the power switch.
I made some slight modifications to the power button segment (extended 1 inch and moved the switch a little bit) and re-printed it.
The print came out great and will give me JUST enough space to make it fit comfortably. I didn’t take any updated pictures here, only put it on my snapchat story, so here’s that.
After test fitting the electronics, I knew there were some things that I had to re-solder and prepare to be able to accept the additional ESC. Since I already had a y-splitter for my two TB vescs before, what I did was take the XT90 connector coming out of it and solder both of the TB vescs onto it. The space is so cramped in the back enclosure that there wasn’t enough space for two XT-90’s and I hate soldering them.
So out of the antispark switch, I’ve got an XT-90 with the two TB vescs, and then I’ve also got an XT-60. This one I had to extend by a foot and a half so it could reach the MakerX. After extending these, the power was sorted, so I jammed it all nicely together at the back and taped it into place to make it easier to shove the TB vescs in later.
The only other wiring I had left to do was finished today - extending the pwm cable from my receiver to the front of the enclosure. Fortunately I had an extra-long extension so it was just a matter of splicing it into the current harness. Pretty funny to see four connections coming out of the VX1 receiver lol
Next step is actually getting the electronics and enclosures onto the deck. I decided to put all of the padding on first before trying to final-fit everything. I bought a 10’ roll of neoprene sealing foam and have been using it generously around the pack. There’s pretty much nothing I hate more in esk8 than random vibrating noises, so I plan to make sure nothing in this enclosure can move (besides being able to flex).
I added this padding to all of the enclosure pieces and put two huge strips down the edges of the actual battery, to make sure it stays in place inside the enclosure. I tried moving the battery with the neoprene on, and the friction between the smooth deck and the neoprene is so great that I think you could stand the deck up vertically and it wouldn’t move.
These fit really nicely on the deck now, and even with the foam under the battery I still have some breathing room above the battery for extra flex capabilities. I’ll be checking how much the battery sags once I can turn it over with screws on it, but I think the foam should be able to easily hold it in place vertically within the enclosure.
Here’s a shot of all the internal electronics. I know it’s kind of messy but everything should be well insulated. This whole thing is pretty complicated as it is and doesn’t lend itself well to being organized. My next build will be much cleaner than this, for sure. There’s something to be said for how much easier it is to make something clean from the beginning, rather than adding to the same build and changing it three times.
After finishing the PWM wiring to the front esc, I made sure everything was properly detected, and had my first deck-run at 4wd. Sounds pretty crazy and I can’t wait to try it out. Tomorrow I plan to try and finish the packing in of all the electronics, secure everything, and mount the enclosures to the deck. It’s going to be super annoying trying to figure out where all the holes go, but hopefully I get them all straight.