Ive been wanting to build an esk8 for a while and a summer job before college was the perfect funding opportunity to get started. I made a deck out of some scrap 5/8" plywood I found in my garage.
I stripped the stain off after I cut it and following this tutorial I added fabric and fibreglass to the bottom. My next step is to poly the whole board for waterproof/UV protection.
I ordered trucks and wheels off amazon as I was originally gonna keep it manual and convert later so I purchased flywheels knowing I was gonna need them. Im gonna be commuting around a college campus. Im gonna be in Florida so humidity and rain will be issues. Id like 7-10 miles of range and 20-30 Mph is probably good. Currently Ive been compiling a parts list and id like to know whether or not I’m on the right path in terms of my build.
First of all, your deck looks cool! You may end up changing it later since it is flat but good job.
Those trucks that you selected might not work out, they may work with paris mounts? Not 100% sure since it doesn’t really say. I would suggest getting caliber 2 trucks since they are compatible with so many types of mounts. You could try making your own motor mount but I am not sure how skilled you are with metal working or machining.
I wouldn’t buy the DIYE switch, they have failed many times in the past, other members could offer their opinion as well. I would just do a simple XT90-S loop key, you can search for that, there is a guide here on the forum.
The rest looks good. Lexan is pretty brittle, I would lean more towards Kydex or ABS plastic for the enclosure
I ordered the motor, VESC, remote, mount and pulley kit. Im gonna get caliber 2s and wheels as well. Im still unsure about batteries. Is 2 5s 5000mAh tied in series a good idea or is there a different battery setup I should look at.
He means just buying four lipo packs and putting two in parallel. I personally would probably still go with the lipo packs if you have room, you will get more amps available and they will be a lot cheaper.
If you don’t have the room, a pre built battery can be a good option but it is much more expensive. i.e. my friend’s board I am going to build in a few weeks is a 10s1p of 5 lipo packs. 5 2s packs in series, cost about 130 for the batteries. Should get about 12 mi of range on these 5000mah cells
Im gonna start with 2 5s in series for $ reasons. If I really feel the lack of range its an easy upgrade. I ordered the caliber trucks. In addition, I cant seem to find anything about what sort of battery charger is recommended. I read somewhere about a BMS but it was unclear if that s something I should be getting or if a generic charger off Amazon would be fine. Any suggestions would be appreciated for a suggested charging solution. Something inexpensive would be best as I’m already close to my budget limit
I think a lot of information is available on the forum here about BMS deals. You can check out SuPower for a BMS or Bestech, see here in my thread:
Additionally, you would need a 10S liion charger for the BMS. These can be aquired on Ebay, Aliexpress, and several other places. YZpower makes good chargers.
Alternatively you could do manual balance charging with a hobby balance charger, opening your enclosure whenever you need to charge or wiring the balance connectors through the enclosure
That should work fine, it is a popular charger. Having the ability to put it easily in storage charge is also very helpful. I have a crappy hobby charger with no screen and it almost always overcharges to 4.25V or something along those lines
Update time!! I waterproofed the board and put the bad trucks I ordered on. Several things became apparent after riding it down the block 1) the trucks aren’t far enough forward and on turns the wheels hit the edge. 2) the board isn’t fully symetrical so it looks off when riding on it. The first issue is an easy fix. The second not so much. I’m deliberating making a brand new board with a better symetrical shape to improve it’s look. It’s 100% passable just not that attractive. A new bar would be curved, proper symetrical via the use of templates and their would be better space for the wheels.
