Looking cool, I have to imagine if you made the mistake of wearing a soft-soled shoe, that it could end badly lol
1 Like
#Motors
I used some downtime to investigate this “cricket-chirp” sound I’ve been hearing from one motor. It started on my last build, before its untimely death, and continues after the move to this build. It wasn’t so bad that it was concerning, but more an issue that it masks any other noises that might end in worse problems.
At one point I slammed that motor into a rock, so it doesn’t surprise me that there’s an issue. After some investigation, there seems to be some shaft misalignment - I can see the gap between stator and rotor bell increasing and decreasing as I hand spin the bell. I figured it was rubbing somewhere.
Time to disassemble! Lucky me, found a broken winding in the process (or caused it).
I used the aspirin trick to remove the winding lacquer:
Get one tab of full strength aspirin (not tylenol, advil, etc). Get soldering iron hot and tin the tip. Press end of winding and iron tip into aspirin at the same time. Make sure to use a real fume extractor (or hold your breath) - fumes are super toxic, more than usual. After 10-20 seconds, the lacquer has melted off and the wire will come out tinned!
Worked like a charm.
Solder wire ends together, apply much too large heat shrink, and tuck into stator.
While I was at it, I figured I’d do a full battle harden with epoxy (and colloidal silica to thicken). Some of the other windings were loose and did not inspire confidence.
Isopropyl alcohol on a shop rag does a nice job of cleaning up epoxy while still wet. This was actually a lot easier and quicker than I expected, and I only had a popsicle stick and gloved fingers to apply. Maybe not entirely necessary, but the peace of mind knowing the motor is more waterproof (including sensor) is great.
After a 24hr cure, I went to work filing down the edge of the stator to solve the rubbing/noise issue. Medium file, fine file, 400 grit, 800 grit sandpaper, b/c why not.
Reassemble using the patented @b264 towel technique.
Fun fact - this wasn’t the problem and did nothing to solve my noise issue.
Plan B - blue all the things and look for contact.
I ended up blueing almost the entire stator and found nothing conclusive… but, silver lining, something happened after 3-4 rounds of reassembly that shook/smashed/moved the noise into silence. My best guess is that it may have been Flipsky’s “battle-hardening”/balancing epoxy that got dislodged and was rubbing. Either way, the noise is 90% gone.
And now I have one motor with a shiny raw aluminum “machined lip”.
A E S T H E T I C S
It was a fun learning opportunity anyway. Disassembling these motors is about as difficult as disassembling a truck. I won’t hesitate to inspect in the future.
10 Likes
A whole mishmash of updates:
-
Motor - Reinstalled the repaired motor. All good
-
Heatsink - Installed a @Savage1 stormcore heatsink, repurposed for my DV6 (thank you sir). Filled & waterproofed the holes with butyl tape for now.
-
Grip - Finished the full set of spiked footpads, and tested! (inserting hardware mid-print feels like hacking magic)
-
Wiring - B/c of ^ had to rewire the whole damn box, extend the phase & sensor wires further, and come up with some new mounting brackets for the nese batteries.
Very happy with this foam - firm but supportive. Perfect fender washers on amazon for M5 mounting fasteners (I looked everywhere). I was getting some damage to the enclosure with smaller washers, when torqued down tight. -
Wiring - Played phase bullet whack-a-mole until I found the combination that didn’t make the motors sound like a garbage disposal (so I didn’t have to boot up VESC tool)
AND color coded so future me wouldn’t have to play this game again
-
Wiring - New extensions worked the first time, even with some questionable sensor wire soldering… (so damn small)
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Wiring - Slathered every connector in Kafuter K-704 Silicone Industrial Adhesive and I’m sold. So much better than silicone
-
Lights - Dry fit some T6 LED lights (idea I shamelessly stole from @Toughook) with the included ‘rubber band’ handlebar straps, then had one rip off on a group ride… my mistake.
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Test - Threw some final fixes together at the last minute to make the board rideable and hit a Friday group ride (tape over old gland holes, no loopkey yet, etc) annnnd ate pavement 5 minutes from my house.
That pink line is me cruising along at 30mph (I thought it was more like 20). I was distracted and in a rush, trying to follow gps directions on my phone to the meetup point. That purple/blue/green section is me hitting a patch of rough road and the next thing I know I’m sprawled out superman style in the middle of the street and my board is spinning off down the road, enclosure side down like a turtle on its back. First esk8 crash.
I sat on the side of the road in a bit of a daze and chilled for a minute. I’ve unfortunately crashed cars and bikes before, so I wasn’t in much of a rush any longer. Checked myself and the board over. Board was still running like a champ, like nothing happened. Thank the PETG gods, my batteries didn’t move a mm. @Savage1 heatsink took the brunt of the slide - not so anodized any longer. But it too is still very secure in it’s spot. This is why I loctite & reinforce everything.
I suffered a little more wear. As always, I was wearing:
- full face MIPS mtb helmet
- moto high tops with reinforced ankles
- fox knee pads
- revit summer jacket w/ shoulder, elbow, & spine pads
- (and more recently) kevlar lined jeans
- (and) Knox gloves w/ scaphoid protection aka palm sliders
Stupidly, I left the jacket unzipped. Which allowed me to spring a small leak:
Jacket ripped on the right shoulder and all the pads got banged up. I 100% attribute my lack of hand injury to these Knox gloves I just picked up. I used to ride with summer weight textile gloves, with minimal padding, until I started reading up on how common wrist injuries are on all PEVs. The gloves performed flawlessly and have the scratch marks to prove it. Not even any pain in my hands, and I definitely hit the ground first with them, despite (usually) knowing how to fall.
I came away from what could’ve been really bad with only hip abrasion, a feeling like someone punched me hard in the chest, and a sore left shoulder. After a weekend, only the hip still hurts. It takes me longer than I’d like to get geared up to ride, but I’m quite glad I did. And all this happened before the group ride even started!
Of course, I couldn’t stop there. So I limped to the meetup point, borrowed some bandages, and rode a little more conservatively than usual. Ride ended when I got a flat without the right tools to replace. All in all, a good friday night.
18 Likes
Glad you’re not too bashed up dude! I think the ground look on the heatsink looks awesome. It’s like a hickey from the universe.
8 Likes
Glad you’re alright! It took me awhile to feel comfortable after my crash last year. I’m still kind of a puss, though. Great write up. I will send you a new one without those stormcore holes, ( when I get around to making some more). Also, very nice build.
8 Likes
#Lights
Finished my light mount design:
Wired these up to the battery via this LM2596hv buck (you win @b264 
) and they lit up first go!
Was pretty impressed, not only with the light output, but the fact they still work. When I had them strapped to the front hanger with their included bike rubber band mount, one popped off mid ride. It was dangling from its wires. Before I had a chance to secure it, the wire actually ripped off, the light hit the ground, bounced, and landed back on the deck next to my foot. I snagged it and put it in my pocket - all at ~20mph 
I cracked the light open to check damage, assuming I’d have to order another from Ali. Clean rip right at the board. I was able to disassemble the whole thing, suck the solder off, and reattach the + and - wires to their pads. Reassembled, coated the wire exit in silicone, loctited shut, and installed. Good as new.
#Tires
While I was at it, I decided I’d prefer to never get a flat tire again. Went all out - tire liner & slime.
21" length of Mr. Tuffy Bicycle tape covers the interior wall of an 8" knobby tire. I used the 20x1.95-2.5 size for the width, mainly. Fit well. Plenty left over.
Slimed all 4 tires. Used most of an 8oz bottle - although this was probably way too much.
7 Likes
How hot do these lights get, out of curiosity? I have a pretty neat set and they get to 60C+ within a couple minutes of running, when at full brightness
1 Like
They’ve only been on for a total of about 60 seconds, haha, so no data to report yet.
That said, when I disassembled them (should’ve taken photos) I realized there’s very little to these lights. One circular pcb, with one CREE/COB LED mounted in the center, a few components on the back, the reflective cone and cover glass. That’s it. The pcb is mounted on an interior lip of the housing and the whole housing acts as a heatsink. The housing is massive compared to the pcb (and LED). If there were no heat concerns, the light could be much smaller. Without testing, the housing looks like it’ll dissipate a good amount of heat. And it’s exterior surface is ribbed/finned like a traditional heatsink for more surface area.
1 Like
Hm yeah. I have a set of these on their way to me to test as well. The lights I currently have are three brightness settings but much smaller, with two diodes. I imagine yours won’t get tooooo hot
Also, aren’t you supposed to run straight diodes on an LED driver board, not right off a buck? I assume you set the current limit before plugging in?
It’s more than an led on a pcb. And it’s intended to be powered via USB, at least the ones I got.
No limits set anywhere. I’m not sure how you would - maybe within a smart BMS, using the discharge line?
I don’t have a BMS onboard.
Ah okay, I didn’t know what the power level of these lights was supposed to be tbh, if they run off usb I guess that’s fine
Looking at the buck converter again, it looks like it can only do 1.5a continuous, so as long as the voltage is set right you’re good
LED drivers can limit the current and voltage I believe.
Yep, I can’t find it now, but I believe the input voltage is 5-8.4V for the lights.
USB 2.0 supplies 0.5mA max, so x2 is ~1.0A. Safety factor of AliExpress, we can assume 2.0A is possible max current draw. Some of those Ali listings also sell a 2s 18650 pack for bikes, intended to be powered directly from the battery at 8.4V, so that checks out.
That’s how I sized the buck. It’s output voltage is adjustable, set to 5V now. Increasing that voltage may allow the light to run cooler (& the buck more efficiently). It can provide 1.5-3.0A.
Buck input voltage is claimed to be 55V (60V on some of the LM2596hv). That should be enough head room for a fully charged 12s pack.
I’ll do some testing, and try adjusting the voltage up to ~8.0V and see what changes.
@Toughook is running them at 8.4V, maybe he can chime in on performance so far.
2 Likes
Nice nice. That’s cool
My lights I’m running at 7.5v each, I think they had a similar voltage range.
1 Like
Yes, so far so good with the 12v>8.4v buck converter. Lights running fine and as they would be expected to from the bundled 8.4v pack (which now sits in my drawer).
Longevity of the lights themselves remains to be seen, but they are not broken yet !
2 Likes
#Lights
A little more feedback on these lights.
I took them out for a night ride the other day. They have a high, low, and flash mode. On high, the pair are suuuuper bright. Like car hi-beams bright. It’s wonderful, if unnecessary. After a couple blocks, they shut down. Seems like an issue with my buck - it was burning hot inside the main enclosure. Too many amps, no heat sink. I’ll have to remedy that eventually. But the housings were at ambient temp - no appreciable temp increase at all.
I turned them back on onto the low setting, which is still quite bright. I ran that for about 8 miles continuously. Buck was very warm, but manageable. Headlight housing were barely warm at all.
Also… I ran into a (few) tree(s) out riding with @skate420 on some incredible single track mtb trails. I managed to crack my original headlight mount bracket in PETG: Files on printables.com
So I retooled it for TPU, set the headlights behind the hanger (duh) so they’d hit first, and stiffened the whole part. Also added a cable-tie hole for extra stability. Now they look awesome and survive anything. V1 is testing, but going strong.
Files on printables.com
[Street version in PETG on left, offroad version in TPU on right]
9 Likes
#Tuning
After a couple longer rides, I’ve been hitting 30+ mph (48kph) consistently but it does not feel very stable. I was in a faster group ride (they come in chill, fast, and faster flavors around these parts) chasing some speed freaks on EUCs, lovely people, and barely surfing out the wobbles over cracks and bumps in the road.
I’m on a mission to get stable at top speed with this setup. The calc says max loaded speed is around 36mph (56 kph). I don’t think I’ve hit that, but I’m getting close.
Current setup:
- Metal Matrix II trucks
- Orange shock blocks front, red rear (used of unknown age, compressed / creep?)
- Haero Bro - 30 deg tips, no wedges
- 200x50 tires on (brand new) MBS fivestar hubs (yay!)
- Some of the worst roads this side of New Orleans
Solutions to try:
- De-wedge the rear by 5 degrees (25R / 30 F)
- De-wedge the rear by 5 degrees AND wedge the front by 5 degrees (25R / 35F)
- New shock blocks all around (red rear, orange front)
- Increase preload on all shock blocks to max - see how it feels
- Try red blocks in the front
- Try orange blocks in the rear
- Skate more. Get better. Do ankle/calf/quad exercises every day for that iron grip.
Find better roads- Buy Matrix IIIs or Moon trucks
- Swap in the 6" tires and see what happens (still haven’t tried these yet)
While I wait for the PETG wedges to print, I’ll start with #4 - aggressive preload.
Thanks @Venom121212! as always
Super tough to get the calipers in there, but this looks to be about 2-2.25mm preload gap
Gave the loctite an hour to set and about to go for a test ride. 
6 Likes
Keep that weight on that front foot and it will help minimize this wobbles. Keep that rear foot stable and light on the pressure. It should act more like an oar/rudder at speed than an ankly foot.
I always picture myself like the silver surfer.
Keep your center of gravity over or even in front of the front trucks and it makes the board want to stay in line better… Like you’re dragging it behind you.
If it’s a well known bump for me, I press down on the deck a little bit right before I hit it so the up flex minimizes the cracks.
The bane of my existence is hitting a big bump while I’m in the middle of a moderate turn and it feels like the board fully shifts underneath me. There’s one in my normal ride and I can not master it. I just turn extra hard and try to hit it closer to perpendicular.
I think #7 is spot on. I can feel myself getting shaky every spring season when I skate less that winter.
5 Likes
#More_Tuning
So I did all of these:
And it was a night/day difference.
First off, Huge shout out to @bboybowzer, who mailed me not 2 but 3 sets of basically brand new shock blocks, and is now ignoring my asks for his paypal address (pretty sure) because he continues to be 
(still happy to at least send you beer/coffee/boba money brother, you’re too kind)
- De-wedge & wedge the Bro
Decided to go full bore and throw wedges on both sides. CAD’ed up some quick wedges and printed one of each in PETG with a ton of vertical perimeters for good measure.
Files are available here: Printables: Matrix II Truck 5 Degree Wedge
I realized after starting the install, that these outpaced the truck mounting bolts I had. They’re relatively thin - only 2mm at the thinnest point, but 5deg is enough to need +7mm on the thick side.I started shopping around for some M5 x 45 flathead, hex drive, zinc-plated alloy steel bolts… might as well be trying to buy a moon rock. Doesn’t exist unless I want to pay the McMaster gods their voodoo shipping money.
Then I realized that’s almost 2 inches of truck bolt - a little long for comfort. Much better to reduce the rubber spacer on the Matrix IIs and save the money for future esk8 parts. So I CAD’ed up a new half-height spacer and printed two in 100% infill TPU.
(Wedging is confusing, like MBS binding orientation. Bro tips are 30degrees. I want a lower pivot angle on the rear for less leverage / more stability / less turn, and a higher angle on the front for more turn / more agility.)
- New Shock Blocks
The old reds I had on there were noticeable shorter & fatter than the new ones. The oranges less so, but still. Replaced all four.
Wild.
I love the bottom graphic of the Haero Bro. We don’t get to see it enough
New blocks! Still red rear, orange front. Gave them all 1-2mm of preload for good measure, with loctite on the bolts, and took it for a spin. Rides noticeable more stable! Much less tightrope-walking at high 20s and low 30s (mph). Big fan of these changes. And with bindings, I bet if I threw myself over hard enough, I could do a full 180 in one lane of the road. 1.5 lanes is relatively easy.
- 150x50 Sunmates
I did not fully comprehend how small the sunmates are next to the 200 Clevers I’ve been rocking for the last year.
Zero clearance lol. I need to remember I can’t drive over everything monster-truck style with these.
Looks ridiculous, but I love the way the tires sit on these Fivestars. I need to build a true street-only carver on small pneumatics asap.
Too bad they’re wobbly as fuck. As in, the whole board starts vibrating once you hit ~25mph. It easy to see just by spinning the front wheels. I’ve gotta add weights or slime or both. Still, the quick test run was super fun. They feel much more planted, more direct - you feel all the cracks in the road, but (maybe my imagination) it feels like there’s less sidewall flex, less gooey disconnect. Even at low(er) speeds, it was really fun to rip around the neighborhood.
I definitely need to build a carver for the gokart track.
In other news, still troubleshooting my lazy DAVEGA problems - Davega problems or questions - #320 by sleepless. VESC connection drop offs under throttle all the time. Super annoying to not really know how fast I’m going.
Also had a balance wire snap on one of my NESE packs and I didn’t notice until I tried to charge. Almost had a heart attack when I plugged the charger in and the LLT BMS cell values were all over the place. Just about tossed the pack out the back door in a fit of adrenaline. Luckily an easy fix, but damn. It’s not real until it gets real.
9 Likes
Slime and weights help, just not for egg-shaped tires…
My solution lately - buy 6 and hope you get 4 good ones 
1 Like
It’s crazy how those shock blocks shrunk like that! I was expecting them to spring back.
How are you finding the MakerX GO-FOC DV6?
1 Like