Hello! I’m building board as a summer project before I transfer to university next Fall. I have a couple questions regarding motor pulleys, wheels, motor mounts, decks/battery, and VESC’s.
I have ordered these trucks and motor mounts from banggood: (2pcs 12 inches front rear bridge axle for diy electric skateboard longboard esk8 truck spare parts Sale - Banggood.com)
These seem to be the same truck/mount kit that is sold by Flipsky. I’ve read some reservations about using Flipsky, but decided to continue with their parts anyway. I did this because I was finding the cost for a dual motor mounting set up to be either too expansive or out of stock. I may regret this decision, but for now I’m running with it. I plan to change the trucks and mounts down the line once I’ve become more familiar with everything.
Questions: From the dimensions provided for the trucks the 8mm diameter axle length appears to be 34mm long ((308-204)/2) followed by 21mm of what I gather is 10mm diameter axle? I read that the boardnamics motor pulley requires 40mm+ of 8mm axle? Is that correct? If so which motor pulley would you recommend? I intend to use a 40T/15T combo.
With this layout the battery pack should fit fine on the deck with enough space for the other electronics. Question: What are your thoughts on using a 36" deck?
Questions: What are your thoughts on using the Flipsky 4.12 VESC and how would you recommend configuring them to work alongside the Flipsky 6374 motors?
Those trucks aren’t very good and DKP isn’t great. Only good under 15mph where they turn sharp. Boardnamics has some nice RKP trucks.
This is dangerous. Those fail very quickly and aren’t safe to use. Get a makerx DV4 to replace both.
These are supposedly good, but suck a lot of range
Press fit pulleys have bearings, so they generally require a long axle as would be found on the boardnamics trucks. Some of the best RKP trucks you can get. It’s possible that replacing the bearings will alleviate this issue, but I can’t guarantee anything
Also be safe with that battery dude. People here are very strict about battery building because of how dangerous they can be. We have some great threads about battery building and we have the battery builders thread where people can answer your questions. What spot welder are you using?
Yeah I was hesitant about the DKP trucks, but the cost kind of won me over. I’m thinking I may just return them and get a refund. The boardnamics trucks did look really nice, just expensive. I will reconsider them. which motor mounts would you recommend in that case? The boardnamics?
That makerx DV4 is perfect! Thank you, I will definitely go for that over Flipsky. I did order the flispky VX1 remote, will that be incompatible with the makerx?
Totally! I’ve been thoroughly reading and watching videos. I have complete respect for the potential damage a mishandled battery could cause.
I was planning on going with this one. Amazon.com
Are there better more cost effective options than the $200+ bench spot welders?
I doubt that spot welder will make it through a 10S3P pack with the required nickel thicknesses. I’d just get a pack made for you by a reputable builder unless you think you’ll use a better welder more
It’s compatible yeah. I have a DV4 and DV6 and they’re both great.that spot welder though… isn’t you’re gonna have to use thin nickel which can’t carry enough current for a n esk8
[quote=“Smileyyreilly, post:1, topic:54923”] VESC: I plan to purchase two Flipsky 4.12 VESC’s
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This is dangerous. Those fail very quickly and aren’t safe to use. Get a makerx DV4 to replace both.
No its not dangerous. The single flipsky 4.12 is literally an unchanged vedder design, on 10S its absolutely fine. Literally no different to a turnigy sk8 esc or the 40$ torqueboards 4.12. I’d encourage getting 2 if its on budget, just don’t run them too hard.
Almost none of flipsky’s escs are actually bad, the specs are just overrated which is what leads to premature failures. The failure rate is miniscule, probably no more or less than maker x.
Just my 2 cents, but these are not cheap… AT ALL. That’s why pre-built exist if you want to go a cheaper route. Some of them are also very reliable like the ONSRA boards or EVOLVE GT and GTR. They are all very good and you can sometimes get older ones for good prices on Craigslist or even here. If you are weighing costs I would check them out before sinking money into a DIY because it eats up money quick. A good rule of thumb is if a part is cheap there is probably a reason. Don’t cheap out on a battery, enclosure, deck, or ESC as generally if any of those fail (besides the deck) if can lead to generally extensive and expensive repairs. I would highly recommend a pre-built if you working on a bit of a tight budget i.e. don’t want to spend 3-4 hundred on a battery, 2-3 on trucks etc.
Hahaha yeah I was originally trying to keep it around $600 but it’s closer to $1000 now. I know it’s now more expensive than some decent prebuilt boards. My intention is definitely to build though, because as a student mechanical engineer I want to get my hands dirty. As far as I’m concerned it’s an educational expense.
25 batt amps / 34 motor is very unlucky to see it blow, I bought 9 of them for odd small boards and I usually do 20 batt amps, 40 motor and i’ve never blown one. The hobbywing ESC is 80$ and its only 12A/side so in terms of what its competing with its a good option.
This right here is 100% facts… All the materials and practice to build a proper battery will cost you much more than if you just went with a builder. I’m not saying this because I am a builder, it’s because people come through here all the time with intentions like you and end up being shamed because of how bad/unsafe it turns out. Do the right thing.
will cost you much more than if you just went with a builder.
More on this, here are just some basic tools you would need to build a proper battery
KWeld - $250
Lipo - $90
Good Soldering Iron (to avoid cooking your cells) - $70
Real Nickel - $30
Fishpaper - $30
BMS - $30
Corner punch - $50
Fiber tape, kapton tape, wire, connectors, and other random tools - $50+
Right there you will spend $600+ just on materials! That doesn’t even include cells!
kweld is more of a commercial spot welder, its probably far overkill for only 1 battery but if you ever make more its gonna make your life easier. Maletrics and boss spot welder are cheaper options which are good for 2-3 batteries/month so probably way more than you need
We might be a bit spoiled here in the UK/EU, fogstar is kinda a 1 stop shop for a lot of that stuff. I think my first battery was only $8 in nickle and $5 in kapton because they sell at really good prices with no MOQ
Totally fair and I appreciate your honesty! I still really want to pursue the battery building route. I know I can do it as long as there is a forum like this that can point me in the right direction. I’m not opposed to the difficulty/expense. I do plan on using these tools for other projects going forward. This was the soldering iron I was going to get by the way: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MDTO6X7/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=A2FGAWCX62OR7U&psc=1
Ordering in like 15kg for my new shop