While the cold has arrived and I’m unable to ride, I’ve been looking for a project to scratch my making itch so to speak. I’ve been thinking, what if I hit two birds with one stone?
Enter the winterizing project.
What I’m trying to look into are ways to make an eboard more resilient to winter conditions. Some factors that I’ve already thought of are:
Snow (duh) - obviously can’t ride urethane on snow, but this shouldn’t be an issue for regular commuting… the roads around here usually stay pretty clear
Melty snow - This is a bit more of an issue, as it can get into motors and bearings and such and cause corrosion. Not a fun time.
SALT - this one, is definitely a big issue, especially mixed with melty snow. Saltwater is super conductive and getting that inside the guts of a board would be a bad day. Also super corrosive and such.
I’ve already started designing an enclosure that should keep my internals dry and protected, but my motors are open-case outrunners and I have no clue how to protect them without compromising the cooling… I’ve been thinking some kind of upside down fender thing might do the trick, but if anyone has better ideas I’d love to hear them (as well as other winter details to consider).
If all goes well with this project, I’ll post the full process I used to keep all of my components safe from winteriness as well as results from any testing I do.
I’m getting another Pelican case and JB Welding all the wires in…and hardening the motors to keep them from getting salty. Probably gonna clean out the bearings once they get crunchy
First of all, color me impressed on those photos of your snow riding @b264! I didn’t think it’d be possible given the amount of slippage I thought it would cause.
In terms of all the tips, I’m already sensorless, so that’s a plus right off the bat. My motors are mounted in front of the truck, so there’s another plus.
Not sure how to waterproof my motors though - I’m running propdrives so they’re fairly open to the air. Despite this, I haven’t had any issues with them regarding water and dust ingestion and the like.
Do you recommend using that waterproofing compound on all connections, or just anything bare pcb?
Also, have you found that the snow and salt mess up your bearings at all?
All connections, and yes the brine eats bearings. I just use cheap ones like Bones Reds or something (not super-cheap but not high-dollar ones) and put regular general purpose oil all over them when I install them. If you’re not flinging oil on the first ten meters, it’s not enough
But driving a car on ice is super slippery, too. You just have to ride like you’re driving a car on ice. Slow and steady, no fast movements. Act like they’re 125A duro wheels that will break into a slide if you lean 2cm
Also prepare for your truck hardware to be rusted off. Sometimes I rub oil on the bolts, sometimes I just give no fucks. Definitely have oil on the axles so the bearings don’t rust onto them.
How much 419d do you recommend for doing one board (and preferably having some extra to fix fuckups)? The only bare pcb I have is my bms and my connections are all heatshrink’d.
EDIT: the cheapest bottle I can find is 55mL - is that enough?
. I slid on wet surfaces with my caguamas, let alone on snow
