What type of on/off switch are you going to use for the bms?
I just installed mine and had the same realization that I’ll need one.
Update 2020-05-26
Figured out the wire routing (which was the biggest remaining unknown). Also complete are tires, tubes, Loctite, foam, buttons, more.
New
RJ12 Ends
In looking at how to route the sensor wires and phase wires, it was important that the design allow the enclosure to be fully mounted to the board and then connected to the motors. With the limited cabling length, the wires need to be extended from the VESCs to get these connectors to the outside of the enclosure.
The JST 6 pin 2.0mm connectors (used for the sensor wires) do not easily lend themselves to extending, are not really compact, and have no real strain relief. I looked at many different options for 6 conductor connectors including the Haggy sensor connectors, but eventually landed on using an RJ12 connector. The RJ12 connector offers a small form factor and integrated strain relief in addition to allowing for easy connection to other RJ12 connectors.
RJ45 Coupler
In order to mate the RJ12 connectors between the motors and the VESCs, a simple compact RJ45 coupler will be used. It should be noted that this coupler maintains proper pin order allowing connectors with the same wire order to be connected together. This connector was also chosen both for the metal casing and compact form factor.
4mm Bullet Connector Extenders
Just as the sensor wires required extending to reach the outside of the enclosure, the 4mm bullet connectors on the phase wires also needed extensions
Bluetooth Module
Once the enclosure is bolted to the board, it should only be removed in the case of hardware maintenance. That said, VESC programming was initially completed through a direct USB connection to each VESC. To get around this issue, a compatible Bluetooth module will allow for programming of the VESCs (including firmware upgrades) when used with the VESC mobile app. This module will connect with COMM connector on the secondary VESC.
Cogging with MakerX VESCs
Reading through the site, I came across this reply in the Go-FOC SV6 and Go-FOC SV4 …Maker-X thread. This sounded very similar to the issue I was having with my SV6 VESCs. The next step here is to upgrade firmware to v5 and test again.
Changed
Smaller latching waterproof button
The 0.7" button I was planning on using was just too huge. I found a 12mm option which matches nicely with the button from the AntiSpark.
Complete
Get tubes and tires mounted / Get spacers installed and adapters mounted / Mount wheel to the adapters
This was mostly covered and completed over on the Janux-esk8 Aluminum Hubs to fit Direct Drive thread on post 161.
Additionally, here is a side by side of an uninflated Evolve 6" tire vs an inflated tire at 50PSI:
Also a full shot of the first wheel mounting:
Loctite Janux hubs and adapters
Applied Loctite 242 to the Janux hubs and to the bolts which hold the Kegel adapters to the motor CAN.
Finalize foam placement in the enclosure
The corners of the N.E.S.E. modules required the thicker foam but the sides of the enclosure needed the thinner material in order to squeeze everything in. Additional foam is located on the top of the N.E.S.E. modules and on top of the VESCs in order to firm up objects in the enclosure once the enclosure is mounted to the board.
Wire routing for the motor leads
The motor leads (phase wires) will go through the cable glands as originally planned. Additionally the extensions will allow these phase wires to connect between the VESCs and the motors after the enclosure is mounted to the board. Quick shot of the extensions:
Wire routing for the sensor wires
The choice to use the RJ12 connector was detailed above, but some additional detail is required here.
First, with the extensions made available through use of the RJ12 connectors, the original design of using a single cable gland for all three phase wires plus the sensor wires (per motor) can be achieved.
Second, it should be noted that the wires used for the JST connectors are ~1.2mm, too large for the ~1.05mm channels in the RJ12 connector ends. As a result, each of the sensor wire leads required soldering to CAT5 conductors. Since only 6 conductors are required, the brown pair was removed from the cable length and the blue, orange, and green pairs were used. The sleeve of the CAT5 was kept for the RJ12 strain relief clamp. CAT5 was chosen over flat 6P6C wire due to a) a better fit with the (3) phase wires within the same cable gland and b) the larger gauge of the conductors.
Third, the wire colors of the sensor wires differed from the motors to the cables supplied by the VESC manufacturer (these motors are also missing the temp sensor lead). As a result, special attention needed to be paid to how the connectors were wired.
Lastly, was the consideration of total connector length. When (2) RJ12 connectors are mated using the RJ45 coupler, the entire length of the assembly is 35.6mm including strain relief for each RJ12 connector. This length gives some flexibility in cable placement for the connectors.
Wire routing for the buttons
As mentioned in my update from 2020-04-10, I relocated the buttons to the front of the enclosure. The antispark uses a momentary switch, requiring (3) conductors whereas the BMS uses a latching switch requiring only (2) conductors.
For the antispark, I used a standard 3 pin fan extension cable. For the BMS I used a small two pin connector I had available:
The connectors are both located near the front of the enclosure and the wires are run such that they have the minimum chance of being crimped when the enclosure is mounted to the board.
Regrettably the placement of the buttons in the enclosure did not go quite as expected:
Now all I can think of when I look at the front of the enclosure is Sloth from Goonies.
Mount charge port to enclosure
The charge port (on the other hand) mounted exactly to plan. The XT30 connector kept the installation simple.
Help Needed
Nothing right yet
What’s Next
- Verify functionality of Bluetooth module
- Update firmware to v5
- Bench testing completed without failures (with fall back to BLDC)
- Mount cable glands to enclosure
- Mount enclosure to board
- Route motor cables to avoid motor contact
- Test ride
Research
The helmet thread has lots of food for thought.
2 Likes
What charge port are you using? Couldn’t find it… How many amps is it rated for?
Here you are: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SVWT1F8
10A current capacity, IP67, locking connector 
1 Like
Update 2020-07-16
All the final tasks completed- and she is rolling!
New
Cable sleeves
The sensor wires and phase wires were a little too exposed. Adding some cable sleeves (and heat shrink) to them ups the protection.
RipTide Bushings
After reading the info here I contacted Brad @RipTideSports and he suggested getting the Evolve kit for my setup. I’m about 170lbs and he suggested getting the white/green box (for more carve) or the green/wine red box (for more stability) I went for the latter:
This setup differs slightly from the earlier version on the eLofty thread:
- Bushing R4 (Rear Truck & Closest to the deck) is now a Chubby and has the same durometer as R3.
- Bushing F4 is now a FatCone and has the same durometer as F3
- Bushing F1 and R1 are both ShortStreetBarrels instead of ShortStreetCones
Bluetooth Programming
Now that the Bluetooth module is installed, this should become the primary method of programming the VESCs (no more direct connections required)
Protective Gear
It’s time to get a better helmet, wrist guards, and some more practical riding pants. I’ll use my motorcycle jacket for upper body protection.
Helmet
I expect to crash some on this board, so sacrificing my motorcycle helmet for this is a bad idea. I spent a lot of time reading the helmet thread and eventually arrived at a few contenders. My criteria:
- I do not like modular helmets as they introduce a weak point into the design of any helmet.
- I like my face the way it is = full face helmet.
- I want good ventilation
- I want good visibility
- I want a light helmet
- I want sufficient protection at bicycle speeds.
The 7iDP M1 checks all these boxes. It comes in just shy of 2lbs (less than 1kg) and provides a very comfortable fit. Highly recommended.
Wrist Guards
187 Killer Pads- The Wrist Guards:
I tried the Triple Eight Hired Hands, but found the top ABS bracer uncomfortable as it pressed against my pisiform bone. The 187 wrist guards are comfortable, offer great protection, and work well with my remote.
Pants
Fashio Motorbike Jeans - Black:
My full motorcycle pants are a bit much and after some browsing around Amazon I came across these Fashio pants. I like how snug they are since this will ensure that the internal pads are in the correct location in the case of a fall. My one complaint is that the knee pads are a bit long and dig into my upper shin when my knees are not bent. Some aftermarket modification should address this without sacrificing protection.
Temp Sensor
The Neptune 15 BMS comes with a temp sensor. Adding this was easy and allows me to measure the ambient temperature around the electronics. This change required an update to the wiring diagram:
Changed
Smaller Cable Glands
Since deciding on the RJ-12 connector for the sensor wires, I was able to move from the PG13.5 to the smaller PG11 cable glands. This allowed for smaller holes in the enclosure (which is always nice) while still capturing the three phase wires and the sensor wires. This change required an update to the dimensional drawing:
Complete
Updated firmware to v5 and Tested
The biggest outstanding issue was the cogging of the motors. As I mention in my previous post, I found a post which sounded very similar to the issue I was having with my SV6 VESCs. I was able to update to firmware v5 and can confirm that the cogging problem now appears to be totally addressed. To be clear, I used VESC tool v2.06 for firmware updating.
Verified functionality of Bluetooth module
Before closing things up, I needed to make sure that I could program my VESCs using the Bluetooth module. Surprisingly, the hardest part of this was side loading the .apk file. For some reason the file browser on my phone would not install the .apk file (although I have sideloaded apps before). I needed to resort to installing the app using the Android dev tools in order to get the app in place, but once added, configuration was easy.
Before doing any programming, I simply started up the app and connected the Bluetooth module. At this point, my VESC programming was lost and I need to reconnect my laptop to the VESCs to run through the configuration again (I probably could have programmed with the phone, but wanted to walk through a known good solution first). In reading some other threads it appears that this is not entirely uncommon and the initial connection with the Bluetooth module will reset VESC programming. After reprogramming with the laptop, successive connections with the phone were easy and successful with no further instances of resetting.
Mount cable glands to enclosure
I was able to mount the cable glands in the designated spot in the enclosure. Internal clearance was not a problem at all:
Externally, however, they do protrude somewhat far vertically. Overall, however, I’m happy with the result:
Mount enclosure to board
First, I had to comb down the wires internally to ensure I had the proper clearance and make sure none of the components moved inside the enclosure while it was being attached:
After attaching the enclosure to the board, the cables were connected between the enclosure and the motors:
As stated above, to ensure the protection of the sensor wires and phase wires, some additional cable sleeves were used. This cleans up the external wiring quite a bit:
Route motor cables to avoid motor contact
Although the motors ship with cable sleeves installed over the motor cables, these sleeves would hang dangerously close to the motor CANs and often contact these CANs when in a hard carve. To avoid this contact, I used a makeshift bracket on top of the rear baseplate along with a velcro strap to hold the motor cables flush to the underside of the board. Longer term this makeshift bracket will be replaced with a permanent bracket as part of the mounting hardware for the brake lights.
Test ride
After pulling this all together I was able to take a short test ride and it was AMAZING. Here’s my initial impressions:
- Off the line speeds are underwhelming, but at about 5mph things really pick up
- Brakes were great out of the gate
- Carving is so much fun
- Things started to get squirrelly at about 18mph
- With the remote on (M)edium, I cannot max out my speed before board stability becomes an issue. (H)igh is just crazy time. Wheels up & no load (bench test), 95% duty cycle = ~42mph.
RipTide bushings installed
After adjusting the preload and getting the feel for the stock bushings, it seemed time to move over to the new RipTide bushings. Installation was mostly easy, but as mentioned in the thread I link to above, the seating for the R1 bushing (the farthest from the board on the rear truck) has just slightly too small a diameter for the supplied ShortStreetBarrel. I convinced it to go in eventually but it took a lot of patience and elbow grease. Also, the fender washers supplied were just a little too small for the diameter of the StreetBarrels and ShortStreetBarrels (F1/F2 and R1/R2) so I reused the fender washers from the eLofty kit (which have a slightly larger diameter). Here’s how it turned out:
Front:
Rear:
How does it ride?
- Stock bushings had a “float” in the middle (like the drift in old rack and pinion steering). This is totally gone.
- Carving is more predictable and progressive. Getting into and out of a carve feels like a much smoother transition.
- The front truck initiates the turn and the rear follows. This is noted elsewhere on this forum and makes for a more predictable carve.
- Stability at speed moved from about 17.5mph to about 23mph. This is just the very beginnings of speed wobbles. Higher speeds may be possible with more preload and smooth roads.
Thanks for the great ride Brad @RipTideSports
Help Needed
Nothing right yet
What’s Next
- Experiment with optimizing motor settings
- More riding
- Pull, clean, and reseat the bearings after break-in.
- Tear down, sand, and paint
- Regrip
- Build a custom mount for the motor wires and brake lights
Research
Nothing right now
9 Likes
Looking good! Your diagrams are always my favorite. I would recommend cutting the phase and sensor wires to get them to an appropriate length, its a lot more work but will look great when done right
4 Likes
Update 2020-07-30
- First long ride
- Pull, clean, and re-seat the bearings after break-in.
- Re-terminated sensor wires to match phase wire length
- Scalloped board to avoid CAN bite
- Optimize wire routing
- Experimented with optimizing settings
New
First log ride
Grabbed a spare tube and tire, some tools and air, and headed out on a 10 mile ride. It was a glorious adventure punctuated by a very long uphill at the end of the distance; I changed the remote into high and was able to climb at above 20mph all the way up.
In general, the initial pull for the board is a bit slow (expected of 2WD direct drive + pneumatics), but once it hits about 7mph it really takes off.
Bones Bearing Cleaning Unit
Ran through a full bearing cleaning and re-lubed with Bones Speed Cream. The unit was simple to use, the hardest part was unseating the bearings from the aluminum hubs.
New Knee Inserts
The stock knee protection which ships with the Fashio Motorbike Jeans are really uncomfortable and difficult to insert into the pants (due to their segmented design). I was able to track down some Cortec CE2 Knee Pads and these are better in every possible way. They insert into the pants much easier, provide a higher level of protection, and are WAY WAY more comfortable. I highly suggest this upgrade.
Changed
Re-terminated sensor wires to match phase wire length
(Good suggestion @Linny) The initial effort to terminate the sensor wires in RJ-12 connectors turned out well, except that I had approximately 4-5cm of extraneous cable which resulted in a slightly complicated cable run. To clean things up I pulled off the heat shrink, cable cover, clipped the sensor wires back, then started the process over again. After some quality time with the soldering iron I’m quite happy with the result:
Complete
Scalloped board to avoid can bite
Somewhere along the way I noticed a faint line on each motor can. It’s possible this happened before I dropped in the Riptide bushings, but regardless, I was getting some small contact between the motor cans and the deck. With the rear truck off for the sensor wire work, I grabbed my Dremel and added some small scallops to the deck at the contact points:
Once I remounted the rear truck I made sure to tighten everything down to proper levels. I’m hoping between the bushings, the kingpin tension, and the scallops, that future contact will be avoided.
Optimize wire routing
With the sensor and phase wire lengths now matching, I wanted to change the wire path, minimizing the length of cable under the deck. I have my initial strategy complete which:
- Maximizes ground clearance
- Keeps sufficient slack for the motors
- Completely avoids any possible contact with the motor cans
- Keeps much of the wire runs above deck (to avoid possible contact with road debris)
I’ll finalize these wire runs once I design and build my brake light mount, but for now, this should provide a general concept:
Experimented with optimizing settings
After running through the VESC FOC Motor Configuration Wizard, I rode the board and tweaked settings one at a time. I have landed on a configuration which I think provides settings conservative enough to minimize long term affects on the 30Q cells while maintaining full safety while braking. Settings not noted below were left at default. I’d love to hear input from other eLofty owners on how they have their settings dialed in.
MOTOR CFG / General / Current
- Motor Current Max: ~30A (result of FOC motor config wizard)
- Motor Current Max Brake: ~-40A (result of FOC motor config wizard with an additional -10A)
- Absolute Maximum Current: 45A (30A results in brake failure at max brake and remote high cut outs at max throttle. Have had no issues at 45A)
- Battery Current Max: 30A (At 30A per VESC, we’re looking at 60A Battery Current Max Total, which matches max discharge rates for 30Q Cells at 4P)
- Battery Current Max Regen: 10A (I’m trying to be conservative here and not hurt the 30Q cells)
MOTOR CFG / General / Voltage
- Battery Voltage Cutoff Start: 40.8V
- Battery Voltage Cutoff End: 38.4V (Trying to be nice to the cells and cut off at 3.2V/cell)
APP CFG / VESC Remote / General
- Use Smart Reverse: On
- Smart Reverse Max Duty Cycle: 10% (the default of 7% didn’t quite match the braking power of the motor braking. 10% makes this a smooth transition)
- Smart Reverse Ramp Time: 0s (I’m not sure why this is 3s by default since it essentially stops braking for 3 seconds as it transitions between motor braking and smart reverse. Dropping this to 0s makes for a smooth braking curve all the way down to a full stop.)
- Traction Control: On
Help Needed
I called Marc @Janux-esk8 and I was hoping to get a spare hub for my set. Regrettably he’s not selling his hubs as one offs, but only in the original sets of (4). This means I need to find 2-3 other people to go in with me on a set before they are gone. With Marc making an exit from the DIY community I’m hoping to grab these before they are gone.
What’s Next
- Get spare hub and build as a quick swap spare
- Build a custom mount for the motor wires and brake lights
- Tear down, sand, and paint
- Regrip
Research
Learn Fusion 360
4 Likes
Update 2020-08-22
New
The Piggy Back
I love being able to #carvetheworld with this board, and I want to explore greater distances.
Enter the Piggy Back:
This way I can carve while on the way to some carving at some distant location.
Complete Wire Coverage
The RJ12 connectors and phase wire couplings were exposed to allow for maximum flexibility in removing the rear truck and / or the enclosure. With the remaining steps no longer requiring this flexibility, it was time to get these connectors fully covered.
First I covered the glands at the enclosure openings:
Next, I covered the phase wire couplings:
Finally, I added more split loom, enclosing the last of the exposed section:
Multifunction Top Bracket
The goals here were
- Create a protective path for the wires to run from the enclosure to the motors while maintaining sufficient slack in the cables.
- Maximize clearance by hoisting the wires up just as the leave the enclosure
- Maintain some line slack at the motors to accommodate the flex as the rear truck pivots
- Protect the wires from being crimped or crushed
- Provide a sturdy mount for the brake lights, maintaining high visibility and the ability to easily detach the lights from the board for charging.
- Build a mount for a spare hub / tire / tube which also acts as a protective surface on which to invert the board while charging.
After some iteration, I landed on a design where I would mount a new top bracket above the truck. It would be held in place by using the same truck mount bolts but have holes to handle the remaining features described above.
- A front hole would allow the wires to be hoisted as they leave the enclosure, maximizing ground clearance
- Side holes could be used to zip tie the wires to a specific tension
- A square hole would accommodate a 5/16 carriage bolt, allowing for mounting of a spare wheel / tube / tire
- The rear bolt holes would also be used to connect brackets for mounting the brake lights
Here’s the design diagrams from the side and top as well as the light bracket
Again, I was able to contract with JnJ Fab to create these parts out of 3/16 stainless steel. After a bit a finishing work, the top bracket came out nicely:
Next:
- I grabbed some 20mm stainless brackets for the light bracket.
- I grabbed some 45mm m5 bolts to accommodate the additional lift of the top bracket.
For the brake lights, the intent was to detach the threaded mount from the bicycle bracket and attach each threaded mount to the light bracket itself (pictured above). Here’s a shot of the brake light mounting hardware:
That said, after assembling the top bracket, I found the bolt spacing afforded by the brackets was just perfect to mount a single light directly in the center of the board using the included bicycle mounting hardware. I really liked this more minimalist and clean look and decided to abandon the light bracket entirely. After some fine tuning to find the exact right number of washers for spacing (13 at truck front / 12 at truck rear), the multifunction top bracket was mounted and ready to go:
Some thoughts on this:
- The bracket spacing keeps the wires snug (but not pinched). I’m unsure if I will need to utilize the side holes.
- The black zip tie at the front maintains the ground clearance, I will likely have a slightly cleaner looking solution in the long-term.
- I love the look of the central brake light. I’d like to get some slightly bigger washers for a more secure hold on the light mounting hardware
- Taking this apart to put the spare mount carriage bolt in place is going to be a PITA, however, I decided it would be safer to not have an unprotected post sticking up from the rear truck just in case I fall wrong. Once I manage to get a spare hub (see Help Needed below) I’ll get the spare mounted.
Looking at how the wires route from the enclosure to the motors with this new bracket, I’m very pleased with the results:
Changed
Abandoned the light bracket approach (detailed above)
Complete
This board is now ready to be ridden, day our night. I’m only missing a helmet mounted light to complete my night riding setup. I really like the approach used by @Venom121212 here .
Help Needed
I called Marc @Janux-esk8 and I was hoping to get a spare hub for my set. Regrettably he’s not selling his hubs as one offs, but only in the original sets of (4). This means I need to find 2-3 other people to go in with me on a set. With Marc making an exit from the DIY community I’m hoping to grab these before they are gone.
In the case of a flat, having a new hub ready to go would allow for a tire change in about 3 minutes versus closer to 20 minutes. This would also mean no Allen wrench or tire pump, just a simple nyloc nut.
What’s Next
- Helmet light
- Get spare hub and build as a quick swap spare
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
- Tear down, sand, and paint
- Regrip
Research
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
6 Likes
I really like that back bracket spacer idea. I just noticed my mtb cable braids are ground through the outer wire sleeve from rubbing on the grip tape on the edge of the deck. I’m going to borrow some inspiration from you.
The helmet mounted light is stellar. So much visibility and being up high let’s you see stuff in the road much better than low lights.
Board lights vs helmet:
Is that the xlite100?
Edit: read through your thread.
This would be a nice riser made out of metal.
Shoot, wish I had seen this post earlier. You should set this back to whatever the default is for your ESC (usually above 100A). That settings is for current spikes, which can and will happen, as you found out yourself by having it too low. 45A is too low imo, it should be set higher so that you don’t get a cut-out at speed 
Since you have temperature sensors in the motors, you can increase the motor current as well if you want, no harm done. Also, I know your settings are within the battery safety limits, but if you care more about your life than your cell lifespan, you should increase battery regen by 2x. Just remember to brake conservatively when casually riding, but you will be very glad when a situation comes up where the increased braking power saves you!
Ah- thanks for the tip. I will certainly set this back up to the higher value (I think it was 150A)
I made the Hall Sensor adapters to accommodate all (6) wires, but the eLofty motors do not have an internal thermistor. With the AT setup on these, things do get quite warm when riding hard or on hills, so I’m reticent to push these too much farther.
The battery regen is also an excellent point. I believe 8A regen per VESC is spec with 30Q cells (4A Max per cell). The 10A I’m using definitely helps slow the board, but your point stands. You suggest closer to 20A per VESC?
1 Like
Yeah, 20A per vesc I think is something the batteries can still handle safely for an emergency stop. Since your motors don’t have temperature sensors, then probably best to leave their current as is, good call
Update 2020-09-18
New
A Lesson in Balancing
In late August I was checking my BMS and found that my battery had fallen out of balance. I chronicled the process of bringing it back along with some thoughts on a root cause and some hard data here.
The Charging Stand
I wanted an easy way to store and charge YT. Requirements:
- Minimal floor space
- Charger can easily mount to stand, but can also be easily removed for travel charging
- No metal on metal contact
- Board is positioned so that charging port is easily accessible
- Brake light fixture is protected from contact
- Addition of spare (at a later time) will not impact the fit
- Could balance well on its own as well as when loaded
- Remote storage
I toyed around with different designs, eventually landing on a design using:
- 2x2 wood pieces
- Sunk holes to ensure no metal extended beyond the wood
- Vinyl covered eye bolts (bent) with heat shrink on the bolt ends
- 1/4" hardware for affixing the wood pieces to each other
- Wood spools with spacers to affix the DC charger to the stand
- S-hook for Remote storage
- Soft pads to protect the floor and wall
Here’s the design:
And here’s the finished product:
Changed
Nothing
Complete
The charging stand and balancing knowledge, as mentioned above.
Still need a spare…
You can check my thoughts from previous postings above, but I still need to get that spare hub in place.
What’s Next
- Helmet light- I have a great idea here, working out the details now and will get back here to post more info soon.
- Get spare hub and build as a quick swap spare
- VESC: Bump absolute max and battery regen as per the note from @rusins above
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
- Tear down, sand, and paint
- Regrip
Research
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
6 Likes
I love your liberal use of dot points 
1 Like
I love this thread. Your attention to detail and the way you describe your thought process is sure to help budding DIYers (including myself). Thank you for putting so much time and effort into your journey. Keep up the awesome work!
2 Likes
Update 2020-10-12
New
Blowout
On vacation in Pismo beach, I had a great few days cruising around this great beach town.
During one of the day rides, I must have hit something pretty hard. After arriving at my destination and chilling for 20 minutes or so, I noticed the right rear tire was totally flat. I saw no evidence of a puncture, but trying to inflate the tube resulted in instant loss of pressure. Luckily I had brought a spare tire/tube + tools with me. After an hour of work (or so) I was inflated and back on the road.
Post-mortem:
-
Puncture in the tube:
-
(2) of (5) motor Kegel adapter pins broke off(!). I’ve ordered a new set of the (10) pin Kegel adapters from esk8supply; hoping these hold up better.
-
This experience clarified the importance of finishing off the spare mounting on the board. Changing out the Evolve 6" tires on the Janux hub is tough: the sidewall of the tire is very low profile, which makes extraction from the hub difficult and finicky, especially while away from a workbench.
Changed
Spare hub approach
Not sure why I didn’t think of this before: all (4) Janux hubs have the Kegel adapter slots built into the hub but only the rear hubs require these slots. This means that I can carry an Evolve hub as a spare (since it works fine as a front wheel on the 8mm axles). If I blow a front tire, this is a simple swap. If I blow a rear tire, I simply move the front wheel (with Janux hub) to the rear and replace the front with the Evolve spare. This cuts way down on repair time.
Evolve lets you order custom hubs one at a time (with tire and tube!). I ordered a black hub with the 6" street tire to use as the spare. I sourced some inexpensive bearings from my local shop, and started the build process.
When I designed the stainless plate for the rear truck, I made sure to include a cutout for the square of a 5/16" carriage bolt. I grabbed some 5/16 hardware from my local hardware store and started sizing up the best fit for the clearance on the Evolve hub. After playing with washers, nuts, nyloc nuts, lock washers, bearing spacers, and different bolt lengths, I arrived at this following setup:
- (1) 2" x 5/16" Carriage Bolt
- (3) 5/16 washers
- (1) 5/16" Nyloc
Dropping the Evolve spare onto the 5/16" bolt and securing with a simple 5/16" nut finishes off the mounting process:
I really like how this came out. The mount is far enough back that it doesn’t interfere with my back foot on the board. In fact, if I decide to try out Urban Treads on these hubs, I should still have clearance. The next step here is to figure out a new mounting option for the brake light.
New Wire Suspension
The black zip tie I used for suspending the wires under the board (to maintain ground clearance) was only ever intended as a temporary solution. With the final plate mounting complete it was time to finalize the wire suspension.
In using the black zip tie and Velcro combo, this resulted in a twist of the zip tie 90 degrees between the plate and the Velcro loop. To resolve this I added a small aluminum carabiner (from a Sierra Nevada growler fill) and ran the zip tie in a full loop. This results in better clearance on the top of the stainless plate and no twist. I also think it looks rather fetching:
Complete
Stainless Plate
Now that both the spare mounting bolt and the wiring suspension are completed, the stainless plate can be considered completed.
A quick note on washer counts:
- Rear truck, rear bolts use:
- (12) M5 washers between the stainless plate and top of the base plate
- (2) M5 washers between the bottom of the board and the M5 Nyloc
- Rear truck, front bolts use:
- (13) M5 washers between the stainless plate and top of the base plate
- (2) M5 washers between the bottom of the board and the M5 Nyloc
What’s Next
- Helmet light- I have a great idea here, working out the details now and will get back here to post more info soon.
- Tail light remounting with the new spare
- VESC: Bump absolute max and battery regen as per the note from @rusins above
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
- Tear down, sand, and paint
- Regrip
Research
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
7 Likes
Update 2020-11-23
New
eLofty 10 pin Kegel Adapters
After the blowout and adapter destruction (detailed in my notes above) I ordered some replacement Kegel adapters for the eLofty motors. Here’s a quick shot of the 5pin adapter destruction:
The new adapters required a little bit of time to ship from overseas, and when they arrived, I knew this wouldn’t be a simple swap. Here’s a quick run down of the differences and modifications required to make the new adapters work.
Multiple pieces
The new adapters arrive in more pieces:
It seems like a cost saving measure to ship a single adapter baseplate, and then include the wheel adapter pins separately. Considering the wear and tear eSkates experience, this multi part adapter assembly seems like a step backward.
The adapter pin component attaches to the baseplate using 10mm M4 socket head countersunk bolts.
HOWEVER, even when tightened fully, the adapter pin component was not fully seated to the baseplate (there was about 0.5mm of wiggle). Considering the torque being put on these bolts, a loose adapter would likely lead to a premature failure. As a result, I ordered some 8mm M4 socket head countersunk bolts and the adapter now has a solid fit. An extra 1mm of threading in the pin component would have solved this issue; too bad this wasn’t checked at the factory.
Bigger diameter
Since my original purchase, eLofty motors have moved from a 65mm can to a 72mm can. Luckily, the bolt spacing to attach the adapter to the can is the same dimensions
Old (5pin) adapter diameter:
New (10pin) adapter diameter:
Shorter height
This is the biggie. Since there is an ideal spacing for the pin adapters to provide full engagement of the Kegel pins into the wheel hub, changing the height dimension of the adapter is a big deal. Pulling out the calipers, the new 10pin adapter measured at least 3mm smaller than the older 5pin adapter (although the pin length stayed the same at ~10mm). Here’s some of the measurements:
5pin adapter height with pins:
10pin assembled adapter height with pins:
5pin adapter height no pins:
10pin adapter height, no pins, no base:
10pin adapter height, with pins, no base:
10pin adapter base:
Looking at my original photos of the adapter seating to the hubs, I still had about 1mm of room between the adapter and the hub. Adding to this the 3mm+ of extra spacing needed to keep the adapter flush with the hub, and I decided to make another aluminum adapter plate, this time with a 72mm diameter.
Adding this together with the new adapter I was able to get very close to the total height of the original adapter:
When assembled, I was happy with the finished product:
Pin spacing
Looking back to my original decision on the Janux hubs, I decided to go with the Torqueboards kegel adapter spacing since it was reported that the 5pin eLofty adapters would fit (and I thought, why not have the best of both worlds). The fact that there are different size adapters for something that is supposed to be a “standard” was frustrating, but I made the leap. It ended up that the hubs needed a very small amount of filing to get the 5pin adapters to fit, but it worked out. In short, the eLofty Kegel adapter is slightly “larger” (as in, the distance between two pins across the axle is slightly more) than a standard Kegel pin arrangement. With softer wheel cores this may not be an issue, but with aluminum hubs this difference in tolerance is noticeable.
After the new 10pin Kegel adapters arrived, it was obvious that the hubs were going to require a lot more than just filing. Taking into account that my spare solution uses an Evolve hub (so if I get a flat on the rear I would need to move the front hub to the rear and then drop the Evolve hub up front), all (4) Janux hubs needed to be machined to ensure they fit the new 10pin adapters. The key was to make sure to take only enough material that the adapters would seat, but the fit would remain snug. Here’s the before and after:
Janux hubs before machining:
Janux hubs after machining:
Final fitment
Due to the slightly larger <=1mm additional height of the adapters, there’s a little less thread for the axle Nyloc to grab:
That said, it seems like enough and I like the results:
Changed
Bump absolute max and battery regen
As per the suggestion from @rusins above, I bumped per motor regen to 12A and the absolute max current to 150A to handle any transient power spikes.
Helmet Light (or lack thereof)
After trying out several different iterations of mounting a light to my helmet, I decided to change direction and instead relay upon a nice, hand-held, 18650 flashlight with 90deg pivot.
My thoughts here are:
- I like keeping the helmet unmodified since it’s designed to help save my brain
- Moving the light source slightly farther away from my eyes means that it should be easier to judge the distance to objects illuminated by this light source.
- Lights on the board are more for people seeing you and not the other way around.
- The 90deg pivot of the flashlight puts the light at an optimal angle while keeping the wrist angle very comfortable (which should avoid fatigue on longer night rides)
- Since I ordered (50) 30Q cells (for the price break), this gives me something to do with those last (2) cells.
Complete
Spare swap mid-ride
Field tested! After getting everything reassembled, I took her out for a ride. Lo and behold, about 2/3 through I had a flat, The Evolve spare approach worked flawlessly and I was back riding again within about 5 minutes.
What’s Next
- VESC: Add additional low speed torque
- Tear down, sand, and paint
- Regrip
Research
Nothing right now
9 Likes