I’ve been looking to build a new board and want it to be perfect, 99.9% of the time people use plastic timing blets , enertion, evolve and boosted used plastic belts for there drive train, but I have also seen people use metal chains.
What are the pros and cons of using timing belt or a timing chain? Thanks
It is said that the chain drive has more reliability, and lasts longer. It is also heater for riding off road, because rocks and debris can not get haughty in it. I’m not sure why more people don’t use chain drive, maybe because of how it looks, it because of the availability of parts
It can also take the torque and stress of braking better than a belt.
It will be noiser and harder to replace I believe.
Overall cost…
Chains need a lot more maintenance then belts. You need to lubricate them every so often and you’ll also need to clean them regularly due to the fact that dirt, some small garbage from the road, etc sticks to the oil and therefor the chain.
Also, chains are from metal, so they’ll cause for a faster wearing of your drive-train. --> need to replace whole set instead of just the belt.
Efficiency wise, the gain you’ll get by using a chain is soo small ( < 1% ) that it isn’t even worth it.
So why do bikes etc use chains instead of belts ? First, belts don’t work with derailleurs. --> some fixed, single speed and hub gears bikes use belts. (hub-gear = hard to maintain, so not that familliar) Secondly, chains won’t snatch as quick as a belt would due to debree. ( if maintained well )
here is a good article about it if you want to learn more …
i don’t think either is better or worst, chains last longer but require more maintenance and are a lot nosier. The reason most people use belts probably has to do with the small wheel size and space limitations under the board.
You’ve pretty much hit the nail on its head haha thanks
Glad I could help, I was wondering the same when I was working on my build.
Yep, I can’t imagine you’d have a lot of space for a chain on 80mm wheels.
Plus belts are cheap, light and really easy to replace when worn.
For me, chain has been a lot cheaper. My motor sprocket costs me $5, and my wheel sprocket costs $7, then $8 for chain = $20, whereas one pulley would cost me about the same.
Chain also takes less space and allows for a wider variety of gearing ratios.
chain drive- if youre gonna be off road more than 30% of the time riding
If youre just gonna be off road a little on light dirt or something then go with belt.
I was interested in chain drive debut didn’t know where to source parts, do u mind sharing a like for the parts?
I haven’t tried them yet but this looks like a pretty good place to get chains and parts
http://www.andymark.com/default.asp
Be sure to use the Ansi #25 chain, not the big bicycle stuff.
I have gotten my chain from McMaster (expensive) and make my own cogs on a small CNC mill out of Delrin. So far so good, but honestly not that many miles on them yet.
DougM
I just use ebay tbh, but there are better deals on chain at other places like here: http://www.vexrobotics.com/
I didnt like chains at all - mine was wearing down quicker than my belts (probably the chain was a little too small for the 6374s), and I kept it lubricated, which always caused a MESS just about everywhere on the board.
I messed with a DIY electric scooter before this electric skateboard stuff. I’m not sure what chains you guys need, but this place has always been good to me.
Ehh having a chain drive that close to the ground would need lots of maintenance… bikes have less maintenance because the actually drivetrain is higher up.
Belts are better overall for eBoards.
I’ve never used a chain but my belt has been pretty awesome so far. It lost some teeth once after a year of using it and I’m pretty sure it was because of my esc’s terribly hard braking. Here’s where I get them for really cheap: link They’re really easy to change on the go and you can always keep a spare in your enclosure.
Can you post some pics?
I’ll post some pics on my build thread later today, I’m using a 10t sprocket and an 80t sprocket on my pneumatics.
Does anybody know if chain driven electric skateboard can also be used as a normal skateboard/longboard without taking the chain off? And how does it perform in this category compared to belt driven ones?