@Spek - I’m Dexter from DIYES. Our motors are high quality motors specifically our latest 6355 170KV and 6355 190KV motors as we have upgraded the stator added more durable retaining rings. These added features increased the price but they are still the same price they have always been which makes them much more affordable because we take a smaller margin.
Our VESCs are high quality and you get what’s pictured. Each VESC is confirmed and tested twice to confirm that it is 100% working prior to shipping out.
One thing you should know is this is an Enertion forum so you have countless fanboys on here. No offense to anybody, just stating the obvious some of Enertion products are good quality.
As for our wheels, I haven’t clunked any of my ABEC clones.
We also have our 10S4P 12S3P packs which will now also include enclosures with a 30amp cont/80amp peak rating.
Hey Dexter. I was reading yesterday about motor detection on the VESC and how they blow out the first time they receive power. Do you guys charge the capacitor before shipping so they’re basically plug and play? The article or thread I was reading had guys buying these expensive lab power supplies just to turn on the VESC for the first time - and that is my concern. Thanks for chiming in
@Spek - I haven’t had any issues with the VESC blowing up upon connection. I’ve tested well over 600 of our VESCs by hand. Not sure what you mean by the capacitor being charged, that’s not really needed. It’s easier if you have a flat pack that has an on/off switch. You can check our youtube for more info on VESC setup - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTvBTevjSrhrWIOTWkWKcgA. It’s fairly easy.
Sounds like a great build! I think your specs look great and the 170 vs 190kv motors is really going to depend on your needed top speed. Not being a downhill guy (ever) - going 20+ on an esk8 is plenty fast for me. I gear for a top speed of 25 and have seen 30mph once (tail wind?). Usually probably cruise around 15-20 (22.6 says gps last weekend on Marbel).
Deck is preference. Best part of DIY is ability to make an esk8 from your favorite deck or deck type that normally isn’t offered. Being a former DH guy - do you want super stiff, or want more like the boosted (definitely some flex)? I’ve ridden my buddies Dual+ (v1) and my Marbel - very different ride quality. The flex of the Vanguard is great for rough surfaces, and honestly it’s a well dialed in setup. My Marbel is good, but being stiffer it transmits a lot more vibration. Looking forward to the 100mm wheels to help dampen.
If you want flex - the Vanguard deck is great (there’s others too that flex well). Otherwise you may be able to re-purpose an old DH deck if you want to too!
Your VESC won’t blow up spontaneously (yes some fail - MTBF). Mostly i try to use my VESC’s a bit conservatively. @Chaka had a great writeup detailing some recommended setups to stay below 60k ERPM. Ultimately i usually stick around 8s and it works well for me. But may do 9 or 12s on next build - just being a bit more gentle when pack is full and avoid beating up on them too much.
Wheel size is a great question. I suggest the 83mm flywheel or clone to start. If you can go larger - i’m a fan of monster wheels (97’s my current favorite but trying to see if i can fit some e-fly 107mm’s!). They roll better over rough surfaces, but you need a big cutout symmetrical deck or similar to comfortably fit (without monster risers).
Definitely get some more motor pulleys. I’m also looking forward to trying DIYes 40t (vs 36t) flywheel gears. A thing i love about DIYes wheel gears is their quality construction and aluminum vs injection molded which seems to be more and more common (just more economical maybe?).
What are you going to do for charging? check out the iMax B6ACv2 - my favorite budget but quality charger.
Great questions and i’m looking forward to seeing your build! hope to help more if you have other questions i can help with.
I actually owned a loaded back in… idk, 2004. Loved that deck but I wouldn’t go faster than boosted’s 22mph on it. That flex is great for bumps in the road and vibration. Also very fun for carving. The problem is that flex seems to also absorb your weight when making turns and steals traction from your wheels. Sliding is fun but only when you want it to slide.
In my experience you want your deck to be as stiff and as low as possible. Adding risers to a board makes it feel less stable at speed. At one point I owned about 8 complete longboards, all with their different uses. They were all stollen one day and it still pisses me off haha. The decks I do have are not ideal for an eBoard build (landyachtz evo and some lanytachz flexy bamboo fiberglass pintail).
As far as speed goes I used to have about a 30mph tolerance before the terror set in. A lot of that terror came from lack of brakes and bombing hills alongside cars. I don’t want to find myself riding a boosted board and wanting more speed and my money back. And yea, that loaded deck is fun as hell, but not my choice for going fast.
Monster wheels are nice for speed but they also get you higher off the ground which makes the ride feel more squirly at speed. My ideal size was always 70mm for an analog board but I think for the application 83mm sounds like the best of both worlds in terms of size.
One of the reasons I’m drawn to DIY’s batteries is the included fast 4a charger so that’s my current plan for charging. Right now I don’t really want to deal with finding a separate battery and charger. For this first build I’m going to leave the batteries to the professionals and save building my own for when I’ve got some actual experience working with this stuff. My plan is to actually build a <100wh battery for air travel as a DIY project when the time is right. By then I’ll have a better understanding of all the connectors and whatnot.
I think now I’m leaning toward their 10s4P pack but there’s a note at the bottom of the description that the enclosure is still in development. Can anyone tell me what their enclosures are like? Is it something you can mount directly to the board or are they referring to a shrink wrap enclosure for protection only?
Also, thanks everyone for all the responses. Its helping me work out my thoughts and I’m getting even more pumped to build this beast.
The time it took to write my long winded response - all these others commented and i missed them! (at work in meetings, so i have a decent excuse) I would’ve been the first response otherwise.
Vedder recommended using a low amperage power supply - either a lab supply you can limit to just a few amps, or a smaller battery pack to power it the first time. I’m not 100% certain why, but it’s what i’ve done on mine ( have 5 VESCs now i think - most all older hw4.7/4.8 and one newer 4.11). I take a small tired Traxxas 3s lipo and use it to power the VESC and program it the first time (do motor discovery, etc.).
Can’t go wrong with the li-ion 18650 packs! BMS and plug and forget charging is nice!
Agree on big wheels and ride height - why i love a good drop deck. Also not something you can find except DIY! My favorite board was my custom subsonic e-GBomb w/ 97’s:
Evening ride w/ my buddy and his Dual+
Unfortunately that board was stolen and i’m slowly rebuilding v2. (bigger better faster stronger!) I got a custom subsonic deck from Scott (they moved their shop on my commute home!) - a slightly different shape and thicker for enclosing the electronics!
If you want to keep ride height lower - you can also use the Flywheel gears w/ the smaller 76mm flywheels! They have the same hub and are super light compared to the larger 83mm wheels (190g vs 330g ea).
Some example setups and speed calculations. I got an old xlsx from Beetbocks and his has been the closes real-world for me. I have a newer one that also shows ERPM which is nice, but it typically shows about 2mph faster.
Playing w/ settings - 76mm wheels:
Adjusting just the motor pulley to 16 from 14 gets you 26.29359.
And if you want to go faster - also look at the 190kv motor DIYes has available - same setups now would get:
That’s a crazy deck. I’ve never seen metal drops like that. Is it custom?
I just talked to an old friend who races downhill competitively and he said to go with kegels 100%. His words “wheels are way better now’days”. I believe him. That’s why I made the comment about the wheel clones above. Yeah theres the shape/design but Urethane isn’t like cloning a truck where you pick a commonly used and trusted steel. It always seemed like they had their secret formulas. I remember my first set of abec 11 wheels after riding sector 9’s house brand. Back then there were only a few longboard companies and sector 9 was the one you’d see everywhere. When abec 11 wheels were new on the scene it was an amazing difference.
Also the wheel design plays a huge roll. The kegels have that sharp angle on the lip which provides a ton of traction as opposed to the flywheels’ rounded corners. Good for cruising but they were not the best carvers.
This leads to my next line of queationing: kegel wheel pulleys. I see that @torqueboards has some for sale but a 9mm belt sounds very small. What’s the best option there?
I’m starting to look into doing enclosures in fibreglass. Looks easy to work with and fairly simple to form to the desired shape. It also can take vinyl graphics, unlike ABS.
@longhairedboy When I was young I built crappy decks in my garage and encorporated fiberglass into them. I wanted graphics so I printed some designs on paper and put a layer of fiberglass resin over the paper. It looked really professional for how easy it was. Sort of formed a clear coat and saturated the fibrous paper just like it was intended to do. That would give you an effective, cheap and easy solution. You could even take your favorite tshirt and add some glass. Fiberglass!
Sorry I tend to write my train of thought and it gets long and takes tangets
nope - Gbomblongboards,com. Great setups. The brackets are awesome, and the deck was a Subsonic custom (for my weight CF reinforced). They’re known more for LDP. Super cool setup and the aluminum does a good job absorbing some of the bumps as a bonus.
great ride height - lower than my buddies Dual+ with 80’s (and im on 97’s here) Didn’t get to finish cleaning it up before stolen (phase wires and velcro was temp).
Wheels - Kegels are really nice, but 9mm is a little skinny on the gears. If you are heavy i’d recommend 12 or 15mm for a single setup. 9mm only on a dual setup.
I also like the legit Flywheels in the softer duros.
I’m playing around with GF and CF now. A ton of fun. I’m still a noob, but getting better. Started out w/ simple deck reinforcement (and aesthetics)…
Lots of fun learning how to do it! definitely improving with practice and enclosures are next!
This is pissing me off. Picasa went away, and now Google Photos is this ridiculously long URL for every image. So i’ve been using a Google URL shortener thinking that was the issue - nope!
In a shared folder i’ve used for years - wonder if my GT2b thread or XT90 loop key pics still work? I know when my phone auto backs up my pics - those backup folders i can’t share the pic - i have to move it to a shared folder first. I can see them but nobody else. Now these above don’t even show for me! Grrr
@torqueboards does your 10s4p come with an enclosure or should I be searching for one? If so any details you can give me on the enclosure would be a great help. If I need to find an enclosure, how does one make the switch, charger plug and screen accessible on the outside? Thanks
Also, sold my scooter and will be buying all my parts on sunday!
@Spek - Yeah, it will come with an enclosure but we need to re-work our mold a bit to make sure it’s a better fit. Not sure on how long that will take just yet. I might be able to get some of the old enclosures but it won’t fit as great.
I’ll have an option with a rectangle cut out that will fit all the components for previous packs.
