Hi, I’ve been wanting to make a nice compact portable build for a couple months now. I’ve final started getting some parts and understanding things a little better. Basically, I’m on the lighter side, completely used to commuting with a penny board, fruit boots 
, and regular skateboards. I do my commuting in the city, Philadelphia to be exact. So crazy speed is not a concern, but philly is actually very bike friendly so skating in the bike lanes has always been a norm. You can get around faster in the city on a board or bike than in a car during rush hours.
Soooo, I have embarked on this journey using a new nickel board. I got 2 zippy 6s20c 3000mah batteries which I will be setting up in series. Waiting on the connectors to come in the mail now. I have a balance charger and was told charging them in parallel will be faster so I got an adaptor for that as well on the way. I found a $23 reciever/transmitter on ebay that is on the way. I found a little tray at the thrift store for $0.99 that fits PERFECT for my enclosure. It even has vent holes.
I’ve made a little holder for the batteries with some of the anti explosion box I was given for my Samsung note 7. Used some frozen duct tape to get that to work, and used more of the box for dividers just for safety from rattling and bouncing.
I drilled 2 holes in the board and enclosure and used screws and nuts to connect them. So just 2 nuts to take it off and put it on. I will probably get the thumb nuts or whatever they’re called to make it easier to put on and take off.
I may drill more holes depending on what things look like when my hub motors finally come in. They should be 75kv. I will also have dual vesc which I’m also waiting on.
I would like to add an antispark switch but I’m still searching for one. If I can add a little screen that says the charge level that would be great too.
Looks great! Should be fun, only thing I see is that 20c with 3000mah is only 60A continuous if those batteries actually can do 20c which Zippys have a reputation of overstating what they can actually perform if that makes sense. You could always run 2 more in series than put those 2 12s packs in parallel to solve this issue. However, if you plan on going very low speeds and not up many hills maybe you could manage to not draw more than 60A. However I am not an expert in this by any means so if anyone has anything else to add that would be great.
PS-Just out of curiosity what KV will your motors be?
75kv motors
Thanks, I had to ask really quick on the kv lol. But anyways, what is an example of low speeds for you? I want to be able to keep up with the bikes and other people on skateboards. This is my first build. And I just updated my post a bit with that info.
Low speed should be around 10ish MPH. However, I do not know how many amps you will draw at that speed or any speed for that matter. I do know that it depends on a number of factors though. This could be completely wrong but I believe you running 12s should help you draw less amps but again I am not sure. I would defiantly wait for someone else opinion.
More voltage (so 12S = 44.4V 6S = 22.2V) will result in less current being drawn to generate a given amount of power. You will draw the most current when starting or going up hills, basically whenever motors have an increased load.
Power = Voltage * Current(Amps)
So a 44.4V nominal battery will draw half the current for a given power output when compared with a 22.2V nominal battery, all other things being equal.
Aha! Thanks for the clarification and much better explanation on my point.
I’m curious how your going to mount the motors. Or are you going to use hub motors, perhaps?
Nice board, do you have idea about the final weight?
And about the discharge, in my opinion people tend to exaggerate what is really needed for a board, if can do 60A great, if not, just limit to 30A, 15A each vesc
For exemple, my board the limit is 20A due to the battery limitation, but that is plenty for a fun ride and to climb 12% hills with no problem
Sure, if you live in San Francisco you need massive amounts of current/power to be able to climb in a decent speed
The hubs could want more current, but if where you live is mostly flat with few hills you are good
What really need power is acceleration, when you are at cruising even at higher speeds the power consumption is “low”
Hub motors
Not sure on weight yet. Hoping under 10 lbs. And I hope you’re right. I’ve gotten so much conflicting info on going series or parellel
your build is like, un-apologetically 90s as hell like i expect someone on saved by the bell to be using it
It’s beautiful lol. The 90s were the best anyway
I miss the late 90’s. Compared to today, its seem much less pretentious. Zach Attack.
I totally forgot the Nickel had a kicktail, that make turning so much better. Are you sure that cardboard is anti explosion? Seems more fire prone.
Maybe you can look into CLEVIS PINS as a mounting option and use weatherproof seal around the enclosure to reduce rattling
It’s got a fireproof coating. It’s thick and white.
So, this picture got flagged in the no words posts but this was the aftermath of my second explosion during this build. Literally was showing off for one of my friends, brought the battery pack down the stairs, my button made contact and it blew part of my metal button apart. Bittersweet since the metal probably saved my skin, but the metal caused the problem in the first place… Be careful with lipo batteries guys
Love the recycling of the Samsung air friendly box!