Sure. I got a big set of grommets, a set of different sized wire heat shrink wrap, Lots of waterproof foam edging and 3M dual lock, a few sets of risers/wedges, different bushing combinations and a bunch of weather proofing stuff, RTV, CorrosionX, gasket compound etc…
Originally, I was going to use magnets to secure the enclosure, and I still may do this but I am going back and forth on how I would have to go about it, and if it’s worth it given that I will eventually probably have a full wood enclosure that is water tight. The ABS enclosure is less pliable than I originally thought, and I got pretty strong magnets but I would probably need them to be even stronger still and they get pretty expensive and bulky at that point. That said, I also really don’t want to drill a bunch of holes in the board more than once either. I’ll come up with something…still trying to work out problems with getting the rest of my stuff ;/
Maybe some stiff metal brackets the contur of your board that is on the edge of the enclosure and magnets in the board? Strong magnets ! And maybe heat up the edge of the enclosure with a heat gun to see if you can work the abs into shape that sits flush with the board?
Well, I got the battery but I am having some strange issues with it so I may need to return it. Not sure at this point. Dexter @torqueboards will make it right so I have no worries there, just more waiting unfortunately. Also need my VESC’s from him still. I know he has been working on them awhile. Not sure when they’re actually going to be done though. Other than that and the remote/receiver from him I am pretty much set on parts. When you’re this close and start hitting roadblocks and issues it’s like torture though. Trying to find other stuff to work on with it. I am going to rip the standard grip off, have a buddy laser engrave the entire top with sacred geometry and probably clear grip it. It’s gonna look incredible and should keep my excitement about the project up!
Thanks for the tips man! I will definitely invest in the heat gun to mold it a bit better, and you actually gave me a great idea with the metal frame idea. My biggest concern was throwing the magnets into the board ( which would be awesome to hold it down flush) and then having them be underpowered due to their thickness. What I could do though is make that metal frame, adhere the magnets to the bottom strip of it, cover it up with weather stripping and then just set the enclosure onto that and drop the really strong magnets right onto the top of the lip of the enclosure to hold the seals together. It would make it sit out a bit, but with sufficient stripping and sealant I could probably make it pretty waterproof with a little work.
So, I finally got everything running after a few small issues…the board was an absolute blast for a few minutes until a solder broke and sent my ass walking back home in ridiculous humidity with the board as extra weight just for extra fun. I have little to no experience soldering electronics, no soldering gun and don’t really want to mess this one up. Time to learn or should I just have someone else do it? If I had the energy I’d post pictures of the finished build, but after months of anticipation this day has been total anti-climatic shit.
stuff like that always happen on the first kilometers - I cant even count the times I opened my enclosures until I finally had everything right! the cool thing about this process: youll end up with a very solid board and lot of experience eventually!
Thanks for the encouragement! Any tips on stuff to watch out for? Should I add hot glue or something to those connections on the VESC as well? I think I left too much room where the wires run through the enclosure so that any force on the exterior wiring would affect the interior wiring. I pulled some slack into the case and hot glued the connections and now it seems more solid from being affected. My real issue is that instead of swapped connections I got extension/conversion cords and now wire management is difficult with two stiff points where the connections are made I’ll have to figure something out there.
Welcome back brother! Glad to see you finally got all your parts in.
Can you post more details about which solder joint broke? My guess is you’re better off picking up a soldering iron and learning how to solder. There are a ton helpful posts out there about soldering.
I’m in the same boat as you. I have basically the same build and I’ve never soldered shit before.
I picked up a fairly decent soldering iron so I could clean up the wiring on my build:
So far I’ve only soldered a couple of spliced wires and I made a dual output xt90 connector for DIY’s 12s pack based on this video:
This thing was so easy my dog could’ve done it.
Did you get your enclosure working for your board? Post some pics! I’d love to see what you’ve done with the enclosure. My board is held together with a ton of velcro at the moment.
Hey man! Thanks for the welcome back! Been leaving the thread dead until I got all the parts, but still been posting here and there. I will definitely get you some photos up tonight or tomorrow showing the enclosure/setup. I have a lot of 3M dual lock holding everything inside down, and eventually gave in to screwing the enclosure to the board. Since I will eventually (4-5 weeks) be getting a custom wood enclosure I didn’t really want to do this, but I also didn’t want it falling off on the maiden voyage. Interested to see what you have come up with as well. I’ll go peep your build again if you have it all up there.
You’re probably right since this will happen more than once I’m sure. I will be buying a soldering gun and messing around with it. Just don’t really want to test on my VESC, which is expensive, but more importantly takes forever to get lol…should have ordered 4 right out of the gate. I wonder if there is a similar board/connection i could find laying around to test my skills on.
If anyone knows of a good video showing how to solder to the VESC itself that would be awesome. Almost all videos show soldering wire to wire or ESC wire to motor. It’s probably a similar process, but I am sure there is some difference when working on the board as far as temperatures etc…
Yes the three motor wires. Can you explain more what you mean? I have the bullet connector that broke off which is what i intend to solder back on, just want to make sure it’s the same as soldering any other board/pcb etc… Am I missing something easy/simple as far as re-attaching it?
Umm, yeah I think…those look a bit different than mine. To be more clear, the solder on the VESC itself broke off on one of the outgoing motor connectors. The big fat solders on the end of the board. Dunno exactly how it happened, but like I mentioned above I think I just left too much room for the cords to wiggle. Added hot glue to the other side and they have held up on about 30-40 minutes of riding so far so I think I got it sorted. Hoepfully… Now I just need to redo that solder and get another 4 to 5.5mm connector/extender. I was running it on a single motor and like a fool left the other wires tucked under the board and lost one of them
Edit: Went and checked on your build again. Yeah those are the wires that broke. You have a Chaka VESC right? You’re build says you ordered from Dexter but you have different outgoing cables and that black piece holding them in place which seems far superior to the setup I have.
Yes, I have Chaka’s. Can’t seem to find the button to edit my original post or I’d have changed it.
Nice job getting it working! Solding is intimidating but its really not that hard. You have Dexter’s VESC?
Also - did you switch parts for your battery yet?
@LukeM I ended up just getting an entirely new pack rather than switching over parts. It nearly doubled my wait, but it worked out great. I prefer the switch and fuse I have now.
@TheWrongHombre So you already popped those connectors off? I just made a post about finding connectors rather than cutting the wires up. I currently have like 4 inch long conversion wires from Dexter, but they are way too long for cable management and I imagine they add resistance. I found these on Ebay and these seem to be the ticket for the easiest, most simple conversion from the 4mm male on the Carvon to the 5.5mm female on the DIY VESC.
I’ll have to figure something out there.
