So, I’m patiently waiting for my Direct Drive from Jenso.
And patiently is really true, cause there ist still lot’s of stuff to do until i could take off with the board.
-add new caps to the VESC
-finish the VESCS-housing and all teh VESC-wiring
-fine-tune my magura-servo-brake project look here if interested
-finish my 9"-tyre-Superstar-hub-Project
-add hall-sensors and thermistor to my sk3 168KV
-finish my makita-battery-pack holder
—>no wait,… after one whole day hanging out in the workshop i finished that actually
I Know that this build is pretty crazy, why should someone make such a´big deal out of it like me.
Let me explain:
One of my several Jobs is Arborist (Tree-Climber). I work with Makita 36Volt (2X18Volt) Chainsaws in teh trees. To be effective in a arborist Job i own around 12 makita 5Ah packs.
So my idea already came up when i started building a e-bike. So i did: i use 3s4p Makitapack = 15s8p VTC5 (witch are originally build into the Makita Packs)
To really effectively use those packs i decided to also pack them on my e-trampa.
But this solution was not that easy like in my e-bike where i just suffed the Packs into a frame-bag.
Sure: i’m aware of the problematics, that some of the Packs are older or more used/aged than the others, but at the moment i do not care. I started making a tally-sheet on the packs-backside to keep track of the cycles.
on one Photo you see a bigger housing of the Pack: this is a chinese empty remake of the Makita packs where 5s3p instead of originally 5s2p fit in.
I plan to make VTC5A or 6 Packs into them that would make a 8Ah pack.
And that would mean if i stick all 8 Packs into the Holder i built i would have 10s12p 37Volt 30Ah.
So that would take me quite a bit.
In a few weeks/days ill get @Nowind 's Direct Drive so ill keep you updated, if anyone is interested.
I think you are the only one in this esk8 universe having makita packs, what a crazy idea! On my urban carver build I use VTC5, too but it looks different, lol. In case you ride to work I hope you’ll have spare packs for your chainsaws and don’t use some of your board How do you charge them, seperately or on the board?
I know, i might also be the only one in e-bike uiverse doing that, but sitting on a bunch of kWh tool-packs brought up the idea of using it in several ways.
In the future i might show up at tree-climbing-jobs on my Trampakita with the remote in one hand and the chainsaw in the other !!
I’ll charge them in bulk with an 41Volt charger, and every now an then seperate to keep them balanced, or to use them in my tools
When you arrive at the tree, you still have plenty of power to chop it down with your Makita. We also use Makitas at our Workshop. Ted always wanted to plug the Makita batteries into the boards. You made it happen! He will love your build!
Great Project!
the Photos are not totally up to date i changed some small details, but oferall it staied as the old photos and it works great. (after tweaking a bit more ill post some new photos soon)
Those Packs easily deliver enough for my 2X3KW and now im riding 10s8p (actually 8pcs of makita 4AH) 36V16AH thats plenty for my distances.
You might have noticed that i have two big packs on one Photo.
I asked a Fake-Makita-Supplier from Alibaba if he would sell some of those empty fake makita enclosures to me. the were enourmously cheap so i took 20 pcs.
I wanted the empty so that i can be sure they get filled with high quality VTC5A cells by myself instead of some cheap chinese cells.
So now one of those big things has 7,5AH with VTC6 it could be 9AH (nominal for sure).
so if i would plug in all 8 id have 30AH, or with a next version i might just make holders for 4 Makita-fake-big-packs so i can get 10s6p 36V15AH wich is enough for the small afternoon Rides.
Oh, shit i should have told, that i just ordered the spare parts at a makita dealer.
1X contact piece
1X left Cover
1X right Cover
And the screws
So wihtour any USB VConverters built in, cause thats anyway not needed
In that way one of my connectors was something like 3€
Not by hand, but look at the beginning of teh Post its kind of Step-by-Step.
And you will find out the Rest while building it together.
The base of teh battery Holder is a carbon plate i think it was 2mm
Very depending on the altitude i make (i live in the Austrain alps !!)
But if i go quite flat and with 2 X 2KW (so quite gently) i will reach more that 30 km in every way (A friend of mine lives 15km away including playing around on his yard i can easiely get home again).
maybe even 40km, but i never tried it to the limit.
!! with just 8 X4 AH
You can imagine how far you can get with 5AH or with my custom 7,5AH Makita Packs (see in the pictures above)
And you shuld be warned !!! if you bulk charge the Maktia packs with 41Volts it might be that the build in Makita-BMS shows a Error and does not let you charge the Packs with the origianl Makita Charger anymore.
I anyway just charge all my (by now around 20 Makita Pack) just with an RC-Charger (in that way i can bulk charge two in series, adn can choose slow 2A Chargin or super Fast 10A Charging).
The original Maktia Charger always charges the Pack with 8A witch is not very Kind to the Cells (Sony VTC)
I bridged the internal BMS and added a atuomatic 40A Car Fuse.
Much better idea to get the spares, mine were from china, low price, took ages to arrive though!
I’m starting with 4 x 5ah batteries. I will leave enough room for another 4 though!
Which VESC and motors did you use?
First job for me will be to source motors/vesc/controller, then build / buy motor mounts
I should have the MTB next week, so will have a play with it before pulling it to pieces and starting this project properly!
I will probably just use standard Makita charger, at least for now.
I’m using either older enertion 4. Vescs or the newest Focbox Generation.
Both worked fine for me with enough cooling.
And i also swap between 135KV Freerchobby (die manufacturer of the APS Motors on Alibaba) or my 149KV sk3 Motors. with or withour Sensors, it doesn’t matter much, just a little stuttering from standstill.