EU/Belgian eBoard | 149kV | 12S LiPo -- Checklist & Buildlog

Hello everyone!

After stumbling on this forum and endless-sphere.com, I have been lurking around for a month or so. I told myself I didn’t have need for an electric skateboard and I don’t have cash to spare. Yet I know myself well enough and after the finishing of a prusa i3, my hands were itching. So I continued to subconsciously research on the subject and am finally pulling the trigger. Sorry wallet!

The goal is as follows: To build an electric skateboard that is able to push me up some hilly terrain, with a range that would surprise me and take my mind of keeping it charged. Also I want a speed that doesn’t kill me but gives me the creeps. As I’m not that proficient on a longboard, I think 30+kmph will be adequate.

Here’s the caveat: I live in the EU, and everything is more expensive here, especially niche products that are flown over from outside the EU. I don’t have that much money to spend on this and I’d like to keep the price down on things that won’t hurt the quality of this build too much, or that are a good trade-off.

This is the first checklist I have, I can use some help to complete it and adjust it if necessary. But if someone knows cheaper places to buy from in EU, do tell!

BASICS:

  1. Blank Deck from esk8.de: €80
  2. Caliber II Trucks from esk8.de: has 50° angle (Belgium has short and bendy roads): €30
  3. Orangatang Kegels from esk8.de: 80mm, and I’ve seen they’ve been used regularly: €70

These were cheaper to buy from esk8 than any shop that had both orangatang and caliber trucks. Looks like great store. Now follow the things that require some personal preference and for which feedback is welcome:

DRIVE TRAIN:

as I said I need something to nimbly pull me along some hilly terrain as good as possible. so I’ve opted for a 14/32 gear ratio, what’s your feedback on this?

  1. SK3 6374 149kV from HobbyKing EU: Best motor with best torque as far as I have come across, this should work: €80
  2. 265mm Belt from esk8.de: But I can’t tell if it’s 15mm or not as I’d like to use 15mm gearing and belt: €9
  3. 32T Wheel Pulley from esk8.de: Seems like these have been made for the orangatangs, perfect!, but I strongly prefer a cheaper alternative: €60!
  4. 14T Motor Pulley: Don’t know where to buy this, to fit the motor I chose
  5. Motor Mount: Don’t know where to buy a good one. Otherwise I make one

###ELECTRONICS:

  1. XT90-S from HobbyKing EU: I’d like to use this as a switch. I also am not sure if these are the correct ones: €5.5
  2. Turnigy 6S 30C 5000mAh x 2 from HobbyKing EU: 12S seems good for this motor and the combined 10000mAh should be adequate for range?:€54x2 –> WILL BE REPLACED BY 3*4S 10000mAh 10C MULTISTAR BATTERIES!!
  3. HXT 4mm Connectors from HobbyKing EU: For the motors and VESC, but I’m not sure if they’ll fit: €4.5
  4. Some 14AWG cable from esk8.de: Just in case I’d like to move the batteries around: €3.5
  5. VESC from esk8.de: This ones a biggy in the wallet, but seems like esk8 is the only one that sells them: €170

TOTAL THUS FAR: €620

After a quick calculation on toby616’ blog, I got following info: a weighted top speed of 30.5kph.

Did I forget something (besides the remote)? Are there any suggestions on where to buy cheaply in Europe? Any suggestions to change things?

Thanks in advance everyone and sorry for the x’th checklist. I just have to get everything right from the start for my budget. But I promise I’ll spoil everyone with a nice buildlog afterwards.

Dries

EDIT: some nice pictures so far

3 Likes

Hey Dries, I’m happy to see a fellow Belgian here. Drop me a PM if you want to discuss anything specific in detail by mail and in dutch. Tom

I’ll do so right away! Also noticed a certain Sebastiaan who is Belgian and on the forum. I can certainly use the feedback

Look on Amazon EU for come of ur stuff. I’m not sure if they stock it in eurpe tho but it’s worth a shot

I recommend this remote from aliexpress http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32607181070.html?tracelog=storedetail2mobilesitedetail I was surprised that it came in 5 days from Hong Kong to Finland

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My suggestions Motor Pulley Remote 3D Printed wheel pulley Belt

I like to use XT60 connectors and 12awg wire for power.

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Joop.

Does that 3D printed wheel pulley require truck hanger modifications for the 15mm width?

Will it work on Paris? Caliber etc?

Thanks everyone,

Joop, those are some good finds, I think I’ll pull the trigger on some of those soon!

But a final question: what do you think about the battery and transmission ratio? Do you guys think this will work for some hilly terain and some decent range?

Can’t wait to start ordering

I’m not sure exactly what your question is, but you can swap out the 3D printed 9 and 15mm pulley without moving the mount. Use whatever motor pulley and belt you want to use. The silver trucks I purchased from DIY skateboard already welded on. The black trucks I just purchased the mount from DIY and got a friend to weld it on for me. Here’s a picture of my 9 and 15mm pulley swapped.

Was curious if its like Ennertion 12mm mount that requires grinding down the truck hangar.

Good to know

Thanks

Your budget might be more depending on shipping cost as well as import tax. So try as good as possible buy within eu with as minimum shipping as possible.

If this is first build consider buying some spares of things if possible incase you screwed up.

I am also living in NL! Good luck.

It should work fine, but the top speed might be too slow once you get used to it.

If you connect the two 6S 5000mah lipo’s in parallel (6S with 14/32 gearing), maximum speed is 25.7 KPH. The batteries will be 252 watt hours and should last up to 24 kilometers.

Maybe get a 16 tooth pulley on the motor so the max speed will be 29KPH?

@laurnts: Jep that’s what I’m planning on doing. the VESC, trucks, wheels, mount will all come from esk8.de They were very fast in replying and certainly seem to know what they’re doing. The batteries come from hobbyking EU.

@joop1987: I was planning on putting the 6S in series to get the extra voltage and thus less current through the motor (seemed practical when going up and down some terrain) I expected a bit more range.

I laseo have to option for 3x 4S 10C multistar 10000mAh that I might put in series. Do you think they’ll fit under a 36" board?

Higher voltages are more efficient. If you’re running a VESC, put them in series and your top speed will double, your heat losses will drop and you still have more or less the same range, unless you ride FULL speed ALL the time. You can limit the top speed in the VESC if you need to.

They are 65 x 160mm Just cutout 3 pieces of paper 160 x 65 mm and put them next to each other with say 5mm spacing to get a feel for how big they are. My gut feeling says they’ll fit fine. Thickness is only 36mm which is nice. Those 6S Turnigy’s are 50mm thick, which is quite a lot IMO, even for a top-mounted deck.

Just make sure you choose the correct gearing for max speed. WIth 12S, 14/32 gearing, and 83mm wheels, you are looking at 51KPH. I fell off my skateboard at 25KPH and I scraped every hand, elbow, and knee.

I am using two 4S 10AH in series and they fit fine.

This board with 4S, 16/40, and 83mm wheels tops out at 40KPH. (Still a little too fast for me).

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Well thats too bad. This is a very good things for others to know that 50km/h is not so fast on a bike but ridiculously fast on an eboard for normal people. On collision and or falling down the injury is quite fatal without protection. Theres no reason for new people to aim at 50km/h. When 25km/h is comfortable and boring, change gearing to 30 then 40 then 50. Thats the better start.

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@joop1987: Jep but with the 149kV motor, the calculator gave me 30kph, I’m sure that’s plenty fast for me for a while. I’m might indeed get the 16T afterwards if I get bored.

I just don’t want to make the motor work to hard (use too much current --> heat) by using 12S, because of the hills.

Hello everyone,

little update: The VESC, board, trucks, wheels, bearings, motormount and belt have all been ordered from esk8.de and should arrive next week.

In the meantime I have been working on a wiring diagram, care for some feedback? Charging the 3*4S 10000mAh 10C multistars seems difficult and I don’t want to hookup anythin wrong. So I had the idea for using the ON/OFF loopkey (XT90S antispark) for charging as well. That way I’m obligated to unplug it and plug it into the battery that needs charging.

Improvements or better ideas are certainly welcome

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Hi 3sly, thanks for posting this diagram. I am about to start my build and wanted to understand a bit better how the charging works for this setup. Can you please explain how to connect the charger to this? I assume also you need to connect all the balancing plugs?

One note, Assuming black is ground (in some places it’s not), I’d connect the anti-spark/switch to the live part of the circuit so that the VESC is not energized.

thanks