So it was back in May that I stumbled upon this website and boy what a fun journey it has been. I’ve been longboarding semi-seriously for about 3 years now and I am very comfortable on a board at medium speeds (25-35mph). I knew about the Boosted Board and others a few months before I found the forum but at $1000+ for the specs they have just wasn’t worth it to me. I want to be able to sustain 25mph easily and hit 35mph (or more!) on occasion with decent range.
So after almost 2 months of studying this place this is what I’ve come up with:
Parts List: 36.5" 9 ply maple with bamboo inlay Caliber I 44 degree trucks 83mm Flywheel clones w/ ABEC 7 bearings Custom 1/8 aluminum risers + voltage display mount DIYES 6355 230kV motor DIYES VESC v4.12 DIYES 16/36T motor/wheel pulley kit 12mm HTD5 belt (36) LG HG2 3000mah 18650 cells in 12s3p configuration Custom 1/8" ABS enclosure Psychotiller motor mount -----> DIYES v4 motor mount Winning Nano remote 2.4 ghz (2) iMax B6 chargers
The right one is for the front truck for the voltage display that I will eventually put on. I did have one and it worked good at 6s testing the VESC. Tried to hook it up to 12s not knowing the one positive can only handle 30V…oops. Sparks and smoke was emitted. Lol
Vacuum former, made with some scrap 3/4" MDF. 16"x18" vacuum area
Isn’t perfect, but neither was my mold. I’m satisfied for a first attempt.
I did the battery a little uniquely. I made two 6s3p packs and ran them in series for a 12s3p pack. 44.4V * 9Ah = 400Wh. I have the battery max on the VESC set at 40A so each parallel pack sees 40/3 = 13.3 A. No BMS. I connected an extra (+) to one battery and an extra (-) to the other. So I have 2 positive wires on one battery, and 2 negative on the other. One set goes to the VESC and the other pair is mounted on the enclosure for individual charging at 6s with two iMax B6’s. I just made a short jumper to series connect for 12s while riding. A little cumbersome, but I’ll live with it.
Moment of truth! First charge.
Getting everything in position. I wrapped the batteries in some felt, sealed them up, and velcroed them to the enclosure.
Balance connectors and 2 sets of (+) and (-) connectors glued in place. XT90S also located outside as the master switch.
Charging connections closeup.
Recorded Top Speed: 32.3 mph
The board is currently out of commission because my psychotiller mount broke. I think I was partially to blame, I looked at it one day before a ride and the alignment of the mount/belt looked off. I gave the mount a small push to see if it was loose/cocked, and it snapped. I just could not get that thing tight for the life of me, I even welded together 2 spacers out of nickel strip to try and snug it up before tightening. I used red loctite on everything too. Wasn’t a huge fan of the mount TBH. The truck clamp needs to be wider, fit more snug, and have a wider slot that closes when you tighten it. I have a DIYES v4 mount on the way that looks to be what I think will work better.
I don’t know if I’ll continue this in this thread but this is my next project. Laptop 18650 battery pack. I’m thinking of a 10s8-10p build, so 80-100 cells. I figure if I set the VESC battery max at 40A @ 8p each cell will only see 5A, which I think is manageable for these cells. Looking to use only cells that are 1800+mah.
