First build ever - Please spare some time to save me from wasting money :)

Hi Everyone !

So I’m a beginner e-skate builder-to be, I spent almost three weeks reading all the topics covering esk8 builds. I have wanted to build a board for a long time and I’ve finally got the motivation and money to start a project but this is still very new to me and I have some questions and would love to know if I’m going down the right or wrong path.

I want to make it a budget build but on the other hand I have no intention saving on crucial parts of the build. From what I learned on this site it’s better to spend some more money cause the difference in the quality can be huge.

So I want to build a board that will help me with my daily commute. I want to reach something around 25-35km/h. I live in a big city with flat streets and flat to sometimes bumpy bike lines. I weight something around 76 kgs. So basically I don’t think I need huge amount of torque but maybe I’m wrong.

Also I live in Poland (EU)

  1. Deck I got an old longboard deck from a friend. It is about 104 cm long, 25 cm wide and quite stiff

  2. Trucks After reading a lot of posts I decided to go with These caliber II 10“ 50° as they are compatible with motor mount.

  3. Wheels Here I had quite a problem. Abec 11 flywheels 90mm seem to be the best option but they are also pricey and also can’t find them anywhere. I would go with fake ones but I read that the difference in performance is highly noticeable . I found Those but shipping costs as much as wheels do. What is your opinion?

  4. Motor That one was also tough. As I don’t need a lot of torque and trying to save some money I want to go with 1 motor build. I Don’t know much about motors but I chose : Maytech or Torque Boards. Also as 1 one motor build should I go with 6355 or maybe something bigger like 6373.

  5. Battery Pack I want to build it myself. I found a guy who knows how to spot weld. I’m thinking about building 10s4p or 12s4p using Samsung 30Q Li ion (cause it is safer and they last longer than lipo) Unfortunately I have no idea what BMS to use, I found post abut bestech but it seems minimum order is 2 BMS’s. So I would highly appreciate any help/advise in that matter.

  6. ESC - VESC Again no idea which one should I use. There’s flipsky 4.12 and focbox. Which would work best with my intended build?

  7. Pulley and mounts Found something like That on ebay

  8. Remote For remote i think I’ll go with mini remote.

Thank you for all the help, hope I don’t ask for too much.

2 Likes

Good choices!

I suggest getting a torqueboards 6374, as a maytech 6374 might be too costly for a first build.

I have used a flipsky 4.12 on a single 6374 build and its good so far. Use this if you are going for a 10s4p. If you go for a 12s4p, get a focbox instead as the flipsky 4.12 might not be able to handle 12s as well.

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Not sure how much the Flipsky VESC costs but the Hobbyking VESC is great too. Mine runs since many thousands of km flawlessly :ok_hand:

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I’m glad you did your share of reading, it shows respect! :sunglasses:

If 35km/h is your speed goal then you don’t need 12s, especially since then you’d need to either solder a diode for over voltage protection like done here

or use a Focbox, which is expensive.

If you want to save money on wheels then you could get Caguamas for cheap from skatehut.co.uk, otherwise (assuming your bumpy bike lanes aren’t as good as you think they are) if you plan on getting a TB motor, you might as well order their super big wheels as well :stuck_out_tongue:

For the ESC I suggest you find someone selling a used one on the forum. Those things are expensive :frowning_face:

Also, remember to use a calculator such as https://calc.3dservisas.eu/ before purchasing parts to make sure the specs live up to your expectations :slight_smile: (For your speed 170kv motor or lower would probably be good, then again you don’t need the extra torque so I guess just get whatever is cheaper)

3 Likes

This is a good build list, i only have a few small things i would change. Those mounts are not the best and bend inwards towards the wheel after a while. I recommend @boardnamics with his mounts. They are by far my favorite, they are built strong and are dirt cheap. For a single motor build i would go with a flipsky vesc 4 (without the antispark built in, they often fail) and a single 6374. If you are using a vesc 4, i would stick with a 10s battery and no more. The pulley kit could be a cheap kit i found on banggood. Search “abec flywheel pulley”

For some reason i cant post links on mobile atm.

If you use a 12t pulley then i would recommend the the mount with a tensioner. Its worth the extra few dollars for sure

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A single 6374 with 12s gets you easily to 50km/h. So that technically would be overkill. 6355 is a good choice. I personally won’t recommend TB but YMMV. (2 Broken 6374’s after 20Km combined.)

I have these, wheels are a higher quality than the cheapest clones. I’m happy riding them and the feedback has been good. Also they’re a pretty good price for wheels and both pulleys. GL with you build :slight_smile:

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Decided to buy Caguamas 85mm and maytech 6374 190kV with 10s4p power source. What kind of pulleys and motor mount should I get?

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I’d personally go 15/36 on those, it future proofs your build if you decide to move up to a 90 or even 97mm wheel without a torque loss. Check on the calculator though to make sure they suit.

Put up a buy thread for caliber mounts, there’s shitloads of them floating around. I have like 6 in a box here (I’d only sell them in pairs though).

Steel motor pulley would be best, aluminium wheel pulley.

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I mean… look at this wheel situation. That’s my only working board in the background of this picture and I’m ashamed to say that’s not even all the wheels I have :man_facepalming:

https://www.electric-skateboard.builders/t/no-words-just-pictures-delete-words-2/88821/404?u=brenternet

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Maytech also makes some good 4.12 vescs that I haven’t had any problems with as well. iirc they sell through alibaba/aliexpress.

What about their own site? Is it no good?

I don’t see an enclosure on your list. If I could be of assistance, it would be to choose your items in a different order. Don’t choose anything else until you’ve chosen your deck and enclosure. Because you need to know if it will even fit. Enclosures are much more difficult than you think, and you need to know if flexibility will be something you design for, or not. So go in a certain order, along the whole way making sure you choose things that are compatible with each other.

  1. helmet
  2. deck + enclosure
  3. battery
  4. ESC(s)
  5. drivetrain & trucks
  6. wheels
  7. motors
  8. {everything else}
  9. remote
  10. aesthetics: grip, colors, lights

Leaving enclosures until last as an afterthought is a surefire way to end up in less-than-ideal position.

4 Likes

If you go with the Mini Remote, it’s important for safety reasons to not skip setting the failsafe.

Huh, looks like they’ve upgraded their website. When I got mine it didn’t seem like it was possible to buy directly through their website.

If you use a focbox you wont need a tvs since it already has one but even if you only use 10S I would really recommend a TVS Diode and so would every other electrical engineer. Yes your setup might work a while but why run the risk of blowing up your 200$+ electronics when you can make them much safer with a 1$ part.

3 Likes

may i suggest this EU website: www.electricboardolutions.com

i have nearly all my parts from here, they’re good quality. this shop is based in belgium.

I’m just going to say I have put my vanda’s vescs through hell and they keep ticking like a noisy cricket running a 10s4p