It looks like you have confirmed a theory about the sudden braking. If a battery is deffective then this could result in a sudden extreme voltage drop or power loss. The ESC may react to the drastic voltage drop or power loss in a way that locks the brakes.
I’ll reach out to Jason on your behalf concerning a replacement battery.
On the topic of the plastic housing, are you certain that you have the polycarbonate version? Do you know how to tell the difference. The polycarbonate version shrinks a lot after it leaves the mold. So the battery fit is tight and there is no back and forth play for the battery. You should also see two large vertical shrink marks on each side of the plastic housing. These shrink marks line-up with the screw posts.
You have described two things that are consistent with the ABS shells (post failure and a loose fit for the battery. If you don’t see large vertical shrink marks, its very likely you do not have the repacement PC shell. The ABS shell is dangerous as it can fail completely.
On the urethane quality on the rear wheels, yes, they are a bit slippery and the life expectancy is shorter than the front wheels. The defficiencies of the motor wheel urethane never bothered me too much becasue the replacement wheels are cheap and spares are included in the box, There are a few work arounds to give you better traction and longer wear including:
Thanks for the help. Well got another nice surprise while taking pictures of the unit. Its defiantly PCB but the build quality seems very poor and the shell is coming apart.
(images won’t upload to site)
The screws just don’t hold all that well. Really sad to see the unit like this already. Ill need to take it apart and try fix it somehow. Will need to add the velcro too to try keep it all together.
As for the urethane quality, as much as it might be an issue, I think the unit won’t last as long as a pair unfortunately
Just took it apart and just about everything is broken. From the platonic plate screw holes on the PCB shell.
Wish I could send pictures here. Emailed Simon but I know I won’t get a reply anytime soon.
Thanks for sending me the pictures. I can almost guarantee you that you have an ABS Shell. The ABS shells have very small shrink marks relative to the polycarbonate shells. Your posts have split exactly like the ABS shell posts. The Polycarbonate shells have zero play in the battery compartment and there is no room inside the battery compartment for a strip of Velcro.
The shrink mark on your pictures are exactly like those on my ABS shells. Much shorter, very shallow. They appear closer to the top of the shell and do not extend below the midpoint.
Compare the polycarbonate shrink marks on my image to those on your image.
One more indicator that your shells are ABS is the absence of a wet film on the disassembled underside of the shell. The polycarbonate shell slowly secretes a liquid. I’m not sure if it is an oil or a solvent. I think it’s an oil. The liquid accumulates on the surfaces that are in direct contact with the aluminum base plate. On other surfaces, the liquid is not visible. I assume it evaporates.
I’ve tested the polycarbonate shells on some very rough roads and inspected the posts afterwards. The posts were in perfect condition.
So if I’m right about your current shell being ABS, your replacement should be very durable. At the same time it is disappointing that what you were told was a polycarbonate shell is almost certainly an old ABS shell.
Use some agressive tape or hot glue to fasten the antena wire out of harms way. Fasten it in 2 - 3 places. If you don’t do this, the antena wire is very likley to slip between the ABS shell and the Aluminum backing plate. If that happens, the antenna wire could be damaged and likely could not be repaired.
Thanks for reviewing the imagery. I thought it might have been PCB as landhweel told me it was along with there being no space between the battery and housing. I know on the older one you mentioned you needed a piece of material inside to fasten the battery connection.
With the shell being ABS, I actually wonder if the batteries supplied re the latest as there was no blue sticker and no way to tell.
Lets hope they send a replacement and that its PCB. Is there a stronger material one could 3D print?
Also, how long are the screws holding down the housing? They seem very inadequate given there job.
As for the antenna cable, I meant the velcro strap around the housing.
Many thanks again. Hopefully this information can help out other land wheel users.
I understand where you put the velcro. Your screw posts are all broken. When the velcro is loose there is an opportunity for the antena wire to slip between the shell and the backing plate. Then when you tighten the velcro, the wire can get pinched.
I finally completed my testing on the polycarbonate shells. It’s a pass. I tested it with the original 1/2 inch screws and a set of substitute 3/4 inch machine screws. Both sets of screws passed two tests:
Test 1:
10 kilometers of the worst roads in my neighborhood – really horrible roads with a hundred teeth rattling /wheel grabbing road cracks. I made a rig to tow a test board with two Landwheels. I towed this behind my eight wheeled land wheel. My eight wheeler floated over the cracks while the test unit took the full impact of the road cracks. I disassembled the test unit after the road test and found that all of the screw posts were intact and undamaged.
Test 2:
I performed a total of 20 drop tests from 5.5 feet on to pavement. There was no damage to the battery latch on the shell. I disassembled the test unit after the drop tests and found that all of the screw posts were intact and undamaged. On the unit with the 1/2 inch stock screws, I found one screw that bent and pulled free of the screw post. However, the screw post was undamaged. So it seems that one of the twenty drop tests overwhelmed this one screw. The 3/4 inch machine thread screws and screw posts were all intact. I’d also say that battery ejections are unlikely even from a 5.5 foot drop. My test set-up was a bit stripped down so as to protect the ESC. I removed the ESC and battery cover and used a small block of Styrofoam SM to take up the slack. One of my blocks of foam was loose so I had some battery ejections on that one. However the second drive had a tighter fit with a slightly larger block of Styrofoam. On that unit, I had zero battery ejections out of all 20 drop tests. I performed all of the tests with two Landwheel mounted on the test board
Conclusions:
The combination of stock 1/2 inch screws and polycarbonate shell seem strong enough to withstand considerable and extraordinary abuse. I think the 20 drop tests were excessive compared to worst case impacts with road cracks and potholes.
If the roads in your area are reasonably good, the 1/2 inch screws are likely sufficient to prevent any type of shell failure (Damaged screw posts, battery ejections, etc.)
If you travel roads that are bad enough to damage just about any electric longboard, then upgrading to 3/4 inch machine screws is a worthwhile precaution. These screws are hard to find. You may need to go to a specialty fastener store and you may need to have them special ordered. I found my 3/4 inch machine screws in Lowes but these screws were horrible quality. The metal was soft and the slotted screw heads all stripped during the removal process. So I’d say special order some stainless steel Philips or Robertson screws.
In general, I’d say the possibility of a battery ejection from hitting a crack or pot hole is near zero with the Polycarbonate Shell. But once again, if you ride the types of roads that could damage just about any brand of electric long board then a Velcro strap is a reasonable precaution to safeguard against a battery ejection. I would not say this is necessary or essential for the vast majority of riders. I’m just saying its sensible option if your daily route includes one or more massive cracks or pot holes that you normally ride around or jump over.
14.75 kms is the longest I’ve gone on two batteries. Speed was under 32 kph becasue my wife was accompanying me on her electric bike. The first 10 KM was trending down hill because we followed the ottawa river down stream. then I climbed a massive 30 - 40 degree hill from the river base to the top of parlaiment hil. Then turned around and headded 4.75 KM in the opposite direction (upstream). Thats when the remote started vibrating so I swapped in Batteries 3 & 4.
Range is less if I’m accelerating hard or traveling top speed.
What do you want to do:
a) Squeeze 2 foc boxes inside each landwheel?
b) Squeeze 4 FOC boxes inside the Raptor enclosure?
c) Squeeze two Landwheel ESC inside the Raptor enclosure?
d) something else?
MIke is correct in stating that the landwheel ESC enclosure below the battery lacks the space for 2 vesc or two focbox. There is not enough height or width.
It sounds like you have a complete raptor except forthe hub wheels. So in theory, you would want four foc box connected to the Raptor battery. Since ther Raptor usually only accomodates 2 FOC box, you need to find space for another 2 FOC box. Correct?
Have you thought about an external waterproof aluminum box for 2 FOC box?
What is your plan for the landwheel batteries? If you left them behind, then you could cap off the landwheel enclosure with an aluminum plate and some silicone. THat would give you a waterproof enclosure that would easily accomodate 2 foc box mayby even 4.
The other option would be to relocate two landwheel ESC inside the raptor. This would power 4 motors. This won’t work if the raptor battery is 52 volts but might work if the raptor battery is 42.5 volts. The risk is that wiht the raptor battery fully charged, the Landwheel ESC is at risk of damage under any full battery braking conditions.
I’ll install the new Maytech hubs and 100A ESCs in the R2 as temps, until the next generation of hubs (and the Unity) is out - and leave the Landwheel chopping until another time then. Thanks guys.
I have this clear vision of a faster, smoother quad Raptor 2.1 - wearing high-quality rubber racing slicks, using the Raptor 1 deck - that I just can’t seem to shake.
when that happens with me, I have to build it
so thanks in advance for answering all my dumb questions.
I have no idea why you want a quad with a Raptor 1 deck, even with Unity there’s very little room for batteries unless you mount them on top of the deck
@Mikenopolis / @pkasanda Hi guys, have you ever tried opening landwheel battery and replacing it with 18650 or 21700? I am planning to do so since I have 3 dead batteries lying around do you think that is possible?
do you think that is possible?