Low and Slow | Moose 38" Drop Down | 90mm Ebay (Maytech?) Hub Motors | 10s3p | VESC

First off hello and thank you for all the great information and contributions to this community resource, it’s a lot of fun to read when I should be working instead! I got into diy esk8 like maybe a lot of people after getting a commercial board and wanting more customization. So… on with the build…

… and before I get flamed on here, I know I am getting parts that are not the best doing an ebay build like this, but I am doing this as an experiment to see really how bad the experience can be. Can I make it work? Will parts be DOA? What is going to catch fire? I’m not going for a high performance build here.

Trying to keep basically as budget as I can with the focus being on comfortable straight line cruising at a leisurely 20mph and try to get a real life range of hopefully more than 10 miles. I’m not really sure what to expect for hill performance, but I’ll be happy if I could get close to 20%.

It’s important to say this build is meant to be primarily a learning experience. I realize I have made some choices that maybe will come back to bite me and be learning things the hard way. But I’m interested in how to build one of these and I’d rather R&D and blow up a cheaper setup the first time, and take what I’ve learned to do better on the next one.

Parts List

Battery: $138.00 (I guess this seller has a bad rep on here, so probably not recommended) http://www.diyeboard.com/10s3p-18650-lithium-battery-pack-10s-36v-6ah-with-charger-p-631.html

Trucks / Hub Motors: $101.69 https://www.ebay.com/itm/550W-90mm-Electric-Skateboard-Motors-Drive-Parts-Dual-6364-Hub-Longboard-Kit-US/323712343023?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

VESC (qty 2): $99.74(Chinese copy? Too cheap to be true?) https://www.ebay.com/itm/HGLRC-Flipsky-50A-Electronic-Speed-Controller-ESC-For-Electric-Skateboard/401692035273?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Deck: $36.95

Anti-Spark: $35.72

Remote: $19.18

Rubber Risers (1/2"): $8.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BEF90WS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

Hardware (1 3/4"): $7.59 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C87DX9W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

On Order:

Enclosure (from @psychotiller, my smartest buy yet) : $60 https://psychotiller.com/collections/enclosures/products/stealth-18

Neoprene: $19.95 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BGF488D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

X-Brace: $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5ZKP36/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Riser (3mm used on top under X-Brace for soft mount): $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BEF910E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

Total So Far

$534

Still need to get a few things like connectors, wires and screws to finish the enclosure. I’ll also be adding front and rear lights so I can ride at night.

I guess most of all I would really love some input on what to do for grip. I have seen a lot of people use glass and it’s really pretty but it scares me and I don’t have any good graphic or panting skills. I was really interested in the rubber grip tape but everyone I have seen use it peels off so bad. Maybe just grip tape with artwork on it. Open to suggestion.

Please let me know if you have any advice or want to comment on anything, looking for feedback!

I know I probably won’t get too much out of these motors just by looking at the phase wires coming out of them being so small. If anyone has any experience using what looks like Meepo hub motors with a VESC would be helpful! Thanks!

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Pro tip: helmet and gloves :slight_smile:

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Total came out pretty cheap! I’ll be watching to see what explodes first :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Rubber grip tape is really bad, I tried it for my skateboard and it worked pretty ok until I got a few drops of water on it and it lost all its grip. (until my shoes dried of course)

20190419_181247

Check and double check. Good advice, a friend of mine is really into solowheels and lost his front tooth doing it so I always wear the full face.

Maybe I should get a small fire extinguisher too? :smiley:

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Maybe a small safe to store the battery in? (And the whole board once it’s finished lol)

Just search for “fire” on here and you’ll see how bad things can get. The battery probably won’t catch fire just sitting there, but you never know. I wonder if anyone’s ever taken a DIYeboard pack apart to see the quality of it. In any case, cheapest thing you could get is just a bucket of sand. I assume it’s meant for covering the battery in case of a fire?

Maybe cover it with a welding blanket? I know it is a real risk but I am not too concerned. You bring up a good point about inspecting the internals of the battery to test it’s construction but it SEEMS well made from as much as you can tell of a big blue chunk of lipo.

I guess I have a lot of faith considering the punishment I’ve put a lot of electric mobility devices through in the past. This however will be the first one I’m wiring up so…

No wants to say it but that battery isnt the best to go with. Mainly just that site as a whole stay away from. It wont last as long as youd hope and it could come to with a few internal problems that you arent aware of unless you open the pack and inspect it.

The battery is where you cant cheap out. Find a battery builder on the forum or @ least a reputable battery supplier

Yah it’s good advice @J0ker3366 I certainly wouldn’t recommend what I’m doing to other people.

Inspecting the battery is a good idea. Where can I buy shrink wrap to replace what’s on there now?

Amazon has 180mm-220mm heat shrink. It comes from china but its affordable. I got mine to my door in about two weeks. Black, blue and my favorite, cause it always makes people think i dont have any on it, clear :smiling_imp: Comes in 1 meter, 5 meter and i think 20 meter. 1 meter is enough for a single battery. Just fyi lol

Oh ok, so it still comes in a tube just like normal heat shrink just comically large? Lol, that was one of the “noob” questions I had.

So currently the battery “ends” are not wrapped, I’m guessing because you would need to use a huge diameter heat shrink to get it around that dimension. It seems like right now they used some silicone based sealant that doesn’t look fun to peel off.

But, what better option is there? Maybe just adding a strip that covers it but isn’t actually surrounding the whole battery around it’s length?

Hmm… I guess I should open it up, for science.

I also have a lot of interest in doing a custom remote and also speed controlled under board lighting, but I’m gonna get it working before messing with the RX/TX stuff.

If anyone reading this want’s to answer me another noob question, with these two new VESC, I’m assuming I’ll have to flash new firmware on both of them individually? Is that right But when running them with canbus do you configure each VESC with the tool for each motor separately or can you run both at the same time with canbus?

Its a pretty good budget build. Those hub motors lack the torque an experience rider would want. Thr battery is cheap, but should do alright. Overall a pretty solid cheap board

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I had relatively similar VESC’s and yes I had to go through the setup process separately… but at the same time. It just has to test each motors internal resistance etc… Tons of videos on the process that could explain it better than me and in step by step.

Anyone want to take bets that these $50 VESC don’t have boot loaders on them? (hint: the firmware edition has been crossed out with a sharpie from the seller)

Bonus Round: Will they accept a new bootloader flash?

I bought lots of them and all had the bootloader :smirk: and they’re known to work great. Btw, your chosen hubs are maytech style, not meepo/diye

Any tips about the hubs? Do you have any setup parameters?

Mostly interested in max amps but if you’ve used them before would be curious. Thanks!

Status Update: Got the xt60 connectors in and waiting on larger shrink wrap to make the parallel connector to the VESC. I took a small peek inside the battery and it seems as if the P groups are wrapped in fish paper, which is a promising sign! Extra large shrink wrap for that comes in later this week so I can cut it open and make sure it’s not an obvious hazard.

I love this kind of build because it caters for anyone. Yes there are better components out there but this if built correctly will do exactly what you want it to.
DIYE have a bad rep here because of shady business practices but in reality the parts they sell while cheap are nothing that a multitude of chinese factories aren’t banging out as completes with great success judging by meepo sales.
That battery is fine for what it is. Its an lg celled saggy unit but it will work as long as you don’t exceed the bms’s current rating which is no more than 15 amps battery max per vesc. I did run mine on 20 for a while and the bms blew a gasket.
Build quality on this version is the best from diye. There were some sketchy 10s5p for a while but even those are now built correctly. Properly insulated and connections are good. Looks like you have the ebay maytech clone hubs or maytech hubs sold as ebay clones. Who knows? lol Just for science I ran a set of meepo hubs at 80 amps motor max and they worked but got hot. 60 and they run just fine. I’m sure those hubs are of a similar rating. Anyway enough rambling on and good luck with the build my friend.

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You just made me orgasm

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Oh awesome thanks @dareno for the info!

Now I’ve got some max settings to work with, what I’m confused about is how it makes sense that setting a battery amp of 15 and then a motor amp of 60… where is that extra 45 amps coming from?

I should probably also update I am considering going with a 1.5" drop or even a no drop deck due to clearance issues. I really don’t want to because I love the deep pocket, but that extra half inch will go a long way I think and is probably worth the extra $40 for a new deck.

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Where is it rubbing out of interest? Looks like you’ve got loads of wheel clearance from the image.

Ground clearance once the enclosure is mounted will be about 1.5" give or take…

Wheels got miles of space.