PART 1. The DC version
Ok, so thought I would post my first attempt. I happened to see an e-board build video on YouTube and thought “I want one of those” but I didn’t have the free time to build from scratch and buying a proper ready built board was cost prohibitive so I had to find something in between. A quick search on eBay and I had ordered myself a cheap electric skateboard for £30 that just needed a new battery.
Original Electric Skateboard
To my surprise it turned out it was just a relay controlled DC motor and the remote didn’t seem to work (Well, it did, but I didn’t realise the remote used your body as an antenna and you had to be standing on the board for it to work). I also thought the trucks were far too close to each other and needed moving further apart.
Underside - Look at that truck spacing!
I removed the Lead acid batteries and bought a 4S Lipo pack to put in its place. I bought a 2 channel remote & receiver from ebay and used that to control the relay board that came with the skateboard.
I had this crazy idea in my head that I would use some 50mm x 75mm electricians trunking to put all the electronics in which kinda works. So I removed the original box, moved the trucks apart and fitted the new electronics.
50mm x 75mm Trunking with Trucks moved further apart
Left to right - 2 Channel digital receiver, 4s 10Ahr Battery, relay board
2 Channel Transmitter
It worked well enough but wasn’t very fast. It also went quicker down hill than it did uphill but it left me wanting more…
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Part 2 - The brushless upgrade
Buying a ready built cheapo electric skateboard meant that all the hard work was already done like the motor mount and drive wheel already built for me so I just needed to concentrate on motors and controllers.
I wanted to work with the 4s battery pack that I originally bought with the option to go bigger later on in time. I then realised how expensive brushless motors and ESCs were so I went budget and against everything all the experts say on this forum.
I am fairly pleased with the setup though.
The kit:-
HobbyKing 4s 10Ahr Lipo
HobbyKing 4s 100A Car ESC (Upgrade version)
Tornado Thumper 5055/06 580kv Brushless motor
FLYSKY FS-GT2B RC car controller and receiver
Motor Pulley 3mm pitch 15mm wide 14 tooth
Wheel 86mm with molded on pulley 3mm pitch 15mm wide 60 tooth (came with Skateboard)
Yes I know, I’m running off 14.8 volts and I’m using a 580kv motor, but I needed the high speed due to the very low gearing.
Anyway here are the pics
The finished e-board so far
Ready built motor mount on trucks
Close up of motor - Needs re-mounting but it will do for the time being.
The elctronics all safely put away in the trucking which has been shortened
I’m looking at buying a second cheap electric skateboard and using the drive wheel and motor mount from that and fit it on the opposite side of the trucks for a dual motor setup. I’m thinking two 5055s running from 4s Lipo is just as good as one 5065 or bigger running from 6s or 8s.
So, test driving it this evening and it feels much faster. I did a short run with Strava but bottled it as I thought I was going too fast (I was only going 12.8mph) but it was fast enough to have the wind whizzing past my ears. If the top speed is too fast then I will look at using a lower kv motor, but my calculations tell me the top speed should be just less than 16mph based on a 78% motor efficiency. I will use it for my short commute to work which is less than 3 miles.
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awesome! its interesting to see a build with such a high kv motor. How does it do on hills and starting from a stand still?
Thanks, I think the ultra low gearing helped me out there 
It starts from stand still on the flat and handles the incline outside my house ok but not from standstill but I need to do some more testing on steep hills.
I’m hoping the dual motor setup will improve torque as I don’t need any more speed. 
Lol I have a build thread on a penny board look like this…not using the stock wheels … Mod to fit a 83mm with and Enertion pulley so I’ll be running 270kv with 14/36t…I did not trust those wheels or pully…or belt lol
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