The Cat | Gullwing Sidewinder 2 Trucks | Dual Enertion R-spec 6355 190KV | Alien Drive Mounts | 8s2p 18650-25R | VESC | Psychotiller Wheels

My very 1st Post, so 1st things 1st, I want to thank the following: - @onloop - inspiration and community support (& much more) @psychotiller - swift answers to E-mail and sending me parts Alien Drive systems (Bruno) - Also swift E-mail answers and parts Everyone on the forum - so many people who deserve thanking for posting useful stuff, but there’s too many.

I live in the UK, and what I’m looking to achieve is a board that can go roughly 10 miles, on crappy roads and dirt, and is waterproof (Britain doesn’t really know how not to rain constantly). I’m doing this all for fun, and because I like building things, but I’m also wanting to go to work every day on a skateboard :slight_smile: (1.8 miles each way), and have some fun on the weekends going round a massive park near me.

Currently I have: - Deck - Landyachtz Switch Eagle 35" Motors - Dual Enertion R-spec 6355 motors Motor Mount - Alien Drive systems mounts ESC = VESC Wheels = Psychotillers 6" Wheels (with 42 tooth pulley) Trucks = Gullwing Sidewinder 2 Controller = FS-GT2B Battery = Self-made 8s2p Samsung 18650-25R cell packs Enclosure = 3D Printed (being designed) BMS = I’ll add this later I reckon And loads of other misc stuff

The only thing I’ve been struggling with is the motor mount for the Gullwing Sidewinder 2’s. Story on this is that I bought caliber 2’s, however with the wheels I bought (MBS 8") I got wheel bite without even turning, so I decided to start thinking before I purchased stuff, and maybe even measure once in a while. To be honest, once I received the Rockstar hubs and tyres I didn’t really like them that much. I wanted something a little smaller and looked a little better, so in the end I chose Psychotillers 6" Billet wheel hubs in glorious stainless steel (love em). However my awesome powers of bugger-all planning struck again, and those too bit into the deck, so, after trying risers and wedges which just didn’t quite solve the issue, I chose the gullwing sidewinder 2 trucks, which I love because they push the wheels out and look great. And now that I’ve solved the wheel bite I now have a new issue with the motor mounts that don’t fit because the truck axle’s aren’t round or like Calibers (more like an awkward Y shape)…

So, new plan is to have a 3D printed ring (held in place with plasticine on the truck), then I pour epoxy into it to grip it to the truck and fill it, just need to wait for my m8 to print the new mould ring and i can start attaching my hand to the truck. All credit to @whitepony for the epoxy idea from the thread “DIY Motor Mount Adapter for Cronins”

Picture of a load of stuff I bought below (this isn’t all of it, and I haven’t finished the batteries yet).

As you can see I bought some stuff which I wanted to see and test, but which I won’t use for this build (I have all three motor mounts from Enertion, Psychotiller and Alien Drive Systems)

I still have the joy of doing the rest of the wiring, VESC set up, water-proofing and whatever else I’ve forgot, but that’s fun for me and i can’t wait

I’m going pretty slow with this build, as i’m doing a lot of work and have another project goin, but hope to be done in the next month or so i think.

If anyone out there has any suggestions or comments I’d love to hear them, I’m completely new to this and always appreciate people helping (especially if they can see me making another mistake).

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Welcome and great first post! You have a lot of project left in front of you and it looks like a lot of fun.

I don’t see antying to correct, other than making sure you are using loctite (blue) on your motor mounts and anything that can vibrate loose!

Depending when you got the VESC - make sure you update the FW if it has the bug from the July timeframe (someone clarify as i’m not positive on exact timeframe). Won’t hurt to get latest either way.

I’m also a multiple build at the same time and slow!

GL!

Right, after a quick 6 month catnap, “the Cat” is back out and being worked on. It’s starting to touch on 13 degrees © out there, and I can see the sun sometimes :slight_smile: , so I’m looking forward to easier commutes and having some fun on weekends.

I 3D printed some rings to act as clamp points for the motor mounts, then used JB weld epoxy to secure them in place. Hope the plastic provides a good enough clamping point, however I always have the option of drilling a hole to secure the mount with.

JB Weld was the right epoxy for the job here, as I found it slowly sunk into the crevices between the truck and plastic rings. Quiksteel hardened far too fast. Plasticine was used on one end to act as a temporary cap, and to ensure it stayed level. I also used a syringe I bought on Ebay to apply the epoxy, however I could’ve used one with a needle-like tip to inject it straight into where i wanted it, so i didn’t have to wait an hour or two for it to drip down.

Below is a picture after allowing the epoxy to smoosh down by itself after 2 hours, after this I simply applied more to fill it in

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On my new cheapo eBay 40" board i have about 150mm of clearance using the 6" wheels, so i decided to choose a water-proof case for the VESC’s (it’s about 54mm deep, but with the AT wheels I don’t have to worry about it)

https://peliproducts.co.uk/cases/1040-micro-case.html

The box is apparently water-proof, dust-proof and shock-proof, however, drilling holes for mounting to the board, plus the power and motor wires will probably not help any of that (Sugru might help with sealing it back up again…) Here it is bolted to the underside of the board: -

To ensure it didn’t bang about as I was riding, I used foam tape from RS components which cushions the box between the deck and itself.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/single-sided-foam-tapes/0567963/?searchTerm=567963&relevancy-data=636F3D3126696E3D4931384E525353746F636B4E756D6265724D504E266C753D656E266D6D3D6D61746368616C6C26706D3D5E5C647B367D247C5E5C647B377D247C5E5C647B31307D2426706F3D313426736E3D592673743D52535F53544F434B5F4E554D4245522677633D4E4F4E45267573743D353637393633267374613D3035363739363326

M6 button-head bolts are being used for all my box fittings, I figured they would get a good grip on the top of the board once tightened. I made sure to use a spade end on the drill on the top of the board so the bolts had a flat surface to press on.

I may cut slightly deeper tomorrow to get the bolt heads embedded better (maybe an extra half-millimetre or so), don’t want to weaken the board though.

Board was bought on ebay for £40, which was a bargain., searching for the below normally returns a seller: - DIPPED BLACK FREERIDE / FREESTYLE LONGBOARD DROP Down CONCAVE 10 x 40 Cruiser

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Switched battery types completely to 3300mah Turnigy nano-techs, and housing them in a Pelican i1065 case: -

This is designed as a slimline test build, so I’m taking a bit of a hit on my packs Watt Hours to get 15mm high battery packs, however it looks pretty nice on the underside of the board as the case is only 31mm high.

@Namasaki, I’d like your opinion please, as I see your setup is using 5x 5000mAh batteries. How far can you go, what’s your range? Also, what kind of wheels are you using, as I think my choice of big rubber will have a bit of an impact here.

You have 37V (5x 5000mAh 2s) and I think it’s 185WH I’ll have 37V (5x 3300mAh 2s) and 122WH

Think the consensus is 1K for every 10WH, so I may be looking at 7.5 miles, so I’m guessing you get around 11 miles?

If everything works out, I may design a longer range case with Zippy compact 3s 6200 batteries using a pelican 1075 case and see how that looks and performs (44.4V 275WH 17-Miles?).

I’m currently running dual 190kv 6355 motors Ollin Vescs with heatsinks 15/36 gearing 83mm wheels When riding in the country and going up and down a lot of long hills, my range is 16 km When riding on flat ground, my range is easily 22 km This with speeds up to 32 km/h If you decide to go 12s, you might want to consider these packs. Zippy flight max 3s/8000mah 30c They are a bit long and wide but they are rather thin. 169x69x27mm They are capable of 240a continuous current and should provide excellent power with minimum voltage sag along with excellent range. There are good reasons to over build your battery.

Thanks for your response, looks like the 1km to every 10 WH is a fairly good rule then (the roads aren’t that flat here) My gearing is currently 15/42, but I think I need to make that 16/60 to bring my top speed down and my torque up. I’m looking for 22~26mph top speed I think. *I could also fit 1 more battery in the case, making my WH 146 (8.6 miles).

I thought about the 8000mAh batteries, but the 69mm width is a bit annoying. I’m trying to use either a 3d printed or pre-made box for a modular design. And the only box I can find that suits my current requirements are Pelicans cases.

I’ve actually just noticed these: -

Which annoyed me as the hobbyking LIPO finder didn’t show them last time, probably because the compact series switches it’s height and width around.

I should also mention that since I live in the UK, water-proofing is a must, which is why for now I’ve just bought my cases (I want to start riding soon :slight_smile:)

This is what I came up with for a single 18650 battery pack. Which could be made wider for bigger battery packs.

It printed out really well, but I think It should have grooves for rubber tubing to be laid in at the top, then have the lid clamp down somehow (which would also solve any rattling the lid would cause when it’s on)

The problem with Li-ions, especially 25R is that your gonna need a large pack for a MTB. Somthing like 6p or 8p. Lipos are gonna give you the most power in a compact battery

I’ve been thinking way too much about batteries for too long, so I’ll do a brain-dump below, I hope it helps someone someday with their build, but for now it’s nice to write it all down.

To compare the batteries I could fit in the case I have: -

8s3p Samsung 25R - 2500mAh, 20Amp discharge rating - 60Amps total discharge in a 3p setup 10s1p Turnigy Nano-Tech 3300mAh 35C discharge rating - 115.5 Amps discharge 10s1p Zippy Compact 5000mAh 25C discharge rating - 125 Amps discharge

£68 for 8x Samsung 25R 18650 - (£204 total) £15.90 for the Turningy 3300mAh - (£79.5 total) £16.33 for the Zippy Compact 5000mAh - (£81.65)

LxWxH of packs: -

8s3p Samsung 25r - 144 x 195 x 18 (18x65x18 - 1s1p) 10s1p Turningy 3300mAh - 132 x 215 x 15 (132x43x15 - 2s1p) 10s1p Zippy Compact 500mAh - 162 x 230 x 14 (162x46x14 - 2s1p)

Watt-Hours of batteries: -

8s3p Samsung 25r - 3.7 * 8 * 2.5 = 74WH *3 = 222WH 10s1p Turningy 3300mAh - 3.7 * 10 * 3.3 = 122.1WH 10s1p Zippy Compact 500mAh - 3.7 * 10 * 5 = 185WH

Now there’s other things to consider, such as re-charge cycles and general safety, all of which point in li-ion’s favor, also it’s worth noting that no commercial board uses LiPo’s, however I suspect it’s mainly for the safety, and a company is vulnerable here, which isn’t necessarily relevant for a DIY board (obviously safety is, don’t want to downplay that). And of course you have the 26650 Li-ions, as well as the LiFE technology (think boosted uses those). But theirs also the hidden costs of 18650 cells, you need balance leads, nickel strips, 10AWG wire and whatever ends you’d like on them. then you’ve got the soldering (which isn’t recommended on the cells, so now you’ve got a £100 spot welder to buy) and testing whereas with the LiPo’s it’s all just ready to go.

All the above considered, I switched to LiPo’s for the increased amp discharge (less voltage sag), but more for the lower cost and ease of purchasing at this early DIY stage.

So I finally get all the parts in a working configuration, and I finished charging the battery’s one by one to their full capacity…but i had a few snags.

Firstly, I overlooked the protection of the VESC, so running 2 in the same box where they’re almost touching would be stupid, so I’ve ordered some clear heat shrink.

Secondly, I wanted to use my general I/O cables to connect the canbus between them, however they’re way too loose and don’t grip the connection naturally, so I need to order a proper cable before I glue it.

Thirdly, I was running just one motor as a test, however there wasn’t enough torgue to get me going from a stand-still on flat ground. I’m currently running 15/42, so i’m ordering a 60t pulley from psychotiller and seeing how that works for me (max speed still 24.7mph, so kind of perfect and pretty sensible really)

My last issue was with the receiver. once it’s in the box it has to be near the electric wires, so gets a lot of interference. But it plain doesn’t work with the lid closed…not sure how i’m going to address this yet, however for the test i just stuck it to the top of the nose :slight_smile:

Couple of pics below: -

Looks pretty good underneath considering it’s my 1st build. I plan on re-doing the wires connecting the batteries and VESC’s, however i just taped them up when i was testing.

Top view, looks pretty clean here apart from the motor wires, however I’ll be adjusting them later on to be neater

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OK, some small but important modifications.

New Box for the VESC’s that offer loads more room to work with: - https://store.trifibre.co.uk/max-grip-002-waterproof-micro-case.html

New box for the battery’s which offers even more room to work with. but mostly it’s all about the increased depth over the Pelican (new box = 316x195x53mm), allowing for loads more battery types with increased MaH ratings. https://store.trifibre.co.uk/max-grip-003-waterproof-micro-case.html

With 60t wheel pulleys it’s perfect, I made my max ERPM 27000, and I get to practice a smooth ride over crappy roads with wheels that can easily handle the speed bumps and unkempt road surfaces. It even handles ridiculous grade hills like a champ (I have one that’s about 35% gradient after a corner, wasn’t a problem).

Mapped my Rides with “Mapmyride” android app. 1st outing on the 10s1p Turningy 3300 slim battery’s gave me 5.6km, which was really a disappointing range. Thought it might be the battery’s, however when I switched to using 2x 6s graphene battery’s (12s1p 222WH) I only got 8KM due to some battery balancing issues: -

I’m working on the battery stuff, however I’m worrying over the range I’m getting. @psychotiller could you offer some insight into this at all please? I was expecting the tyres to decrease the range, as they’re not nearly the same as urethane (these’ll obviously give increased grip and traction with a cost to amps needed). What range do you get with your board on these wheels? how many KM do you get with whatever battery’s you’re using?

With my version1 wheels we didn’t have that much of a loss. It was really good actually. I don’t have the miles on the new wheels and tread to give you an answer to your question. These are bigger tires though, so the ride is cushier. There will be losses, more amp draw.

I’ve taken it easy for a few days, think I burnt out doing all this skateboard building and fed up of it not working. Just needed a return to my normal lazy life for a bit :slight_smile:

So I’ve done a bit of reading on pneumatics vs urethane, and it looks like most people say to slice the range in half, so 1km per 10 WH turns into 1km per 20WH (my new expectations are 1km per 22WH). Also looking on Evolve’s websitem their advertised ranges go from 50 to 30km on the GT, and 30 to 15 on the bamboo gt. So i’m taking that as proof of a half range hit. I will of course be doing my own range tests, but getting my preferred 107mm urethane wheels is realllllllllllly difficult, just can’t find a seller in the UK with them in stock.

I also goofed on the motor mount plastic rings…one motor is slipping down do it’s not quite strong enough, however I’ve bought some aluminium powder to make a new epoxy mix (credit to @whitepony again)

After my concerns with range, I noticed the wheel was quite stiff and didn’t really roll well, so I thought I’d loosen the belts a smidge, however all I achieved was belt slippage. My options are to either spend more money on Evolve wide gullwing hangars (£20 each), or, I could increase the motor pulley to 18/19 teeth. I think I’ll try the larger motor pulleys 1st.

So, stuff I have to do: -

*) Repair mounts with new epoxy (drill larger hole, fill with re-enforced epoxy then drill smaller correct-size hole) *) Need a BMS, however I owe this forum everything I think, so I’m investing in this piece of awesome: -

*) Also looking into printed wheels with maxid (I’m just testing them and donating if they work even slightly well) *) order 18tooth motor pulleys: - http://www.beltingonline.com/18-tooth-htd5-pulley-18-5m-15f-7775

*) badger @trampa for his 125mm urethane wheels which he should have released by now :slight_smile:

hey man, Im using that epoxy method on 2 boards with a lot of mileage and im very happy with the aluminium/stainless steel 30mm shell. im not sure if printed parts would widthstand the pressure, i really clamped the aps mount superhard and used the grub screw to puncture the aluminium cylinders a little.

like that the mount + cylinder survived a full engine impact on a sideway curb!

just an idea, its most likely cheaper, more precise and stronger to buy a 30mm aluminium shell. :wink:

Brilliant build. I’m sure this is old news to you but evolve sell the gull wings with the motor mounts?

The thing is, I love it when things can be easily made, even at the cost of quality (within reason). I’m not great at making physical stuff, I’m much more a software kinda guy, so designing stuff in CAD and having a machine make it is more appealing. So, anything that can be 3D printed I want to try and use, and eventually I’m going to go for: -

Full 3D printed enclosure 3D printed hubs 3D printed mud/motor guards 3D printed light mounts/holders 3D printed wheel pulley

I dream of a 3D printed board and motor mount, but can only realistically happen when metal printing becomes available (or less expensive)

Saying all that though, I just bought a 30mm (15mm diameter) aluminium pipe :slight_smile:, just in case the re-enforced epoxy doesn’t do the job.

I ordered them a week ago. £20 each, can’t remember the thread, but someones already bought the hangars and replaced their standard gullwing ones.

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The evolve trucks are about 80 euros each. (160 a set) I wondered if you could buy a set of sidewinders for 80 quid then just replace the rear hanger or would they need to be replaced as a pair? Looks like you could get a pair of 6374 motors on those wide trucks…

I imagine you’d want a pair. Found the thread though: -

You can buy them here: -

https://www.evolveskateboardsuk.co.uk/collections/spare-parts/products/street-strut?variant=35614940944

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Thanks, looks like it may be simpler just to get the whole setup together.