Housing

psychotiller said:

Here's the latest battery box I made for the pintail:

Click to expand...

That's very nice.
I'm set on cutting holes in the board to house things then reinforcing w layers of carbon

How thick is yours there?

Hummina Shadeeba said:

psychotiller said:

Here's the latest battery box I made for the pintail:

Click to expand...

That's very nice.
I'm set on cutting holes in the board to house things then reinforcing w layers of carbon

How thick is yours there?

Click to expand...

That board's cover is about 2 1/2'' deep. Believe it is 2.5mm kydex. I like your idea. Similar to how Evolve has encased their batteries in their carbon board? The trick for you is going to be how thick of a board you have to work with. 9 ply is probably thick enough to allow you to still have a functionally sound board when your done cutting some of the plys out. Do you have a board in mind already?

kkEdlund said:

I have an aluminum box that I made. The lid is steel and fastens magnetically, and the body of the housing is attached to the board via double sided tape. It is sized for 2X 5Ah 3S lipos and a small ESC. The ESC in it now is larger than intended (120A instead of 80A) so it is a bit cramped. The pictures are pretty bad due to my cell phone camera, but you get the idea.

Click to expand...

how did you cut and bend the aluminium in a perfect way? Did you need access to CNC machine?

He used a waterjet with his superb skills.

I made myself an aluminium one too

PracticalProjects said:

I made myself an aluminium one too

Click to expand...

I know, I still think you have one of the best enclosures around. I still have a sheet of aluminum sitting around somewhere. I don't know how you got it so aesthetically pleasing. Your top cover did you edge out the sides? Carbon fiber is nice too. Would be nice if it was easily removable. Although, you could probably use some thumb screws to easily remove the cover. Does it get dirty inside your enclosure due to the mesh on the sides?

Hood pins:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JEGS-Performance-Products-90065-Aluminum-Hood-and-Deck-Lid-Pin-Kit-/400472706772?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d3e088ed4&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-RACING-Mount-Bonnet-Plus-Flush-Hood-Latch-Pin-Key-Locking-Kit-Black-/140974028180?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20d2b4f594&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carbon-Coated-Aluminum-JDM-Racing-Hood-Pins-Locks-Keys-Kit-Black-/301157077209?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item461e5c50d9&vxp=mtr

...would just have to scale the pins to the right size, or drive them through the housing and the deck. The locked ones would solve the problem in the "how to secure board" thread (at least secure the electronics).

torqueboards said:

PracticalProjects said:

I made myself an aluminium one too

Click to expand...

I know, I still think you have one of the best enclosures around. I still have a sheet of aluminum sitting around somewhere. I don't know how you got it so aesthetically pleasing. Your top cover did you edge out the sides? Carbon fiber is nice too. Would be nice if it was easily removable. Although, you could probably use some thumb screws to easily remove the cover. Does it get dirty inside your enclosure due to the mesh on the sides?

Click to expand...

Thanks very much Nah i didn't edge it, I just cut it out with tin snips and bent it in a vice. Yeah thumb screws are a good idea, There is a little dust that gets inside, most of it either blows straight through or stops at the batteries though. Just a quick dust every so often is all it needs

drmacgyver said:

Hood pins:
...
...would just have to scale the pins to the right size, or drive them through the housing and the deck. The locked ones would solve the problem in the "how to secure board" thread (at least secure the electronics).

Click to expand...

I bit like your idea - I used RC car body posts and pins. They work great. I mounted them through the deck so the flange stops them pulling through. Very cheap, and plastic, so they flex a bit with my board and are easy to work with.

More lock box ideas:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Secure-Steel-Key-Cabinet-10-Keys-Wall-Mount-Storage-Box-Organizer-Home-Lock-Used-/191193043607?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c83fe5297

Or thermostat guards. But those seem to be a little too tall.

Found a couple more solutions. I like these because of their low profile and easy accessibility. Inspired by TurboTwister's board (http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=58611&start=100):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004699DS6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E3C3O4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

One advantage to a metal box is you can mount the ESC to the inside of the box and the heat will transfer through the box to the outside. This allows for cooling yet remains water resistant. The wind blowing on the outside of the box can carry away a tremendous amount of heat. Also good in the event of a lipo fire.

With a plastic box, you could embed a section of aluminum sheet somewhere to provide the same function. Seal around the edge of the metal and the enclosure can be waterproof.

Thanks for the info Fechter! I'm sold on the advantages of metal. Found one that would be perfect and it's cheap. All it needs is a cover:
http://www.newark.com/hammond/1444-15/enclosure-chassis-aluminium/dp/95F2610

I loved the idea of a fishing tackle box for the electronics enclosure. I picked up a Plano one from the hardware store yesterday for 11 bucks. It's watertight and a near perfect fit. What I really like about it is the clasps. They're not simple clips, but have a clamping mechanism. And there are three of them. I have high certainty that these won't open while skating on rough terrain.

Also, my LiPo batteries fit in there perfectly. I had to cut out the plastic to fit in the electronics, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the batteries fit incredibly well. And snug too. I don't need to fasten them with anything.

Here are some pics of my build.

Installing the antenna:



Enclosure from the battery side:



Electronics side:



Mounted:



I used barrel nuts to mount the enclosure to the deck, like the ones below. This was the hardware that the high end manufacturers used to use for skateboard rails (like Powell-Peralta and Schmitt Stix). I'm old school so I'm sticking to what I know.



Also, I wanted to give the board some offset from the enclosure since the deck is bowed for flex. Now the board can flex when I carve, but the enclosure takes minimal strain.

1.1liter "curver - aroma fresh - 20 x 15 x 6cm" - microwave enclosure :

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bud-Industries/AC-407/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsrGrAVj6eTveWH0rjk4GSueqsXCTP5lT8%3d

11"x7"x2" aluminum enclosure

It just needs to be scaled down in height to 1"-1.25" and its perfect

http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6314677149.html

Probably a bit small for some of the guys here. But should suit my setup pretty well.
There's some larger enclosures on the site but most of them are too deep for my liking.
I'd rather keep it below 40mm high.

Dealing with board flex is not something that occurred to me. None of my rides have that kind of flex.
You almost need sort of a suspension for the box so the fasteners don't self destruct when it flexes. Elongated holes with washers would allow for some movement in one direction. You would only need elongated holes on one end. I've also seen some nice rubber bushings that fit in a hole and have a hole in the middle for a screw. These would be less likely to rattle.

drmacgyver said:

1. What kinds of housing do you all use?
2. How do you have it secured?
3. How easily can you access the "innards"?

Click to expand...

Tent, currently loosely balled up in room w/immediate plans to hang from wooden rafters in large, sorta unused basement rooms below my room. Access 100% via zippered door/windows/etc. plus outsides all `round.



(Tent of super portable cloth. And fibre poles too.)



Just saying. Had already light/heat/WWW to tent in back/yard from house via cord.

Oh. Tent was "cheap" to buy too.

Here's my short board case on a half finished board.

What printer and filament are you using to produce those covers voodoo?
I get shocking delamination if I start printing really tall thin objects and abs. Pla is fine though.
I think I need a heated build chamber.

You definitely need a heated build chamber. I'm using Gizmo Dorks ABS. Right now my printer of choice is the Flashforge Dreamer they are cheap and I've got them dialed in and assembly line print these parts. Each printer only prints one part over and over which really helps with quality. Right I'm saving up to get these parts injection molded so I can produce more than 30-40 boards a month. I've sold quite a few of these boards at this point and it's getting impossible to keep up with demand.

psychotiller said:

Hummina Shadeeba said:

psychotiller said:

Here's the latest battery box I made for the pintail:

Click to expand...

That's very nice.
I'm set on cutting holes in the board to house things then reinforcing w layers of carbon

How thick is yours there?

Click to expand...

That board's cover is about 2 1/2'' deep. Believe it is 2.5mm kydex. I like your idea. Similar to how Evolve has encased their batteries in their carbon board? The trick for you is going to be how thick of a board you have to work with. 9 ply is probably thick enough to allow you to still have a functionally sound board when your done cutting some of the plys out. Do you have a board in mind already?

Click to expand...

I already cut holes in my 9 layer bustin sportster board for 8s lipo but now after looking at the li-ion 18650 or smaller cells I want to use them and incorporate on-board charging and permenantly mount the batteries. These cells are lighter and have more cell cycles and can be charged without as much worry. Also with the lipo batteries i was going to have to add some capacitors because of the long battery wires and i was worried it would also interfere with reception of the receiver. Wish i hadnt cut up that new board already

I wanted to sink all my electronics in epoxy but am worried about how much vibration the esc and receiver csn take. Kind of an instant housing and i thought it could look nice with bare electronics visable. But with the extreme vibrations and there seems to be no epoxy that can disipate heat well enough so im hoping to just sink things partially and either buffer with foam or find a more flexible epoxy. There are so many different epoxies available im sure one would be able to handle the slight expansion of the batteries if i cut locations for them in the board and then glued them in maybe half way or just spot glued And id leave the hestshrink or maybe add more to give the battery room to expand within. Ill then add a couple layers of carbon to the board.

Ive broken my charger and so many batteries by using my charger without knowing what im doing so im at a standstill. Please tell me if im wrong in thinking for making a charging port, which would be the sole charging method, i can simply add balance leads to the pack, one from each cell, but with these small 18650 cells, ill want about 20, will that be too many for most chargers?
Voodoojar or Onloop what switch are you using? Can you sell me one or send me somewhere? I live in sf ca. Or any advice on making one?

OK brand n00b here, but as a old hand gunner, kydex is really great material. For the uninitiated it can be formed incredibly accurately. It would be my first choice. Nice, clean, inexpensive, moldable, and stealth.

tomjasz said:

OK brand n00b here, but as a old hand gunner, kydex is really great material. For the uninitiated it can be formed incredibly accurately. It would be my first choice. Nice, clean, inexpensive, moldable, and stealth.

Click to expand...

Kydex = solution. I don't have first hand experience with it, but I know it's used inside the larger Pelican/Otterboxes, which are meant to protect laptops, firearms, DSLR cameras, etc. from high falls, being run over, etc. Seems like it's perfect for our application. Great idea Tomjasz!