My e-skate build vs my EMAD's board

NormRD

100 mW
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
48
I have had an EMAD 600W electric skateboard for the last 1.5 years. Have been happy with it but have been watching the developments of first the use of Li batteries and then smaller RC type motors in boosted boards and other manufactures so got me looking. Also me and my son are into RC cars so seemed like a good project to build my own.

First I found a set of wheels and trucks just like my emad board on ebay for cheap. This included a motor mount/belt so figured would make my life a little easier. Plus the big rubber wheels are nicer over rough roads and cracks. So figured let's do it.

My setup:
Motor: Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 6364-245kv
ESC: Hobbywing EZRUN-150A-PRO
Controller: Quanum 2.4Ghz 3ch Pistol Grip Tx & Rx System
Battery: Turnigy 5000mAh 6S 20C Lipo Pack
Wheel Pulley: 44T, 15mm/5mm
Motor Pulley: 18T from sdp-si

Got it all built and have a temp enclosure that is a tin I found around the house...works so far so good.

Now for comparisons between the two.
The EMAD as you would expect has few more features. Controller has settings to limit speeds at 3 levels for newbies. When remote is out of range it auto brakes. LED on top of board showing it's on and changes to red when battery is low. Braking function works quite well. However, the downside is the 3 SLA batteries which make it all quite heavy. 40 lbs total. Also on anything but a full charge has a harder time on hills. Top speed isn't bad (around 18) but think now since batteries getting older it has lost a few and maybe only doing 15ish. Again, thing with fresh batteries would be back to 18 and hills would be easier. Also can't swap batteries very easily and takes a couple of hours to charge.

The DIY, is faster for sure. Measured 22 on GPS. Also has more torque, when climbing hills but not as much on startup, sometimes give it a small kick. And is much lighter, 16lbs, so can easily cary it around when I get somewhere (while I used to have to roll the old one by just picking up the rear). Charges much faster and can easily swap out the battery.

Overall happy with the build and figure will continue to tinker with it...maybe go to regular skate trucks/wheels and make it extra light.

Thanks for all the help, have learned a lot from here and wouldn't have been able to build it with out of the work you guys have done.
Norm
1g0fmf.jpg

hwa9hj.jpg

2l8f8f6.jpg

2hrfgn8.jpg

5od1k2.jpg
 
Looks nice! For sure a good way to build a board without all the trouble of motor mounts and drivetrains. Make sure to post a link vor something of the wheels and stuff on eBay, I'm sure there would be many happy readers.
 
The wheels/trucks were off a board that had a bad motor (wheels still like new)...so not something you can usually find. I was just lucked out on those. But at $40 bucks couldn't beat it. Now I did have to modify them some. Drill new holes to mount motor and enlarge hole to fit pulley through. Just used a dremel and didn't take too much time.

I imagine we could easily find some of the china manufactures to buy these from directly and might be an option for some.
 
That was the one piece missing. So far hasn't been an issue if it becomes one think will be easy to cover it up.

Seems most here run with nothing covering the belts and pulleys.
 
Luckily the mount is made for a larger motor so does offer some protection.
 
A good idea would be to put two 6s batteries in series and get rid of the lead on your other emad. Just need to connect them to a Deans adapter on the board. You will love the board again. It will climb like crazy. It will still weigh a ton and ride like a monster, but it will put the fun back in it. I take mine out every once in a while to remember what it was like. You already listed some of the advantages of the Emad board. Its nice to not have to worry about rocks and such with the monster wheels and I know that I can give full throttle and not be too overpowered. I still worry too much about my DIY boards. I should since I know who made it. :D
 
Two 6S batteries will work with the existing electronics/motor of the emads board? Supposedly it's a 36v system so wondering of could use 2 5S batteries but just not sure it could deal with the lipos.

Please tell me more. Looked into putting replacement li batteries but those still $300+
 
Supposedly, lipo voltage is lower and reaches the similar voltage as the 36V Nimh. I would think the 6S setup would be equal or better than the 36V Nimh. It's not too often that ESC's will support higher voltage for lipos over 6S. I would probably only use 6S on that. I'm sure, Dirk can give you a better and more definite answer though. 6S is more than adequate.
 
Yeah. Was thinking 2 5S packets would work well and are cheaper. But if it can handle 6S. Imagine thaw would provide a little more performance.

Dirk. Please confirm what you have tried. Don't want to fry anything.
 
I used two 6s batteries because that is what I have. 5s or 4s in series would be better because although the controller can handle 48v, the low voltage cutoff is set for 36v. Meaning you have to keep an eye on your battery voltage yourself if you go 48v. Not hard, just need to buy the voltage alarm attachments that go on the balance plugs. I'm sure that 10s would be plenty of power over the lead battery. I can go up hills with 48v that the lead batteries would stall right at the bottom.
 
Think I might also go 6S as those are what I use on my DIY board. That way I can use batteries across both boards.

Can you explain the low voltage cutoff issue? The factor controller is set at 36V? So with at 6S should still be ok but with a 4s/5s by the time it hit that the cells would be too low, right?
 
The low voltage cutoff on your emad controller is for 36v, so when the battery goes to say 30v the board shuts off. You don't want your 48v battery to go down to 30v before the board shuts down. So you have to monitor it yourself. Get some low voltage alarms from hobbyking or where ever you buy your stuff. They are nice to have anyway to quickly check your batteries voltage. You can set them to when you want them to beep ie. 3.5v or 3.2v per cell.
 
Right, makes sense....by the time the original cutoff hit the cells would be going under 3V.

My buddy who also has an EMAD for sure wants to go lipo after seeing my DIY board. Who wouldn't want to lose nearly 1/2 the weight and get more power/speed.

Thanks for all the help!
 
I dropped the 2 6S batteries in series in my EMAD and you are right...really gives it new life. The loss weight is huge probably 20 lbs lighter. And it really does have more punch to it, can tell the difference when starting off and uphills. It was hitting about 5 MPH faster than my fully charged 1.5 year old original SLA batteries. I have an extra cracked battery case I was able to repair and now can just swap between the batteries.

Thanks of the suggestion!
 
Yup. 12S. The lipo only about half charged so haven't tried with fully charged batteries.

This setup has more torque for sure as it can not just start me but start me on an uphill. Mine is the 600W version. However my 6S diy board has more top end.
 
Different configurations on each board. The 12S is on the emad board with stock 36v controller and 600w motor. I'm running 6S on my DIY board with a Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 6364-245kv and EZ Run.

The most recent post was comparing my emad board with stock SLA to the switching those to lipos.
 
Hi!
Did you have a fuse on the old SLA batteries on the EMAD? Did you removed that when installing LiPo's?
I've a standard 600W board with SLA 36V and there's a 40 A fuse in series with them. I'm already just above 40 A in bursts and thinking 12S of LiPo must blow the fuse. Because the motor will be able to draw more amps when feed with higher voltage.

How is the 600W motor temp with LiPo 48V? Mine is hot on standard 36V.

Also, How can you stand on the 6S diy board in 23 mph? I've the same trucks and at 15 mph my legs feels like spagetti of the wobbling :)
 
Yes, my SLA's had a fuse as well. I removed it. Actually I had a spare battery case that cracked and was empty. So I just spliced in a new connector on the inside to match up to my 2 6S batteries and was set. This was I could switch between the two battery boxes and left the connector to the controller intact. However, find myself going lipo all the time for the added power and 20 lbs less weight.

Motor feels about the same heat wise. I cruise about the same speed so really motor doing the same work, but it really does accelerate and climbs hills much stronger. But those are shorter burst. I was full throttle much more with old setup and now with new much more 3/4 throttle with short burst of full. The old setup would do about 18 on new/fresh batteries and after a year wouldn't get that much anymore on a full charge. With the lipo's it's doing 20 easy and all the time.

Yes on the DIY board with those trucks it got wobbly, actually took a decent fall and had the road rash to prove it. I have since switched to torque board's kit with trucks, skateboard wheels, and mount and it's much more stable at speed. Plus it rolls so much easier. The same slight downhill I used to take with the emad would require a little power to keep my speed, now i'm braking the entire way. The new setup I think does about 25.

Here is my updated DIY board:
208frzp.jpg

309235l.jpg



Barndom said:
Hi!
Did you have a fuse on the old SLA batteries on the EMAD? Did you removed that when installing LiPo's?
I've a standard 600W board with SLA 36V and there's a 40 A fuse in series with them. I'm already just above 40 A in bursts and thinking 12S of LiPo must blow the fuse. Because the motor will be able to draw more amps when feed with higher voltage.

How is the 600W motor temp with LiPo 48V? Mine is hot on standard 36V.

Also, How can you stand on the 6S diy board in 23 mph? I've the same trucks and at 15 mph my legs feels like spagetti of the wobbling :)
 
Thanks.

Maybe it's improving ride to just switch the front truck, so one still have the benefit of a cheap and ready rear truck with mount? Wait no, that would require different wheels front and back.

I'm in the decision of switching to LiPo but have a hard time decide 10S or 12S. 11S would be a perfect voltage but too much hassle to charge.

Actually I don't need more speed, just more range and power to go up the steepest hills. Calls for a 10S for less weight and price, with a smaller motor piniong, from 16t to 15t or 14t.
 
Barndom said:
Thanks.

Maybe it's improving ride to just switch the front truck, so one still have the benefit of a cheap and ready rear truck with mount? Wait no, that would require different wheels front and back.

I'm in the decision of switching to LiPo but have a hard time decide 10S or 12S. 11S would be a perfect voltage but too much hassle to charge.

Actually I don't need more speed, just more range and power to go up the steepest hills. Calls for a 10S for less weight and price, with a smaller motor piniong, from 16t to 15t or 14t.

My favorite pack by far - I haven't gotten it yet as there's no need. Would be this one here 6S 5000mah 25C Long Lipo pack - http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10480__turnigy_5000mah_6s_25c_long_lipo_pack.html. It's long but it's hella thin at 26mm = 1.02". That's my type of pack. :)

I honestly wish they had that type of pack for 8S and 10S or 4S/5S.
 
Yeah, I went 6S since it was what I was using for my DIY board. I would go 12S, if you want more power for hills the 12S will give that to you. The 10S will very similar to your current board.

Modifying parts for these boards can be a pain. Like if you change the motor pinioning the belt might be looser and the mount isn't adjustable.

Just go 12S, leave everything else the same and you will be set. I use the 5000mAh 6S 20C packs and they are only like $45 bucks. I run 2 in series but you could easily run 4. 2 series and 2 parallel to double your range.

Barndom said:
Thanks.

Maybe it's improving ride to just switch the front truck, so one still have the benefit of a cheap and ready rear truck with mount? Wait no, that would require different wheels front and back.

I'm in the decision of switching to LiPo but have a hard time decide 10S or 12S. 11S would be a perfect voltage but too much hassle to charge.

Actually I don't need more speed, just more range and power to go up the steepest hills. Calls for a 10S for less weight and price, with a smaller motor piniong, from 16t to 15t or 14t.
 
Back
Top