Project E-Mountain Board

[AndreD.]

Hello Guys,

First off all I need to say THANKS for this amazing forum, I just spend the whole noon reading the topics around here, AWESOME STUFF.
Long story short, I am Andre, 25, IT Engineer and I fell in Love with Electric skateboards since I saw an E-Go board on youtube. I was searching for something more OFFROAD and I bumped into this amazing forum. After check some electric mountain boards I felt obligated to sign the divorce papers with the E-go board and start thinking about build one for myself.

And that's why I am Starting this topic, to ask for some advice and help.
Before asking for some non sense stuff, I want you to know that I want the board to commute between Home <--> Train Staion <--> Work (12 Miles Total), but on weekends I would like to go crazy offroad so I want some power as well. About speed 20mph is more than enough, my main goal is a nice balance between power and range. I weight about 165Lbs.

What I am thinking is, buy some mountain board new/used of ebay or something and with that in my hands I can start thinking about what goes where, figure out some measurements, blah blah blah.

First question is, I have Nitro Rc cars, I can use one transmitter/receiver pack to use on my board correct?

Best Regards
AndreD.

 

[okp]

Hey Andre,

Welcome to ES. Yes, the RC transmitter will be perfect as well as your RX.

 

[AndreD.]

Hi Okp,

Thanks. About the Transmitter/Receiver pack I am sorted.

I am looking for some boards so I can start the mesureaments and the planning.

Ebay seems to have a couple interesting and cheap boards. I say cheap because this will be my first build so definitely something will go wrong.

Best Regards
AndreD.

 

[nowind]

Hey.

Its the right way to build from ground up by yourself.

Just thought about the cheap board, because its alot of work and if you use a poor quality board you have to do the job twice.

Jenso

 

[AndreD.]

Hello Guys,

Quick question, what are the pros/cons to have springs on the trucks?

Best Regards
Andre

 

[Trampa]

Hi Andre, you definitely want spring trucks. Any other truck system is not designed for such an application.
Jens was quite right in saying that you don't want to invest your money , time and efforts, using a cheap quality platform.
You will end up buying twice, and you will find out that your parts won't fit the second board you buy. Hubs will be different, pulleys won't fit anymore, axle shafts are shorter or longer etc.
Make sure you buy a deck you can reshape, since your nose is likely to collide with your drive train. Snowboard technology decks can't be chopped of easily.

Any questions are welcome!

Frank from Trampa

 

[torqueboards]

Nice to see Trampa on here. I see you guys are coming out with a new electric skateboard build.

 

[AndreD.]

Hello Again,

I have been searching and searching about everything, and I think I made some "decisions" (Please you're more than welcome to say I AM TOTALLY WRONG about everything. ).

Dual Rear Motor: Initially I was thinking to buy this ones, but then I realize bigger the Kv more difficult is to the board to start from a standing still point, so I decided to go with this. (Advice is always welcome)

ESC: I am kinda stuck at this, because I know what I need/want, 120A Esc, 8S Li-Po Capable, but for some reason I cant find it on HobbyKing. I was thinking to get the VESC as many people are writing good things about it, but its pricey. I know, a good ESC is a must have, but still.. Any suggestion?

Batteries: ZIPPY Flightmax 8000mAh 4S1P 30C , 2 for each motor in series making 8S 8Ah. (What do you think?)

Belts or chains: My choice is chains, why? Because I'll do off road ridding whenever I can and in my search it seems that chains are more reliable for off road but they produce more noise and they need a little bit more maintenance than belts. (Both of which I don't care).

Gear Racio: Not sure yet, need some thoughts on this matter.

I already found a deal on a board. I hope I can get it during the week. Once i get it definitely I will post some pictures.

I am currently doing some drawings on Sketchup for the motor mounts. Any Advice?

Thanks In Advance for your time and Help
Best regards
AndreD.

 

[torqueboards]

If weight is not an issue.. I'd go with dual 6374 192kv on 12s with 2x vescs.

Gearing ratio is usually 1:4 to 1:6 or so. Good to have a few options for the motor pulley that way you can change it out.

 

[AndreD.]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your advice torqueboards. VEScs are tow expensive for now. So probably I'll go with something cheaper.

Build your own battery pack with 18650 Cells HERE

Best Regards
AndreD.

 

[torqueboards]

Buy VESC from Olin Great deal. $110.

 

[AndreD.]

Olin? Can you post a link? $110 is a really nice deal.

 

[torqueboards]

Olin? Can you post a link? $110 is a really nice deal.

http://www.ollinboardcompany.com/product/vedder-s-speed-controller

 

[AndreD.]

If weight is not an issue.. I'd go with dual 6374 192kv on 12s with 2x vescs.

Gearing ratio is usually 1:4 to 1:6 or so. Good to have a few options for the motor pulley that way you can change it out.

I am new to this thing, , 8.4Kg is the board weight, is that an issue?

Think I'll go for the VESCs, was thinking and this will be a 2/3 months project, so I can save a bit more money and get a good ESCs instead of an average one for less £20. Makes no sense.

About the charger, is this one any good?

 

[AndreD.]

Hey Guys,

Hobbyking has been a nightmare to order from. You can't mix warehouse products so if you order 3 products from 3 different warehouses you need to pay the shipping expenses 3 times which is a non sense, you rarely have 2 products available on the same warehouse, no matter if you spend £1000 you don't have free shipping, etc etc etc.

I want to get some stuff to start building the board, so you guys know any other decent online shop in the UK?

Thanks in Advance
Best Regards
AndreD.

 

[nowind]

Hey.

I doubt that you find something cheaper or similar cheap as HK.

You are in the Uk? Normally i get all my Emtb parts from UK or EU Warehouse. Really rare that i need something from the international.

What for parts you need from International?

If weight is not an issue.. I'd go with dual 6374 192kv on 12s with 2x vescs.

Gearing ratio is usually 1:4 to 1:6 or so. Good to have a few options for the motor pulley that way you can change it out.

I am new to this thing, , 8.4Kg is the board weight, is that an issue?

Think I'll go for the VESCs, was thinking and this will be a 2/3 months project, so I can save a bit more money and get a good ESCs instead of an average one for less £20. Makes no sense.

About the charger, is this one any good?

Best choice on the VESC !!!

My Board weights 6.7kg as it comes from Trampa, and 13.7kg Ready to run with Lipos 12S-6400mAH, Heelstraps and some mud (-;

 

[AndreD.]

Hey nowind,

Thanks for your reply. Yes I am in the UK. I think I sorted out the problem.

Already got the balance charger/discharger from ebay (16A, 180W), just need to get a computer power supply and connect it to the charger. (That's kinda easy for me because I work on a computer repair shop.)

Regarding the batteries I am experimenting with 18650 cells, manage to find 36 cells with more than 3V on them, so I made 6 packs of 6 cells each, just waiting for the charger and the balance plugs to arrive to charge them and check the results.

ESC, I'll go with the VESC because it is the best option.

So the only thing I need to order from HK are the motors, and since its only 1 Item it is ok to pay the shipping expenses.

The rest of the hardware, motor mount, pulleys, etc I need to check after getting the board and the motors.

I'll try to keep this post updated as much as I can, because your answers may help other newbies like me.

Thanks all for your help.
Best Regards
AndreD.