skateboard batteries

[skate]

Need some help, trying to lesson the weight currently running 4 12v 4ah acid batteries. Would like to reduce weight I'm as green as you get when it comes to battery tech. motor is 12v

 

[Link]

What's your budget, and would you be willing to ride around on something chemically safe normally, but potentially...violent if something goes horribly wrong?

 

[dogman dan]

Even nicads would be better than lead. The old style makita drill batteries were a flat format that would be good, or you could get cells from ebikes-ca. It just depends on your budget. The cheapest option is getting to be freinds with a tool repair shop that might have returned lithium tool batteries. Then you could scavenge good cells. Ebay has A123 lifepo4 cells for sale now too, but the easiest thing would be either a pack of lifepo4 from pingbattery, or a lipoly for a radio controlled helicopter or such. A few basic precautions and lipoly is not so unsafe. Just get one of those bags to put it in while charging. If I were you, I'd be interested in the lipoly, just for the small size of the batteries.

 

[skate]

Money isn't a issue but they must be able to withstand above normal heat since i live in Arizona. I will search for Makita batteries since the economy is bad there's lots of construction guys giving away their cordless drills. Also Is there tutorials on wiring them properly. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[julesa]

I can't see, the pics are too small. Are the batteries wired in series (positive to negative, positive to negative in a chain)? If so, you'll need 48V 2.5Ah in lithium or NiCd -- I would just buy two 24V power tool packs, wire them in series, and charge them separately.

If they're wired in parallel (all the positive leads are wired to the same place, and all the negative leads are wired to the same place, which would be the case if your controller takes 12V) you'll need something like 12V 10Ah. Any idea what the controller current draw limit is?

 

[skate]

they are wired in parallel and control i don't know at this time i plan to take it apart to test. I'm in the process of locating some batteries. I'll post more when i get controller info Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[julesa]

I would talk with Li Ping at pingbattery.com and ask him if he could set you up with a 12v 10Ah custom-built pack with his new version 3.0 cells. 3c cells in a 10Ah pack should be able to provide plenty of current for a skateboard.

 

[dogman dan]

On tool packs, how about 18v? That is pretty common. You could paralell as many as you want of those.

 

[liveforphysics]

You could fit enough LiPo batteries in there to have increadible performance, and very light weight. But, you need to read the LiPo thread sticky'd at the top of this battery section of the forum before you decide you want to use LiPo. They are quite reasonable in prices these days.

If you are looking for maximum performance, can follow the Golden rule of LiPo, and are willing to buy the right charger, no other battery type can compare.

If you don't trust yourself to never error when charging, then A123 cells would be the next best performance battery. They only lag behind LiPo in weight, volume, and a minor power/voltage difference, but they are safe, and very good cells.

 

[julesa]

On tool packs, how about 18v? That is pretty common. You could paralell as many as you want of those.

If the controller can take 18V without cooking, that would give a nice performance boost too. If. But that's a 50% increase over the 12V it was probably designed for... I wouldn't try it unless you are pretty confident in your electronics troubleshooting skills or can easily get a replacement.

 

[dogman dan]

I assumed at 12v he had a switch, on off. The motor could fry though. But yeah, it may be brushless rc motor. In tool batteries, 12v is not so common these days. I think ryobi still has some 14.4 volt stuff. Nice thing about a tool pack battery is the avaliablilty of a good charger for it.

 

[Link]

I assumed at 12v he had a switch, on off.

I wouldn't be too sure. My crap 24V skateboards would easily rip themselves out from under me if they didn't have a controller, and even a 12V might be a little much with a direct connection to the batteries.