Introduction: New Powerful 1800W Electric Longboard
Hi everyone!
I decided to make a new and better electric longboard this year.
I really love this way of traveling and E-SK8 has become an addiction to me.
Boosted Board has inspired me and it's such a nice electric longboard, but so expensive (like 1500€ for the 2000W model).
Before I start I will explain some things because I didn't really want to copy the Boosted Board design.
First of all, I wanted to make an Electric longboard as thin as possible, again in this build I used separate Lipo cells and made a very thin battery pack (12mm) so people won't see it from the side that it's an Electric longboard.
The second thing is the power, I would like a longboard with a power around 1800W, The motor can handle around 2000W but I use a 6S battery so the power will be a bit lower like 1800W max peak but that's really enough, trust me ;)
The other reason why I use a 6S battery is because once you go higher than 6S the price of the ESC is so much higher like double the price for 8S or 10S.
If we talk about speed, I theoretically calculated the board at about 44km/h so I would practically guess about 40km/h. And in reality I have tested it on the smoothest road in our town and I can ride 41km/h max speed so that's perfect for me and damn, it's so amazingly fast!
The battery with 222Wh will give me a 14km ride.
I made the deck by myself and it was actually pretty easy (I thought it would be harder to make it)
All the electronics are hidden into the deck to give it a clean look.
In total I have spent like 500€ for every single part.
I think you know enough information to start the explanation how I made my Electric longboard.
!!! I'm selling this build right now to be able of making new ESK8's !!!
!!! Video's coming soon !!!
Step 1: Collect All the Parts You Need
What do we need?
SK3 - 236Kv Motor:Hobbyking
Another very good and cheaper motor is the NTM 270Kv, I had the SK3 236Kv laying around but the NTM 270Kv is more powerful so that would be a slightly better option.
120A car ESC:Banggood
This is a car ESC and runs very smooth with no problems. You can also buy a program card for this ESC which I also did and really recommend. You can change a lot of parameters like acceleration, brake, cut off voltage,... -> Banggood
Lipo Batteries:Hobbyking
I bought 12 cells of these, so I can make a 6S2P battery pack, the cells are 5000mAh so a 6S2P will give me 22.2V and 10000mAh, enough to have fun long ride.
Transmitter and Receiver:Ebay
I used this controller because there are used a lot for electric longboards and it's a pretty small one, just perfect!
6S 12A BMS:Ebay
This BMS works fine, it will balance all the cells perfectly while riding and charging
XT60 Connectors:Hobbyking
Very good connectors and the have a small lock which never came loose during a ride.
25.2V Power supply:Aliexpress
Metal timing pulley 25T:Ebay
This is a 30 teeth pulley, 16mm wide (HTD5M serie)
(btw why buying expensive pulleys and belts on special sites like sdp/si when you also find them very cheap on ebay)
Metal timing pulley 15T: Ebay
This is a 15 teeth pulley and has a 6mm bore which fits perfect on the motor shaft. (HTD5M serie)
Rubber timing belt 45T:Ebay
I bought a couple of these because if one should break I have some extra but until now no problems with my first belt!
If you want to calculate the center distance and other stuff very quickly -> Pulley/Belt Calculator (HTD5M serie)
Silicon Wire:Ebay
You will need silicon wire to make your battery, this wire is very flex and can resist high temperatures so if you solder your wires the isolation won't melt.
I used 2 meter of 12AWG to make the battery pack and for the BMS I used 2 meter 20AWG.
Motor Mount:Ebay
Trucks:Ebay
Choose one normal truck and another truck with one side turning service with a diameter of 18mm and a distance of 50mm, then the motor mount will fit perfect on the truck.
Wheels:Ebay
I had these wheels laying around but I should suggest Flywheel Clones, they are much easier to attach a pulley to them.
Bearings:Zealous bearings
Rubber sheet like 1mm thick
Bolts and Nuts
Wood and glue to make the deck
Step 2: Solder the Electric Parts
Solder the connectors to the ESC
I like XT60 connectors so I removed the connector from the ESC and soldered a XT60 to it.
Solder and make the battery pack
First you need to know how to connect the batteries, so we are going to make a 6S battery pack.
This means 6 cells will get connected in serie which will make a voltage of 22.2V (3.7*6)
But I have 12 cells so you need to connect 2 cells in parallel, than you have 6 "packs" which you need to connect in serie. 2 cells in parallel will double the capacity and of course double the range.
Connect the BMS to the battery
I only used this bms to charge and balance the batteries. So the output power of the batteries is not lowered by the bms output because I don't use the output of the bms. This is used a lot to give the motor the full power that the batteries and esc can deliver.
Charger
I made the charger by myself but I should recommend buying the one I have mentioned in the links.
I 3D-printed a small holder to put the charging port into the front truck so it's very handy to charge the board.
ESC
I disassembled the ESC and removed the fan, I tried to make the esc thinner. I also heard a lot of users were running this ESC without the fan and it works still great and I guess the natural air cooling while riding is better than the tiny fan.
Step 3: Make the Longboard Deck
Wood Glue
First I glued 3 pieces of wood together and bent them slightly.
Cutting, Drilling and Milling
After drying it for a day I cut the wood into the right shape and also drilled the holes to mount the trucks.
My father milled the deck underneath so I could "hide" the batteries and electronics in there.
Sanding and adding Varnish
After sanding the deck I varnished it to protect the wood.
Griptape
The last step is adding griptape to the deck.
Step 4: Constrain the Pulley to the Wheel
Constrain the 25T pulley to the wheel
We have made 2 extra parts which fits into the wheel to make it strong and nicely centered.
Lathe
First we made the wheels nice and round from the inside so we have also putted them into the lathe.
Both sides are around 5mm deep to put the 2 aluminum parts into the wheel.
Drilling and Tapping
After this, the 25T pulley needed a bigger bore (20mm) so it won't touch the truck axle.
Finally 4 holes were drilled through every part and we tapped M5 into the 25T pulley so the bolt isn't screwed fully through the whole pulley.
So now the hard parts are done and we only need to put everything together!
Kits
You can also buy pulley kits (mostly for flywheel clones) which is very easy to assemble.
If you search for them, just ask me I can give several links.
Step 5: Put Everything Together
Sketching
The first thing I did was making a sketch on paper of the real dimensions to make clear where I'm gonna put everything.
Rubber
First of all I have cut a piece of rubber to seal the electronics.
Drilling Holes
Secondly, I drilled 8 holes (M5) into the board and directly through the rubber and aluminium side rails.
Gluing
After this I glued the ESC and Battery pack and the Receiver in the right position.
I didn't used a lot of glue to glue the battery, just a line of glue in the middle of the battery.
Easy to access
I made a hole into the rubber to plug in the battery into the esc and in my opinion it is a easy and clean solution.
Finally I tightened every bolt with locktite to make sure they won't come loose.
Step 6: Pictures of My Final Creation
This is a quick test I did and it runs pretty smooth!
If you would be interested to see a couple of my runs, I always save a screenshot from the runtastic app to "record" my runs on maps to view the distance and top speed and stuff like that.
!!! I want to thank Robbe Derks who has helped me with this amazing project !!!