DIY Electric Longboard: Part 3

DIY Electric Longboard: Part 3 - An Update

Hi! Just thought I'd give a little update to the blog to let you know what I've been up to in the way of upgrades. If you've not read any of my previous blogs about my electric longboard, please click the links below to catch up.
Part 1
Part 2

Firstly, I received my new 80A ESC and a replacement 3S 11,1v 5000mah Li-Po battery, so I'm now able to run two in series to make 22.2v, which should give me some more range and a bit more speed.

In getting the new battery and ESC, I decided to upgrade the under-tray and try and make things a little more discreet and less obtrusive.

I bought a medium sized ABS plastic project box from ebay, however, it was the right width and length, but I couldn't find one with those correct sizes and also the correct depth, so I had to get one that was 60mm deep whereas I only really needed and wanted 35mm.

My intention was to cut 25mm off of the top on the band saw and because it was the same pattern all the way down, the screws and lid would still fit. However, upon receiving it, I could then see that the actual shape of the box, tapered narrower from top to bottom!

Not a problem, I decided I'd cut the bottom off instead and then just use the underside of the deck as the bottom of the box and still be able to use the proper lid! So that's what I did.....

Here I've removed the old under-tray and the brackets that secured it on. I've found the centre of my board and I've already cut the bottom off the plastic project box.
I had to grind a slight arc in to each polar end of the box (on the side that connects with the board) because of the curvature of the board itself.

Once I'd secured the frame of the box to the board with screws, I arranged all the electrics and worked out how I wanted to position everything. I kept the ESC towards the back of the  box as that was closest to the motor wires and that prevented me from having to extend them.



I then cut out a small hole to put the XT60 circuit breaker connector in. Once this was in tight I super-glued it in place. In hindsight, maybe I should've used hot glue... it held but I'm just not sure for how long.


Once that was done and all the electronics in place, I realised that with this case, being fully enclosed, there was no ventilation for the ESC should it get hot, so I decided to drill some ventilation holes...




.Once that was done the whole upgrade was complete! Time to go rip up some pavement and roads!....



Some testing ensued....

OK, I'm still having an overheating problem, even with my new 80A ESC! 

I've decided to bite the bullet and go for the ESC that I should've just bought from the off, a 120A HobbyKing R/C boat ESC which was recommended to me in the first place... the reason I didn't get it initially was to keep the costs down, and this one at the time was a little pricey, however since I started this project, the price has gone down... so that was nice.

This is the ESC I've ordered...


HobbyKing 120A Boat ESC 4A UBEC


I'm also thinking of upgrading my motor!... :\

I'll keep you posted on progress.... Oh! Forgot to mention, with the 2 x 3S 11.1v Li-Pos, the speed increase was immense!!!


Update!

I had to replace my original motor because it got fried! Here's an update video...



Author: Kevin Dark - 10/29/2016 1:31:35 AM