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How to make a electric skateboard with 14 steps
So in this article we will introduce you how to make an electric skateboard with 14 steps. Please read carefully our instructions in this article! Especially, do well at the first step.
Benefits of DIY electric skateboard
As we have shared above. Owning an electric skateboard is a long-standing wish. But it costs a pretty big cost to own a good electric skateboard from reputable brands. If you already have the tools to make electric skateboards why not start doing it right away? There are many benefits of making your own electric skateboard.
You will be more creative. With your DIY electric skateboard you can customize your total voltage. The higher the voltage the higher the instantaneous power output (capacity). Higher battery amp capacity – You can typically push more amps to your motor by using more powerful battery packs. Typical rating for Electric Skateboard Motors, the maximum amp output per motor is around 80 amps. Higher motor output power – Use a larger and more powerful motor and a more powerful battery to help deliver more of your motor power. DIY electric skateboards can reach speeds of 25-30mph if not higher.
Greater range and mileage – You can carry a spare LiPo pack or use a larger battery pack. The larger the battery pack the heavier you add to your electric skateboard.
More Traction and Power – The benefit of electric skateboards is that you can choose between Single or Dual Motor setup. The Dual Motor setup will have double the amount of electricity (not double the speed).
Easy to install, set up and repair – When you learn How to build an electric skateboard, building, modifying and repairing is pretty easy.
How do electric skateboards work?
If you’ve been familiar with skateboarding then you can imagine electric skateboards similar to regular skateboards except that they have an electric motor that drives them forward. For the skateboard to work you need to turn on the throttle, the speed control and braking you will use with the handheld remote. The remote control transmits data via electromagnetic waves to the Electronic Speed Control (ESC) on your board. When you want to speed up you can choose to accelerate with the controller, ESC will take the information coming from the Bluetooth receiver then evaluate and draw the exact amount of energy from the battery to the engine. And that’s it! The battery power is sent to the engine and will drive your electric wheels and skateboard forward.
The battery that powers the electric motors is mounted below the deck of the e-skis. The engines were mounted below deck or inside the wheels. The rider makes a turn by tilting the board to one side or the other (weight shifts to heel or toe). Electric skateboards are designed for local transportation or commuting. They typically weigh around 22 pounds (10kg), with a top speed of 10-30mph (15-50km / h). The range can vary from 10-31miles (16-50km).
How to make an electric skateboard with 14 steps
Step 1: Plan
To make a good electric skateboard you need a detailed plan. The more detailed you are, the more successful you will be. You want to make your own electric skateboard because you want to save money. Of course we will guide you in the most detail so you can have the best skateboard for the lowest price. A lot of low-cost homemade skis cost around € 500 or more. It’s still pretty expensive, isn’t it?
If you are building your own electric skateboard, you need to set some minimum requirements. Eg:
Minimum range 7 km (about 4 miles)
– Minimum speed is 24 km / h (15 m / h)
– Low cost
– Easy to use
With these requirements, you can choose parts for your project! Let’s go to the next step with us! You will save a lot of money there.
Step 2: Parts list
Seemore:
We would like to offer you a low cost way to make skateboards. So you need to order a lot from banggood. The advantage of banggood (or other sites like aliexpress) is its low price. Their downside is 20 days of long shipping. So keep that in mind when ordering all the parts!
Prices may fluctuate a bit depending on sales, local prices and shipping.
Parts list includes:
Mechanical
– Engine
– Train driving kit
– Better engine mounts
– Additional belts
Electricity
– 120A ESC
– 2x 3S 5000mAh 20C zippy Lipo’s
– 6S BMS
– Remote receiver +
– 25.2V laptop adapter
– Programmer ESC
– Battery level indicator
– Anti-note plug XT90
– 2 meter black wire 12AWG
– 12AWG red cord is 2 meters long
– Charging port
– Large latch button
– Small moment button
– 3 seconds JST-XH balance
The siege was not at the right time
– Toolbox from hardware store
– The long table of the second hand
Step 3: Electric skateboard surgery
For the electric skateboard to function properly you need to have a schematic diagram and its working mechanism. The electric skateboard anatomy consists of three main parts: motor, buffer and battery. These three main parts are also the ones that will need research the most.
The motorcycle
For electric skateboarding, it is recommended to use brushless dc motor, because of the power it can provide in such a small motor. The most important specification of a brushless dc motor is the KV ratio. KV stands for: rpm / Volt level for the motor. So if you applied 10volts to a 190KV motor, you would get 1900 rpm. The higher the KV the lower the torque (force) that the motor can produce. It is not easy to find the right KV ratio for your board. The rate of KV that can be used for electric skateboard is from 100 to 300 KV. If you have a high voltage battery (like 10 seconds) you want to switch to a lower KV, that’s because the battery’s 300 KV•37v motor = 11100 rpm = 11100 rpm. It’s a bit to high rpm for the skateboard electricity.
ESC
For ESC it is quite simple, you just want to go VESC but if you have a limited budget, you should take the rc car ESC. The ESC has a few specs you need to consider. Maximum amperage, the most common ESC in electric skateboarding is esc 120A. That ESC can handle 120Amps, and that should be fine for sure. The maximum voltage also needs to be considered, that will depend on how many battery cells you can hook up in series. If you want to set up a sensor motor, you will need a sensor ESC, otherwise the sensor motor is just a normal motor. The last spec you want to look up is whether it has UBEC or not. UBEC means you can connect the receiver directly to ESC without any external power supply. Almost every ESC has UBEC but it’s smart to find it.
Battery
There are two types of batteries: LiPo and Li-ion. LiPo and Li-ion batteries have almost the same electronic properties. They have the same maximum voltage of 4.2v and a nominal voltage of 3.7v. LiPo batteries are a bit cheaper but more fragile, Li-ion batteries are more expensive but less fragile. There are many reviews on the forums that claim Li-ion is the way to go if you have the money for it. If you are on a tight budget go with LiPo. Of course, you can also find all the basics on the electric skateboard builders forum.
Step 4: Attach the pulley
Now let’s get started on making your own electric skateboard! Pulley attachment is an important part of electric skateboards. With the train set you have purchased, two pulleys are needed.
You need to attach the pulley fairly straight forward, because the screws and bolts are supplied with them. There are two problems: The pulley inner hole diameter is smaller than that and the solid urethane wheel has no holes to place bolts.
The first problem:
Small pulley, passing on the motor shaft, has too small inner bore diameter. The inner bore diameter is 8mm while the motor shaft has a 10mm diameter. Most electric skateboard motors have a motor shaft diameter of 8mm but unfortunately not.
To solve this problem you can drill a larger hole in the pulley. You can use a 10 mm drill bit to drill straight holes. It is an easy solution but the pulley can break. Because the pulley was quite thin around the hole. If the pulley is broken, you can order a new pulley that has the same teeth and has an inner hole diameter of 10mm.
The second problem:
Attach the large pulley to the wheel. Drill the holes for the screws with the required drill on the ‘inside’ of the wheel. With the inside of the wheel, that means the side opposite to the truck. The main problem is that the screw head limits the distance a screw can travel in the drill hole. Please drill a little bigger on the ‘outside’ of the wheel back in the holes.
Step 5: Attach the motor
Attach the motor to the mount:
This set does not have the bolts included to attach the engine to the engine mount. So you need to buy new ones from a local store. The bracket comes with a routed input so the motor slides in.
Mount the rack to the truck:
There are different ways to mount a rack to a truck. The most common ways to mount it are by welding, clamping or screwing it on the truck. Set can only slide on truck and screw tight on truck. If the truck has a hangar larger than the entire diameter in the rack, you can edit the hangar to the desired diameter.
The screws come with the kit with a pointed tip. That sharp tip still makes the mount move, no matter how hard you tighten the screws. You need to buy separate bolts with flat top, which perform significantly better.
The bolts in the rack, which grip the truck the most, will loosen over time due to vibration. There is a lot of vibrations in the skateboard so it is a big deal. The solution to that is loctite. Loctite is an expensive life-saving ‘glue’ for an electric skateboard.
Step 6: Electronic
The electronics are pretty straight forward. Electronic devices include welding and/or connecting parts together. The only thing you need to do is follow the wiring diagrams. You need a good cable to connect the battery to the ESC, etc. The recommended thickness is 12 awg but you can go super safe and buy a 10 awg cable.
Everyone uses the XT90 anti-trace connector. You don’t really have a certain order for connecting motor wires to the ESC. You just need to connect motor and press trigger button on remote control, if motor is not rotating in the right direction, you just need to switch the two wires with eachother and you will be fine.
In order to have the on / off button on your cover, you’ll need to extend the button on the ESC. It can only be done if you have an anti-trace PCB switch or an ESC with integrated on / off button. To solder the wire to the button, you need to open the button. The plastic case is held together by four screws holding the heat sink. So you need to first remove the four screws and then easily open the button. When the button is opened, you can solder the two wires to both solder points of the button and then be able to screw the lid back.
Step 8: Connect the BMS wire
To charge the battery, you should choose to use BMS. There are two options for charging: BMS or LiPo charger. Both have their own advantages, but you should choose BMS because of the ability to charge the battery with a simple laptop adapter. BMS is a pcb that monitors the batteries and keeps them in balance.
Connecting every cell is pretty easy. The schematic you can find on the internet explains it pretty well. To connect two 3s pin to 6s bms, you need to solder two 3s jst-xh balance conductors with BMS. BMS came with 6s balance wire so the problem is just solder, but be careful: it can go wrong if you make a mistake. That’s why we recommend testing everything if you’re done without plugging in the battery.
Step 9: Select Sheath
You will need a cover for your project. The purpose of the housing is to protect electronics from water and damage. The main difficult parts of making a sheath are: flexural and concave deck. These variables can make shell creation difficult.
There are many ways to make your own siege. You can make it from wood or metal, you can 3D print or vacuum your own plastic case with cheap and easy way. This is certainly not pretty, but it does have some cool styles. Buy a local screw sorting box and use it as a cover.
Step 10: Protect the battery
Besides BMS, you’ll need other safeguards for LiPo’s. One of the downsides of LiPo is that the LiPo can be structurally damaged, which can lead to an explosion, fire and dissatisfaction. To avoid that, you can choose to make a foam cage in a cover.
Step 11: The inner design of the cover
Designing inside the casing is a lot of putting parts inside the casing and shuffling them around. One thing to note is the power cord: for electric skateboards, it is necessary to use thick wire that can handle high currents. Those thick ropes are not very flexible and will take up quite a bit of space, be careful!
Step 12: Finishing the Sheath.
For a better cover, sand every corner or cut with fine sandpaper. Parts in the housing are attached with glue. Examples are foam cages for batteries, ESCs and buttons. The glue around the buttons, charging plugs, and anti-switch plug xt90 also function to make the case a little more waterproof.
The battery is held in place by a foam cage and some padding. You should attach the enclosure with screws. In order to have a good screw in the deck, you need to drill a hole in the deck for each screw. It is not too difficult, the only thing is you need to drill on the shank side.
Recommendation
The electric skateboard involves batteries, electricity and complex electrical parameters. So get started after making sure you understand how the power sources work and the data connections. Do not start doing it when you do not understand anything because it will probably get you a lot of money and time!
And finally, above is all our knowledge and practical experience in How to make an electric skateboard with 14 steps. Hopefully you will do your research before you get started. Thank you so much!
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