Electric Longboard Building Using Carvon Dual Electric Hubs

[appleman6161]

I have had a extremely positive experience with my Carvon V2 Dual Electric Hub Motors and wanted to share my build as both an informative piece, review, and a thank you to Jerry at Carvon and John from RC Juice. I've been riding it about two weeks so pardon the dirt, but here is what I've got.

All photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensacks/albums/72157656673787494

Quick Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANAOAnrdaSA

-Deck is a 42" downhill 7 ply purchased from eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/42-in-RAW-FLUSH-MOUNT-FREESTYLE-LONGBOARD-SKATEBOARD-Deck-/191683275992?hash=item2ca136acd8

-ESC's are 2X FVT 120 amp running at stock settings with 40% brake. Purchased from RC Juice http://www.rcjuice.com/fvt-120a-brushless-sensored-sensorless-car-esc-2-6s/

-Batteries are 2X Turnigy 6S 5000mah 20C running in parallel for a total of 10,000man at 6S. Purchased from Hobby King http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9176__Turnigy_5000mAh_6S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html

-Radio system is a Quanum 3CH TX/RX fit into a custom housing. More on that later, also from HobbyKing http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__44693__Quanum_2_4Ghz_3ch_Pistol_Grip_Tx_Rx_System.html

-Main Power Switch/Fuse from eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/200-AMP-12V-DC-CIRCUIT-BREAKER-REPLACE-FUSE-200A-12-24V-DC-FAST-FREE-USA-SHIP-/390474856510

-LCD Voltage Indicator from eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261684392305?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

-Enclosure is entirely scratch built from a tupperware tub and basic hardware

-And finally, the motors. The Carvon V2 Dual Hub Motors and Front Truck/Wheel Set purchased from http://www.carvonskates.com/

All photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensacks/albums/72157656673787494

I have a lot of history with RC cars/planes/quadcopters but building this board took around 30 hours and a lot of trial and error. Total cost, not including a charger, was around $750. It isn't the prettiest, but the power is tremendous. I have not gotten a GPS speed (though I will in the future), but I am a thrill-seeking 20 year-old college kid and this board goes faster and accelerates quicker than I could ever fully handle. I have no doubt the 30+ mph specs on these wheels are conservative. Range is around 10 miles on flat ground and 6-7 with hills and more spirited riding. Motors are rated at 70 amps peak. At 25 volts that's around 3500 watts or over 4.5 horsepower. Breaking power, even at the default 40% setting, is superb. I weigh 200 pounds and come easily to a stop from high speeds. The board with batteries weighs about 18 pounds.

The board is centered around the 200 amp fuse which I have connected to the negative terminals of both batteries and then split to to the negative leads on the ESC's. The positive leads from the batteries are connected together, then each run to a separate ESC. This preserves the parallel nature of the power source through the entire board. The fuse serves as the main ON/OFF switch and is accessible through a small hole in the enclosure. I also mounted a small LCD voltage indicator to monitor battery voltage. It is connected to monitor the battery leads after the fuse and is powered on via a small power cable to an extra channel on the receiver so it turns on and off with the board.

I built the enclosure by trimming down a tupperware tub and attaching the hardware as seen in the photos. I tighten it in place with wingnuts, and have not had a problem with the case coming loose while riding. There are metal strips to hold its shape and a few small ventilation holes near the ESC's. I applied weatherstripping to allow for slight flex between the board the enclosure. Clearance is about 1 inch, which has not posed any issues going over slight curb lips and flatter speed bumps.

The board is controlled with a standard 2.4GHz radio that I completely disasemlbed and mounted inside an old AC Adapter casing. The unit fits firmly in my hand and is very easy to use. It has an externally mounted power switch to disconnect the small lipo battery and is easily opened and closed via the black rubber bands. I put a small hook on the bottom of the board to hold the transmitter during transport.

The most important component, the motors, were supplied by Carvonskates.com. The hub design offers tremendous power and simplicity compared to a belt design, allows me to carve deeper without fear of a belt slipping, and has much less drag than a belt design. There is some resistance, but riding this board manually is very much possible. The setup was slightly more expensive than a traditional brushless setup, but I have absolutely no regrets on my purchase. I have ridden a belt design and there is no comparison in overall performance, especially strong breaking down hills.

That generally sums things up. I'd like to extend a huge thanks to Jerry at Carvon for being extremely informative and supportive through my build and for upgrading my original V1 motors to the V2 at no cost. His dedication to customer satisfaction is tremendous, and his product has exceeded all my expectations. I'd also like to thank John from RC Juice for his generous customer service and replacement of a faulty ESC despite this atypical application. The replacement has been running smoothly with no issue.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I sincerely appreciate any feedback and would be more than happy to assist with any technical questions you might have yourself.

Thanks,
Ben

All photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensacks/albums/72157656673787494

Quick Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANAOAnrdaSA

*Speed update: I have hit 32mph on flat ground with more throttle to spare. Will find a location to do a full out speed run at some point but would not be surprised if I top out around 40mph.

 

[CSN]

Nice writeup

Keep the updates coming.

I would have thought the range would be a bit higher given those batt's.

How are the sounds of the hubmotors and braking noise?

 

[torqueboards]

Sweet write up. Can't wait to get mine.

 

[appleman6161]

Nice writeup

Keep the updates coming.

I would have thought the range would be a bit higher given those batt's.

How are the sounds of the hubmotors and braking noise?

My battery life might be slightly lower than normal due to accidentally leaving the lipos charged for an extended time. I don't plan to buy another pair until they puff or the life really becomes an issue. I have a 10 amp charging setup so they're full in an hour anyways.

Sound has not been an issue. You'll definitely hear them purring on hard acceleration but cruising sound is faint, especially with wind in your ears. Breaking does not produce a terrible high pitch and is quieter than acceleration of the same intensity. I've heard this depends heavily on your ESC selection though.

 

[LEVer]

You're welcome Ben. Be safe out there though.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

 

[LEVer]

That quick release design of yours has got to be the E-board DIY hack-of-the-year. So simple yet so effective.

 

[appleman6161]

Quick video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANAOAnrdaSA

 

[okp]

Quick video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANAOAnrdaSA

nice but ... where is your helmet ?

 

[torqueboards]

Quick video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANAOAnrdaSA

nice but ... where is your helmet ?

He superman.. Superman need no helmet.

 

[CSN]

Tell us about how the Carve Ons climb steep hills and brake

 

[appleman6161]

Tell us about how the Carve Ons climb steep hills and brake

Hill performance and breaking and both superb. There aren't a ton of hills near my college to make a video but at home I tested it out on a steep mountain drive (I live in Phoenix) and was astonished at the power going up hill and control coming down. Even at only 40% break on the FVT's I had no problem slowing down on hills where the incline alone made balance a little difficult.

 

[djodom1134]

Ben- AWESOME build!

15ah, 6s, VESC x 2, Carvon V2 x 2, Wii controller.
1000mah per mile. 3d printed case (still in progress).
Total cost: $750-$800.

240lbs + board (20lbs) I can climb a long hill with VESC and a small heat spreader. The limiting factor for my set-up is getting heat out of the VESC. I know this because it starts off at 20mph up a steep hill, then as the VESC heats up, the system pulls back to keep the temperature from running away. I might try 9S batteries to see if that will help, but these motors are not geared, so they run 3-4 times slower than belted and geared counterparts. So that means the current is a lot higher than motors that can spin faster.
Can confirm that this set-up will get you going faster than you would want to go safely. Any faster than ~25 mph for me and I lose the confidence to carve and that diminishes the fun.
I can also confirm that Pediglide's customer service is superb.

-Darren

 

[djodom1134]

Just saw that quick release case design. Kudos on that one. I'm gonna steal that and the gasket idea for my next case design revision!
https://github.com/djodom/eskateboard_vesc_batt_case

 

[LEVer]

Thanks Darren, much obliged. I love how neat and evenly spaced your phase wires come out of the enclosure.

Ben, looking sweet dude!

 

[disastorm]

Hello,

I was searching electric longboards and found this forum which looks interesting since the people here mod and create their own. However, I am a noob and don't really know anything about skateboards, longboards, or mechanical engineering. I know a little about electrical engineering since I majored in Computer Engineering, but since then I've been into software and havn't really done much other than playing around with a Roomba.

This thread seems great, especially due to the photos and the listing of all the things needed to create a motorized board. Since I am a noob I have a few questions for anyone. It seems there are different methods to moving the wheels? Either using a belt system or an "electric hub" ? The "electric hub" is basically a motor inside the wheels? Which one of these methods is lighter ?

Is the following correct?
In total, you need:
a motor ( either belt or hub )
something called an "ESC" which controls the speed and braking, and then you need to program it with an "LCD Program Card"
batteries ( 2 in parallel is standard? )
A radio system so that you can use a wireless handheld controller device to interact with the ESC
A power switch
an enclosure
a deck, wheels, and trucks
(optional) lcd voltage display the OP felt was useful

 

[lox897]

Yes disastorm. CarvON has hub motors for sale search it up. Hub motors are most likely lighter. You don't need a power switch but it's a nice feature so you don't have to unplug batteries all the time. Look at some builds and threads on how to build. Make your own thread to get more help from others.

 

[LEVer]

^^^

Well, if you use the same motors and trucks I use for my hub motors and add belts, pulleys and mounts, then yes, the hub motors setup will be lighter.

But you CAN have a lighter setup with belt-drives. You can for example use two small 50mm higher kv motors and have a 4:1 gearing, and that will be lighter than my hub motors.

Don't use hub motors if you're worried about the weight. Use it because it rides like a regular non-powered longboard that goes really, really fast.

 

[disastorm]

nice, thanks for the info guys. I made my own thread so I don't need to make this thread off topic. Well, tbh I don't know what a regular non powered longboard feels like lol, but yea i think the hub motors sounds better. I had a skateboard when I was really young but I never did anything on it except just go forward and I havn't done anything since then, lol.

 

[djodom1134]

You should definitely just but a regular cheap longboard and learn balance before you go all in. You will find it to be a lot more fun if you don't have to think about the fundamentals.

 

[appleman6161]

I took the board out last night with a GPS speed tracking app and hit 32mph on flat ground. It still had a bit more room on the throttle trigger but I'd like to tighten the trucks up before going faster. I'll make a video with a standalone GPS unit at some point. I would not be surprised if I can hit 40 on flat ground and far beyond that downhill

 

[tshong]

Hey endless-sphere peeps. I've been watching youtube tutorials and online guides, but this is the first time I saw a DIY version with hub motors. Just to confirm, suppose I decide to use Carvon's Single Hub motor, does that mean I only need 1 ESC and 1 Battery instead?

My reasoning is that going 30+ miles per hour seems really scary on a skateboard lol. Perhaps the single hub method would be good enough for most applications?

 

[LEVer]

You only need 1 ESC for one motor. The batteries are packs, you build them up to the voltage and capacity you like.

ES member mccloed said he's gone 25mph but it still wasn't full throttle, so 30mph on the Single hub is possible.

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=73404&p=1115117&hilit=stary#p1115117

 

[bbcane78]

I took the board out last night with a GPS speed tracking app and hit 32mph on flat ground. It still had a bit more room on the throttle trigger but I'd like to tighten the trucks up before going faster. I'll make a video with a standalone GPS unit at some point. I would not be surprised if I can hit 40 on flat ground and far beyond that downhill

I'm looking into using the same power switch as you, is the switch located between the batteries and esc? also do your lipo batteries power your meter or does it have separate batteries? I just want to know if this would work for me and if you have had any issues with the switch.

 

[appleman6161]

I took the board out last night with a GPS speed tracking app and hit 32mph on flat ground. It still had a bit more room on the throttle trigger but I'd like to tighten the trucks up before going faster. I'll make a video with a standalone GPS unit at some point. I would not be surprised if I can hit 40 on flat ground and far beyond that downhill

I'm looking into using the same power switch as you, is the switch located between the batteries and esc? also do your lipo batteries power your meter or does it have separate batteries? I just want to know if this would work for me and if you have had any issues with the switch.

The switch interrupts the negative terminals between the batteries and the ESC's. I have had no issues with it after 3-4 months of almost daily use.

 

[Evan177]

Would I still buy all the same parts even though I will be using only a single motor? (I already know I only need one esc) any advice you have on this?