GTX battery upgrade & waterproofing while I'm at it.

I'm less than a year into GTX ownership. I love this board & ride it almost every day....

I use it mostly to walk the dog... AT setup, mostly tearing up our village, country lanes, off road (footpaths, fields, short grass, long grass, try and avoid the cow ****, that sort of stuff) .... I'm only relatively light at 70 ish kg.

As Ive gained confidence, i'm more keen to stick it in gt, and put the hammer down, and I've noticed the battery sag starting to kick in earlier in a ride.

I'm not complaining. I'm actually still surprised how far the board will take me.... I know many rant and moan about the battery sag. But all batteries suffer voltage drop under load... and Jeeeze it can go up some steep ass hills. Batteries also degrade with use... so I accept the batteries will one day need replacing, that is just life.

When I first bought the gtx, I had one eye on a diy board, but I was too impatient and just wanted to get out there carving.

My only 2 complaints with the GTX - needs better waterproofing (shout out to evolve uk for sorting my snow issue under warranty) and better batteries (though I suspect every ESK8 owner would say that)

I'm not quite ready to ditch the stock battery yet, but would like a plan for when I decide to go for more juice. I'm fairly competent technically, so decided I would rather build the pack myself than pay someone else to do it. (I like to learn!)

The plan:

18650 seems to be the obvious choice. Not sure yet whether to go Samsung, sony or LG. interesting article here suggesting the Samsung last longer. Ive not started looking yet, but I believe they are the cheapest of the bunch as well.
Bench Test Results: Which lasts longer? VTC6, 30Q, or HG2?

Can anyone recommend a battery supplier in the UK?

10S4P appears to be the largest configuration that can fit inside the GTX enclosure (without too much modification.) I understand theses batteries are a bit thicker so you either need to remove more of the deck with a router (which I've read damages the integrity of the deck, so not recommended) or use a spacer (various 3D printer parts available) or some sort of gasket to take up the extra thickness.

I need to transfer the BMS from the evolve battery pack to a new pack... has anyone had any joy asking for a spare BMS from evolve UK? It would be nice to have the evolve pack as a back up. ready to sub in incase of emergency.

I know people such as Kevin Dark can provide this service in the UK for a price, and kudos to him for developing it. He is even good enough to share his work! Keep up the good work Kev!

His offering - Evolve Battery Upgrade

spot welder -

example battery pack -

Waterproofing:

Corrosion X / ACF 50 on all the internal electronics, so if anything does get in, it doesn't do any damage (hopefully)

Heat shrink the motor wires & silicone

O rings on screws through the deck & silicone

Better gasket where the board meets the enclosure.

Probably some isoflex waterproof rubber coating on all the questionable areas (including the heat sink where it meets the plastic enclosure.)
https://www.screwfix.com/p/isoflex-isoflex-liquid-rubber-black-2-1ltr/36010

Not sure how to waterproof the on/off switch yet... Probably just silicone/ epoxy..

Can anyone offer any tips / advice?

I'm still very much in the planning stage, I don't want my board to be off the road for too long whilst I do these upgrades. So I figured it needs to be well planned out so I have all the parts ready to go.

 

I can't believe that no one continued this thread!
You said mostly what needs to be done in your own words.
I would ask Kevin for all which is battery and probably ask him to do it. I haven't ordered from him yet because 350 pounds for a CGT 10s5p is a bit much when the stock one is still okay for me.
Corrosion X and Silicon around the power botton and motor cables seems the best option. I haven't tried anything yet because i am still looking for answers myself
For CGT maybe buy some long rubber piece to put around the lid so it acts like a gasket.

Or buy a cheap bicycle tube(or use your punctured one) and cut that and glue it.

I haven't seen many pictures of such mods.
I'll post mine when I'm done.

Cheers
Louis

 

Has anyone made a gasket that you can buy to fit the GTX Bamboo board please?, rather than using silicone all the way around the battery back cover?.

 

I looked everywhere on the web to find something of the sort. No luck

 

I was considering making a gasket myself a small amount larger than the battery pack cover and a little smaller on the inner area using A neoprene gasket material sheet. Basically Make a template of the battery box with cardboard and draw on the neoprene around the template (thus making a larger shape). Has anyone ever tried this?.

 

i am currently water proofing my CGT. i will post pictures when im done.
@Wayne C i have never seen anyone do it. go for it though!

 

I have water proofed my GTX. I'm getting more and more brave riding in the wet. It is after all winter and it's just impossible not to ride when there is moisture around.

I firstly sprayed all the components inside with corrosion x hd. They go quite yellow after application.

I then used silaflex marine sealant around the enclosure. I reccomend you also fill each screw hole with silaflex rather than o rings. The top of the deck pools water due to the concave nature and it needs to be a really good seal to keep the inside of the enclosure dry.

To keep it tidy it's a good idea to use making tape before application.

 

Great work, it does look difficult to get a good level of finish at the rear of the unit with the cabling etc. I personally think I’m going to try a gasket method.

 

In terms of a battery upgrade i have not committed to a upgrade path yet. But have you considered high discharge lipos? I use them in a home built board and it does not seem to sag in the same way my GTX does? It's also hard to know since I don't have instantaneous voltage monitoring on my diy board.

I have never had any connection issues yet so am thinking my esc and remote are a good match. If that changes I will put a focbox in at the same time and replace the remote. (Unlike my diy board which randomly applies the breaks... A terrifying experience at 30kph.)

 

I'll be interested to see how you get on.

What are you going to do where the motor wires come out of the enclosure. It's an area which gets alot of spray.

The mesh around the wires is porus which means I always need to stand the board up after riding to stop the water draining in.

 

Just corrosion X your electronics. If you feel the need to ride through a lake after that go for it. Screw all the silicone and hard work. My GTX is mud and puddle Hunter!