Wiring: connectors

There are a ton of different electrical connectors out there. Here, we're going to present the most common ones in DIY esk8s.

Given the voltage and current that will go through them, the connectors need to be rated accordingly.

The components almost always come with connector(s) and if you're lucky enough, you might not even need to use a soldering iron at all for replacing any of them, or creating adapters.

Battery

The most common connector for batteries is the XT90 or XT60 (same connectors, different sizes). They are common (easy to find for a decent price), reliable, not too bulky, won't disconnect with vibrations and most importantly, is rated high enough for the voltage and current that will go through them in an esk8.

XT90 connectors, female and male

Some details of XT90 connectors

XT60 connectors, male and female

XT60 vs XT90 connectors

Although the XT60 is rated high enough for most esk8s, people tend to prefer to over-build slightly and use XT90. There is no downside of going bigger, except the tiny price difference between the two.

If your battery comes with any other connector, it's often suggested to switch to XT connectors.

Motor

The phase wires of the motor are often using bullet connectors. They come in different sizes as well. However, they shouldn't be smaller than 3.5mm. And again, no downside if going for bigger size bullets. The more common size is probably 5.5mm bullets. Although bullets are quite nice for this use, I think it could be better as they can disconnect themselves with vibrations (and there are a lot of vibrations going on when riding an electric skate).

3.5mm bullet connector

5.5mm bullet connector

Now, there might be another connector on the motor for the sensors. The sensors "wire" is composed of 5 or 6 wires. For that reason, it's using a JST connector. JST connectors come in different sizes too (see more).

This time, the size doesn't matter much as the voltage and current going through it is really low. In fact, the most annoying thing with this connector is that your motor might come with a JST-ZH connector (1.5mm pitch) but the VESC motor sensor connector is a JST-PH (2.0mm pitch), so you'll have to change the connector (not easy) or create/buy an adapter for it.

ESC/VESC

As ESCs and VESCs are produced by different companies, they come with different connector types, some even come with no connectors at all. And honestly, this is actually not a bad idea as it's the most flexible. You just have to do a bit of soldering.

VESC Connectors

The battery connector is often an XT60 or XT90.

The phase wires are often female bullet connectors, 3.5mm or 5.5mm.

All the other connectors for sensors, remote receiver... are all JST-PH (2.0mm pitch) male connectors.

The FOCBOX comes with a male XT60 connector for the battery, 3.5mm female bullets for the motor phase wires. This is true as of now, but please check with the seller before buying.

The TorqueBoard (or DIYElectricSkateboard) VESC comes with 5.5mm female bullets for the motor phase wires and a male XT90 for the battery. This is true as of now, but please check with the seller before buying.

One annoying thing: the FOCBOX (well known VESC on the market) has its warranty voided if you change the connectors on it (when buying it from the original manufacturer). So you have to make adapters or you don't care about warranty and change the connectors if needed.

Any better solution?

In the DIY world, you can do pretty much whatever you want. There might be better connectors for different situations, waterproof, strong, you name it.

We just listed the most commonly used ones, but if you find something that's better, feel free to give it a try. The only constraint is the current and voltage rating, please make sure the connector is rated high enough otherwise it can limit the amount of energy going through, it can heat (meaning you will loose energy on the way) and even melt, create a circuit short, make your battery catch fire... I'm not even kidding.