Bens Spanish E-Foil Build

[Beninspain]

So, like most people here, I was amazed to see early e-foil videos online and decided I Just had to have one of these toys. Myself and young family enjoy wake boarding, water skiing and more recently wake surfing. I had even managed to get up on a wake surf foil albeit for a brief amount of time.

Following the original PM build on here, keeping a close eye on the V-Foil project and waiting until the commercial board finally hit the shelves.

Like most of us. The 12-15K price tag was out of my budget for a toy like this. My wife would have killed me for dropping such a huge sum of money on one these.

I watched intently you guys for well over a year while many of you struggled with geared drives. I just knew this was well beyond my capabilities.

Then came the 65162 direct drive - Game changer! A few people started to have good results @virus especially.

With the help of many forum members, I made a list of parts required and did some math. I wanted something easy to transport to decided on an inflatable board. If only i could get one!.
I tried in vein to get one from China sellers, But they only had the larger sizes 190cm and the cut out for the box seemed too far forward.

The “For Sale” section of this forum came to my rescue and i was happy to buy a 160cm inflatable MSI construction from @thorlex

I had originally planned to buy his box, but the opening restricted battery choice. @YAHEF was using a similar board and had 3D printed a box and was kind enough to share is CAD files.

My 3D printer bed was much smaller, so i had to cut up the design and print in smaller parts. Mast clamp, prop and boxes totaled over 120Hrs or print time. Plenty of overnight issues where i awoke to a failed print. Snapped PLA, (very old poorly stored PLA) or thermal runaway. (Cheap Anet A8 printer and loose thermister)

During my build, I have had to change plans a few times. Leading me to modify the design from @YAHEF
His box and lid design ment space was tight to begin with, and no cheap or viable battery box would fit inside.

FYI: I am 6ft2" and 90Kg dry

Board: Inflatable 160cm x 70cm 100l
Foil: Gong Alivator XL Pro
Motor: Flipsky 65162 120Kv
ESC: Flipsy Seal 300A OPTO
Remote: Maytech V2 (additional sealing for water - Conformal coating and Corrosion X)
Battery: I elected Samsung Q30 cells, 12S12P.
Battery Case: MAX004
3D printed parts: Prop Guard, Props, Main box, Electronic box, Motor mount

Im now part way through the construction process and plan to be finished before Easter.

Some photos to follow…!

[Beninspain]

The 4 rings are for some bungee cord, Ill be able to hold down a small bag with a marine radio and some snacks.

The X logo is from XtremeGene - A wake board / surf / ski resort in Cordoba.
A fantastic lake with 14km length https://www.xtreme-gene.com/
Check out this place.

Foil is the Gong L Pro. My original post stated the XL, but on advice (and some weight loss) i went for the L Pro wing.

Seal 300A Opto with Maytech V2 receiver. 2 UBECs 5v and 12v switchable. 5v for reciver and 12v for self priming water pump. (this may get deleted later)

So, lockdown has given me time to devote to the project. Despite mail arriving very slowley or not at all. Im pretty much complete.

Im just waiting on building my final battery pack.
Given the size if the hatch, I am going to have to make 3 seperate packs of 4s 12p, its the only way to fit them through. but they fit with ample wiggle room. this will give me 12S12P

does anyone see any draw backs doing it this way? Ill have 3 balance chargers using balance leads and no BMS on the packs.

I have tested it all on a 6s 10P pack from an old ebike, Spins up nice and in the air, the amp draw is next to nothing. Ready for a pool test soon.

FR prop is awaiting collection from the post office.

[SoEFoil]

For me, this is a reference project
For @Malveymonster looking for references (and for all the persons interested), would you tell us how much is your total cost for:
12s12p battery + motor - electronics (ESC + connectors + cables) - Maytech remote (with waterproof treatment) - chargers + FR prop + foil + miscelaneous parts (without the board and without the 3D printer) ?

[Beninspain]

I had spent a huge amount of time with 3D printing the tub for the board. Printing molds and then fiberglass. that’s a BITCH to work with, I got sick of the stuff under my skin.
Last week a fully Aluminum tub popped up in the for sale section here.
I had to buy it. Bit of a cheat, but hours and hours saved. I know it will be over all a bit heavier, but stronger and much more water tight.

Ill list all the parts and costs but estimate 4000 Euros all in with chargers and Batts.
Ive got a bucket of parts i wont be using now. Thats all part of the process i guess.

Water inlet in nose cone:
I have added a pump and have the water exit where my front foot stands. (heating toes for those cold days) mainly so i can see its working. I have the pump wired to the RX so i can activate it with the Maytech Transmitter.

Ill remove the pump on a ride and see if its required or not. From what people have demostrated, its not required so will allow me to remove the 12v UBEC and pump. hardly a weight saving, BUt more simple over all. We all know KISS.

Cardboard part is a mock up lid, using bonnet catches outside of the gasket seal.
I might re visit this design but im so keen to get in the water.

Messy horrid stuff. And heavier than i expected.

[SoEFoil]

Last week a fully Aluminum tub popped up in the for sale section here.

Your box looked familiar to me, it is the RL box

I have added a pump and have the water exit where my front foot stands

Good idea to use your foot as a sensor and the water to warm you up (in spain) !

[Beninspain]

I haven’t gone VESC and lack any form of tools to monitor AMPs.
Ive trusted what others have shown. I believe i have plenty of overhead with Samsung Q30 cells, good 8AWG cables and decent anti spark connectors.
I played with the idea of safety cut out switches, but was worried about cutting power under load.
I have a marine Breaker between BATT and ESC.
Ive tested cutting power to the RX with a simple reed switch and magnet. This works and appears to stop the motor within a second or so.
Im happy with that.

[Beninspain]

Yup. RL did me a deal. The box is very well made, Designed for the seal 300A and has just enough room for the 3 battery packs of 4S 12P

I had to drill out the gong mast plate a touch as its slightly off by a few mil.

The red sea deck was going to be changed, but its grown on me.

[Beninspain]

ESC - MOTOR connections: (please ignore the other wires shown. this was just a test battery pack and certainly not able to handle the current of any load.

Pneumatic connectors with 8mm bullet connectors soldered on.
Silicon tube and epoxy. Perfect fit. great tip i found on this forum. Cheap and effective.

Used a gas torch/Iron to solder. needs a lot of heat to get the solder to flow.

[Beninspain]

@kiterr RL was kind enough to include this little fitting. Had to hunt for a nut for it, its 1/8 thread, has a rubber o-ring and the bit you cant see im holding is a barbed push fit connector for the 8mm water hose.

I have added small zip ties to every water connection just in case.

[Beninspain]

Here is some close ups of the tub from Rene (RL) @kiterr

5mm Alu bottom plate.

This fits the Seal 300A Opto perfectly.

[superlefax]

What is the weight of the alu box?

[Beninspain]

100mm internal 108mm external

[Beninspain]

I haven’t weighed the box yet. It’s quite substantial.

[palsi63]

Very interesting! I’m currently building a very similar set up. The hatch and the battery pack are going to be a bit bigger.

Does the decking material stay well on the board when deflated?

[SoEFoil]

The X logo is from XtremeGene - A wake board / surf / ski resort in Cordoba.

Did you order the board directly from XtremeGene or was it a box+board combo from RL (the 585€ combo) ?

[Beninspain]

I made the logo by cutting the foam deck pad myself.

I got the board earlier but the combo was a steal at that price.

[Beninspain]

The deck pad is well stuck even when deflated. Time will tell how it hold up. But it’s relatively cheap and easy to apply.

[SoEFoil]

I got the board earlier but the combo was a steal at that price.

Having them from two different sources, you were lucky the RL box did fit into the board slot. What is the board brand btw ? A Mala one ?

[Beninspain]

I have no idea the make of the board, but it appears most of these inflatable boards are from the same source. Mines the shorter of the 2 available with MSI construction, slightly shorter distance mast to the rear. They all have the same size cut out from what i had seen.

[Beninspain]

Hi all.
The past few days i have made some more progress.
I was always concerned about water ingress via the cutout slot where the cables enter the underside of the tub from the mast.

I want to be able to detach the mast from the box for ease of transportation. Sealing up with silicon every time I assembled would mean waiting for it to cure. So i tried another approach.

Using some Clay (clay bar for car cleaning) I made a quick mold of the slot.

I cast this in some household wall filler / plaster in a small plastic tub.

Once this dried out, I removed the clay, flipped it upside down, and used a strong black silicon to fill the void. Being careful to avoid too many air bubbles.

This took a day or 2 to cure, and after a quick clean up of the edges was ready to drill out for the motor and water cable.

Im now glad i have the water exit on the top of the board and not back down the mast.

I missed taking a photo of this stage as its a 4 handed job to rest the tub on top while bolting together.

It was a snug fit into the slot, and the 2mm or so of the flat seal sits nice on the tub and mast.
Nipped her up nice and tight and put the lid on.

Into the pool and I was surprised even without the board, this is really buoyant. I suspect it will still be when electronics and battery installed ( this bodes well in case of a puncture)

I also removed the 12v water pump. The tube has very little resistance and I will trust the experts here when they say water will flow from the movement of the e-foil. (inlet is center of the mast mount nose cone) KISS

Removing the pump reduced the clutter and wires to such a degree, i thought ill d tidy the many cables and find a neat way to fit ESC - receiver - UBEC in the smallest possible space.

I had already coated the receiver in conformal coating and applied this to the ubec. The seal 300A OPTO is rated to be submerged. I don’t plan for this, but with the tub still in the pool i thought i could add some silicon sealant to cable entry points and other sensitive areas. Just in case water does find its way in. Its pretty fine stuff that water, if there is a way in, it will find it.

So now my connectors are water tight, the receivers well protected, and the ubecs pretty safe.

Back to check on the tub/mast that has been submerged in my pool for 1hr at about 2ft below the surface. I put a few paper towels inside on the bottom so even the smallest drop would be visible.

I`m happy to report not a single drop of water made it inside. And if it ever did, I think as long as its a small amount, no major harm will be done.

Still waiting for the battery welder in the mail. As soon as that arrives, ill make up my 3 separate packs.

In the mean time, im really quite tempted to use this 10s6c pack and throttle her up in the pool.
What do you think? is that safe?