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?
