Allrighty, I’m committed. I just ordered a naish foil to build this thing. I opted for a 2019 Thrust kite foil, with the hope that it’ll be a bit more stable for the efoil. It has the Abracadabra mount, but I don’t think that running wiring ouside the top of the foil will cause much in the way of drag, especially if I add a 3d printed cover for that connection.
I’m considering the idea of epoxy coating the battery pack. It could be very interesting to minimize the dry box requirements. Either way, I’m definitely building a custom pack for this thing.
I’m a bit torn on water cooling. I want to use this in salt and fresh water - I don’t want to deal with corrosion. I could see a closed loop cooler as an option, maybe with a custom heat sink that’s in the water. Biggest pain here will be disconnecting the foil from the board for travel.
More parts are on the way. I’ve decided that this is getting the 100v/250a trampa vesc that was gonna go on my ebike. It should be plenty and doesn’t require water cooling - so it’ll be good for salt water.
Motor is on the way, picked up a flipsky 120kv from @nickrandy
I also ordered a flipsky vx3 remote - seemed like the only readily available waterproof remote.
I suppose I need to start playing with pack dimensions. I’m a little different here, the P43A cells I have are 4200mah 21700s. I have 120 on hand.
Max size would just be 20s6p - 72v nominal pack, 84v full charge 6p putting me at 25.2Ah if I use them all.
Most people are doing 12s 14s, and a few 16s. The worry at higher voltages it a shock hazard in the water. I got a 12s12p 30q and currently building a 14p10s pack.
Foil and motor, ESC, battery cells and a 100a BMS are here.
The foil is a nice piece. I’m impressed with the niash quality.
I eyeballed foam at lowes this weekend, wasn’t happy. I’ll give the concrete shops a shot today but otherwise I’m grabbing the pink extruded to get this going.
There’s just no way I can get the board built in 3-4 weeks unless I start shaping this week.
I’m doing a test print of this clamp right now.
Half is almost done, I’m optimisitic that it may just fit without mods.
For motivation, I’ve got the Naish mast in my office space to taunt me daily.
Foam hunt continues. Slowed down from friggin food poisoning. bleh.
Anyhow, I got to thinking about water and batteries.
I’m seriously considering a Pelican 1495 laptop case to hold my cells.
I kinda like the idea of making a diy case using aluminum sides and glass or carbon sheet, but in the spirit of the quick build I’m digging the pelican case approach.
I admit, I am liking the idea of being able to easily lug the battery pack separately from the board too…
buy some cheap aluminums to mod and mess with (gonna drill out a yamaha prop)
Today I picked up a new planer, so I should be able to shape something decent. I am having a hard time getting a good quantity of polyurethane glue, so I finally just ordered it online. Seems like a bit of a shortage is happening there.
So the plan this weekend is to slice and glue up a 4 inch blank, then shape it down and get glass on it early next week. Biggest questions are down to how much to cutout for the battery and esc installs.
Given the fast build, I’m leaning toward just sawing the rough cut and then planing it down.
If I had a little more time I’d make up a hotwire rig - I have a suitable adjustable power supply but shaping on this first board has to happen this weekend or I’m hosed.
Keep it up @willo, we are exactly at the same point! lol
The hotwire is faster and will save you a lot of sanding.
I have done mine with just 3 pieces of plywood and an old transformer. I will send you a photo later today if you want.
Today was car shopping day, but I did manage to kick off a prop print in carbon PLA on my ender 6 before I left. The 6 is fast, but I figured slow printing would save my nozzle a bit.
Anyhow, Right now I have a 3prop print of this going:
Two props printed, kicked off another one so I have spares.
Parker’s design seems to have beefier blades, and uses quite a bit more material to create the base of the prop.
My Flipsky controller FINALLY arrived. It did not ship from the US as I expected, but it made it!
I slapped together a hot wire cutter and it worked just fine with a small amount of hanging on the glued sections. Works fine however.
I need to get a spring to add proper tension, so I guess I’ll wire it tomorrow after that.
I decided to use a body board I had as a vertical template, I’m liking the layout to far.
