After months of tinkering, soldering, and plenty of trial-and-error, I finally finished my own DIY foil assist and got it out on the water this week. I’d built a Gen1 style FD before, and was contemplating an integrated board build. Midway, I changed my mind after I saw the first pics of the Duotone assist (and also seeing SkyRama’s vids).
Having the weight on the hips is a no brainer. You barely feel the weight at all and your board is light, and there’s no drag! Thought I’d share a few highlights for anyone going down the same rabbit hole. Special thanks to @nekitesurfing for passing on his knowledge.
Setup:
Motor: Saite 6384 (140 KV)
ESC: Flycolor X-Cross HV3 160A
Battery: Two 6S3P packs in series (12S total) built from Molicel P45B 21700 cells
Wiring: 0.2 mm copper busbars + QS8-S anti-spark connectors
Prop: FD 3 Blade Prop
Control: Maytech V3 remote
Box: Alu box and custom 3D printed components
Harness: RideEngine
Performance:
Pulls cleanly to take-off
Alu box acts as a mega heat sink
Runs strong until ~20-25 % battery
I’m getting roughly 1h30 min of mixed riding
No shoulder/ back/ hip fatigue wearing the box on the hips, unlike a backpack. It’s amazing!
Learned the hard way that half-plugged QS8s = smoke
Here’s some pics I clicked during the build. changed the name from Firefoil to Firefly midway too.
Thanks! Just printed some TPU inserts and glued them into the harness with Stormsure. Then used some Velcro to fasten it to clips I designed and printed for the box. These clips go into the rails of the box. My leash is just a length of Dyneema with a short bungee paracord. That hoops onto a buckle on the harness.
Nice build!
How is the motor controller connector working? Can it disconnect when crashing or by accident? Would it damage the controller when disconnected under water?
What cable are you using?
Made a custom connector, vacuum fit with 3 O-rings. Needs to be pushed in just right for it to make a strong vacuum which holds it in place. Strong enough to need some solid force to pull apart. Detaches under really strong load (like a massive crash). Works great so far.
ÖLFLEX® CLASSIC 400 P; 3G2.5mm2; unshielded; 300V,500V; Cu
Setup:
Performance:
