Has anyone seen the battery up close on a foil drive, is it 6s4p with 18650 cells?
Any suggestions on a thin and light waterproof membrane for the battery, such as a type of plastic sheet which is flexible and glues easily?
Looks like it, if you draw a circle in the upper rightmost cell, seems you need 4 to cover the width.
I made mine 6S4P with Molicel P26A (2600mAh 35A) 18650 cells. No BMS. Wired for balance charger. Foam wrap and then shrink wrapped.
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I’d like to find something more waterproof than shrink wrap for covering the battery, such as an adhesive flexible film, or plastic that sticks well with glue. Salt water into the battery is a 
in the making.
Inspired by this thread, I took a stab at building my own assist. I posted a build thread on that topic
But I am having some propulsion issues that I hope I can resolve.
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There are some more tips on preparing an outrunner for use in water in this thread…
One suggestion was to use liquid electrical tape on the wiring solder joins at the motor, or plenty of silicone inside heatshrink.
Coat the stator thinly with epoxy so that it can be cooled by water. Fill the gaps between magnets on the bell with epoxy (with microballons) to protect them from rusting and reduce drag.
So here is another update. I’ve re-wired my cables back on the motor. Hopefully the connection remains good. I’ve been using the motor 50/50 these days, getting better at downwinding. It’s great for light wind sessions when you want 100% pop up guaranteed. Hoping to see more DIY FauxDrivers on the water soon. The motor drag is definitely noticeable when foiling at speed on touch downs. I run my motor as high up the mast as possible on a 32” mast. My battery box sits nicely on the tail behind my back foot. This device has been a total game changer for me this summer.
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Which wing are you using for light wind and whats the bare minimum you need to get going ( with the foildrive)? (Or the windswell is very spot dependent?)
Edit: i mean frontwing
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I’ve used the Armstrong 1850 and now GoFoil GT2200 with great success. I’m 85kg. I’d say if there is wind swell you can foil. Comfortable wind for me is around 10knots and upwards. I tried downwinding a HA1325 and the low speed lift from that wing was not enough to overcome the motor drag. Motor assist really excels in wave riding and chipping in to unbroken swell. Downwinding is ok, but I find I come down off foil more often due to motor drag, without a motor you can maintain more momentum and pop back off the water after touching with the board.
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Thanks for the hints. I thought 20+ knots were needed for downwinding, 10 is amazing!
Regarding the drag of the pod, IMO it should be possible to reduce if we used a cleaner shape. I was thinking of using a puller prop and instead of folding it, allow it to change its pitch to infinite, just like a variable pitch airplane. This way we should be able to get closer to the cd of a clean water droplet, which should be lower than the wing (as long as its submerged enough to avoid wave resistance)
I’ll give it a try once i find the sweet spot in my currrent pusher config
big up, can’t wait to try it as well
Remembered another mod I did to the setup. I was getting saltwater inside the mast pod. It would slowly drain out but left a lot of salty residue. I decided to fill the 3D printed pod with epoxy resin. Used about 125ml off West system. Small weight gain. Pods are now rock solid, I don’t think you could break them with a sledge hammer!
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How does the mounting scheme work for the pod?
I think I’m gonna build one of these kits. What motor did you use, and what motor would you use if you did it again?
Thx!
You still working on a kit? What motor would you recommend I get to start this project? Thx!
Getting close to testing my build using the flipsky 65111 motor. Just waiting on my Maytech remote to arrive. Does anyone have a file for the mount that holds the remote on the paddle?
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Yeah the idea is still there. However a baby arrived ±1 month early so quite a few deadlines have shifted haha.
Busy with a solid CNC build right now so that I can make all my development much faster!
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So, is all your progress top secret, or can you tell me what motor to buy that is the closest to foil drive performance without much extra weight?