Thanks for the info Jeremy. Check your PMs
Thanks for the info,
that souds doable, specially at that price. I’d like to get into downwind foling, so i guess that should be enough for me (70 kg and 1900cm2 veloce)
A bit (un)related:
have you seen this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r31pmncOh_o
this guy was pumping >5min, so with a big foil, 500 watts should be enough to sustain flight i guess
Hey, yeah I’m working on this idea too, waiting for winter so that I have some activity to get through. Would like a small power setup that I can dock start, not needing that much power to get the board off the water.
From what I’ve heard from the people using foil drive it seems like they are needing 70+% of throttle to stay on the foil, even when they are good at pumping. This makes me wonder how small a motor will be viable. Foil drive seems to be 3kw, I guess 1.5kw would be the smallest.
Also here is a useful clip, looks like plenty of power to get up on the foil with the bigger wing.
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Is the electronics box on these proving itself to remain watertight after a bunch of use?
I’d like to cut some weight from my tow boogie, but it seems a good idea to have two waterproof enclosures (an additional waterproof case for the battery) when you’re dealing with batteries and salt water.
The heat from my stoke fire is becoming unbearable. 
I am going to have to pursue one or more options here. I am deeply intimidated by the DIY stuff on this site, but kinda half considering giving it a go. But also thinking I may splash out on the real-deal Foil Drive to get started, use something I know works, then try to emulate it. If the DIY works, then re-sell the storebought. [Btw, FoilDrive is currently sold out…these things are taking off!]
So, dumb questions will be starting. First one: the recommended 6384 motor looks to have a smooth end, I think it’s run with belt systems. How do you screw a prop on? Replace the part, cut threads in, or some other clever solution?
Second: the parts lists various posters have noted include the motor, ESC, remote. Is the rest being DIY’d? Mount, waterproof box, folding prop (ideally).
Third: a biggie is battery. Foildrive website faq talks about why shipping is so expensive, because lithium batteries are considered dangerous goods. Are people repurposing batteries from other uses? For example, I have been thinking of buying a Milwaukee chain saw, it comes with 12ah battery…which seems to be in the ballpark for what people have mentioned here for diy kits. That may be completely off-base, I am such a noob! LOL
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haha man you need to read some of the threads. Have a look at this one, with a nice pricelist.
- there’s a bolt that tightens and holds it in place
- pretty much, all 3d printed mounts and props, waterproof boxes, soldering cables etc
- li-ion or lipo batteries, mostly home built. You are looking for a higher voltage, read up about 12S batteries. You can buy lipos but they are explosive!
Foil drive maybe your best bet if you aren’t handy or experienced with RC as there is a real learning curve and the people doing these generally have a good idea of what they are doing. But I wouldn’t expect much more than a relatively close to DIY product with the foil drive, it looks quite simple, but without the hassle of getting there yourself. You’ll definitely be able to repurpose it all if you’d like to then enhance or change something as it’s all open format stuff.
That thread/price list is exactly why this probably isn’t going to work for me. It is acronym soup, I have no idea what they are talking about! LOL
People on here have noted the FoilDrive folks are likely forum members, who just took the ideas and brought them to market. And that’s reasonable, as they know stuff people like me don’t, they went through the hassles of getting it to work – so it’s fair to make a reasonable profit! I don’t begrudge them that, it’s just more than I want to spend on yet another silly toy I must have. But like they say “sign on the line for a real good time”, put the money down, have the fun, life’s too short to worry.
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Yes it is a hassle, even with RC background the foil stuff requires more skill because it isn’t designed as a package, with motors needing modification, higher voltages, more expensive if you get it wrong.
If you want a very interesting hobby beyond blasting on the efoil then you probably can’t go wrong with this stuff, but it is very technical, and you’ll have to be careful to come in under the cost of the foil drive if this is your first time picking up a soldering iron. (drones taught me this lesson! “Oh sh*t what is that smoke” once a week)
My stoke meter is high, my budget is ultra-low, the soldering iron is hot! Lets go
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Switch in a longer shaft that sticks out and then place the prop on that.
Box is bought, mast mount and prop are 3D printed
I have a Li-ion battery from my E-Skate which I’ll use for both. But you could use the drill style batteries if their voltage and current output is high enough.
I’ve been reading and trying to find post about waterproofing motors and Cant find much info about what people are doing?
The foil drive motor does not look to be waterproof?
It also looks like they might do a Shaft Reverse so the wires are closer to the mast?
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There are some posts, search for 80100 coating, it is the same procedure for 63xx. You coat the stator and rotor with epoxy, cut the shaft and change the bearings to stainless. The prop will be mounted directly to the bell as the shaft is on the wrong sode of the motor. Best is to get a motor with threaded holes and a flange to center the prop at the end of the bell. Alien power systems 63100 is built like this.
You can find some pictures here: Daniels (un)geared inflatable (slowly built) - #55 by sat_be
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regarding th kV, is 130 a good number for this type of setup, in which we aim for a top speed of 15 kph using a 6s battery?
I’ll have to play a bit with the prop designer, perhaps using a higher kV allows to run a smaller prop without sacrificing too much efficiency.
I attach an image from the foildrive webpage. (BTW, it looks shorter than a 6384, doesnt it? )
I think 130KV is good because you still need the torque to get on the foil, 6S just limmits max speed. With 12S 140KV I can get on the foil at 50% throttle and reach around 25km/h at 50% throttle. This is in calm water wirhout additional help.
The motor could also be a 6374.
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Anyone has the STL for the folding propeller? The one that was being offered a while back doesn’t seem to be available anywhere anymore. I’m interested in trying to build something similar.
edit: found the STL online. It’s still out there if you search hard enough.
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It’s a 6374. But there’s no harm in using the 6384.
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Do you mind sharing the link you found? I’m sure resurrecting this could still be valuable for community development
I’m here on Maui through November 4th. I have friends that have purchased the foil Drive assist and will be getting them this week. I’m going to look at the components and see if I can figure out what exactly they are. If I do, I may post them. I think the toughest part of the build may be printing or manufacturing the folding prop and the nose cone that attaches to the motor and attaches the whole assembly to a foil mast. If I can get help with that, I think I may be able to do duplicate it. I have absolutely no experience building but the parts will probably be available online. Let me know how your build goes. I think I’ll be able to test drive the foil Drive assist unit. I’ll be using it for wing foiling, surfing and possibly downwinding.
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What do you guys think of using the 66112 from Flipsky for this application?
It has better thrust overall than what foildrive states, if you can get enough amperage out of the batteries:
- 48.5v 2.7A 5kg
- 48.5v 8.2A 10kg
- 48.5v 18.2A 15kg
- 48.5v 20A 17kg
- 48.5v 25A 19kg
- 48.5v 30A 21kg
- 48.5v 35A 23kg
- 48.5v 40A 24kg
- 48.5v 51A 27kg
sat_be: thanks for that link. From what I can tell, that’s pretty much how the foildrive prop is connected to that motor. Which means it can’t be plug and play with available parts, requires fabricating connections … and that starts to stretch the boundaries of possible for the half-a$$ DIY’r.
I’ve done some digging and found no sources of a 6374 with a longer splined shaft. Maytech said they will custom build one that has this, if I order 200. 
As that’s not going to happen, I advised them if they produce this, they will own this growing market! Do it with a kit like they do for efoils, and badda bing.
uberfoil: that’s the best option I’ve found for a small motor that has a splined end for a prop. It is 1.4kg vs 800g for the 6374…and for this application, extra weight will matter. But if it’s the one that makes this work, then the extra pound may be an acceptable cost to have a doable project.
Maui: I look forward to your reports, both of using it and progressing to building one. All the parts other than prop and nose connector can be bought…requires some electronics knowledge to put them together, especially battery (I found a foil buddy who has RC glider experience). There are a few potential sources of folding props out there. Lift has one for $990US. I have to think the alibaba builders will have some kinda clone offered soon! Printing the nose connector…files on here they say, I haven’t got to that stage of research yet. May be zap straps and duct tape for the short term
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Take the shaft out, cut a new slot for the split-ring and then flip it…
Alternatively…
Inside of this unit lurks a 6374 with shaft ready to run…https://alienpowersystem.com/shop/brushless-motors/70mm/aps-70110-outrunner-brushless-motor-100kv-3200w/
I pulled the shaft out and then put it in my 6384…
Or even more alternatively, wait for the kit that I’m bringing out 
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