there were a few tips on foildrive on this thread from a month ago Boost Surfing FIN greatly inspired by Efoil - #29 by SoEFoil
Just to precise, that’s 2600usd.
Following… very interested too.
I commented here and deleted my original comment since I didn’t want to “knock their hustle” but whatever, It’s a 6374 motor 120~300kv, Maytech remote (you don’t need one, you can get a 20$ e-skate remote) you will need a 6s battery, 120~150A 3s-6s RC boat ESC like FlyColor, 3D printed prop, 3D printed mastclamp, you can build that whole setup for less than 300$, please do your own further research, you’re welcome.
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Anyone here used one or made one?
They seem to have a battery capacity of ~250wh which could give 20mins run time at 500w or more. Which model of cells are they using in their package? The boost would be good for paddling into bumps, and downwind runs, but I could see the battery running out quickly if you need to cover distance when you come off the foil.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Foildrive is his company…
I’m following this thread @Maui. Did you pick a motor?
The foildrive has the folding prop direct fixed to the aluminium housing via 4 m4 bolts not fixed on a shaft. They are a neat bit of kit but I’m keen to see more DIY creations from around the world.
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me too, curious to hear if Maui or anyone else pursued this.
What about this flipsky kit? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001779488788.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.4.74ae43523kBZQD
realistically I probably need ‘plug and play’, I will probably end up splashing out on the name brand LOL
Too heavy for a foildrive style kit. You want to use a 6384 100Kv motor for a foil drive. Realistically you could probably build the entire kit for about $500.
I’ll be doing a DIY version shortly…
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which cells do you plan to use to keep the weight (and Wh) down, while giving you enough power to take off?
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It all depends on what you are looking for…
The foil drive uses a 6S4P Li-ion battery with Samsung 30q cells giving it 12000mah. Its designed to merely assist into waves or with a wing etc.
You could go for something with a little more power to give you slightly faster initial speed, but that will make it a bit heavier.
I plan to use mine predominantly to hijack boat wakes and I weigh around 93kg so it might need a little more power.
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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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