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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
PS follow up: no I’m not! They notified me they have none in stock, so probably just a flipsky re-seller. Back to the drawing board…the 6374/6384 and figure out prop connection
Looks great. It seems awkward and wasteful using tape to hold the cable on the back of the mast on the foil assist, if you need to take it apart each session. There must be a tidier way of holding the cable so that it can easily be removed, like a 3d printed fairing held on by magnets.
The wake thief experimenting has been using it as an efoil … they said without taping it had too much drag, couldn’t get up otherwise flat water dead stop. But used as normal, where the motor is near the board, and you are just using it to assist getting into a wave or swell, I bet it wouldn’t matter if loose. Could just zap strap it or use a velcro band maybe.
Extra drag is not a good thing when you’re foilng, particularly with a tiny 250wh battery. If wake thief can’t get up on foil without tape, then that’s noticeable drag that’ll either drain your limited runtime or make it harder to get into waves. I’d be looking for a good sleek solution for the cable.
Addit… The flipsky 4.20 vesc seems like it should be a suitable esc, with 50A continuous rating giving some headroom? I take it the rating is for motor amps, rather than battery.
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.
