Still reading many threads and learning from this great forum, with the final goal of building a still-water e-foil.
This may just be plain silly, but has anyone tried putting everything on the under surface of their board? This could allow one composite module to house the battery, electronics and also mount the mast to.
For the module, I’m thinking composite construction over a mould. Seals made by pouring silicone into each built-in seal cavity. Cover plates held by screws into the composite.
Thinking battery charging via BMS and a charging connector port on the stern.
Waterproofing (obviously) would be critical, there will be more water pressure on the seals than normal. Seems silicone seals well-made could be up to the task? The main reason for considering this is keeping all the major components in one pre-built module, that could be dropped into the board. Very roughly like the much smaller standalone add-on assists, that mount between the mast and board (foildrive.com.au).
Just kicking ideas around, but has anyone tried this approach?
You can actually purchase a carbon section that goes under board from Alibaba (It looks very similar to PWRFoil). I can’t remember the manufacturer name though.
Also, in case you didn’t notice, there is also a recent build by @hangloose. He has mounted his battery and esc in a metal box on the bottom of a modified prone board.
It’s a very tightly packaged build. I think it succeeds an efoil because of the Molicel P42 cells having the energy density and a good punch of current. Also I think the metal box is important for heat dissipation.
