Got a longer screw and now can easily remove the rotor from the stator. Got some fresh bearings in the post today so will swap them out soon.
Have had about 15 sessions now and stoked to be riding some waves at my local!
I’ve been on my mid length board which is a bit clunky so just picked up a second hand 50L axis FD board, and now looking to mount the box on it.
For all those who have played with multiple configurations, what do you reckon is the better placement?
With box on board I had most luck in front of front foot to one side on an angle but once you try a box in board setup you won’t go back 
It gets in the way at the back as you’re lying on it with that board volume. The main annoyance with it up the front to the side is the weight throws the board to one side which is mostly noticed when pumping.
I’ve been box in board for a while and am now trying a battery in backpack option…
Cheers for the tips!
This is a stepping stone to a box in board setup but I’m too much of a cheap ass to get a custom board made at the moment, especially while still working on my skills.
I’ll definitely look to get one at some point once I’ve figured out what dimensions work best for me. I heard some guys are getting boards made by Jshapes and Carbon Art so I’m interested to hear how they perform.
Good to see a few kiwis active. Im in waikanae and built an efoil and beginning a second. Good luck
About to embark on a build now. at 85kgs dry would the 6384 be a good size? What would you do different if you were doing it again? Where did you get your ali box from? So many questions…
I’ve been doing a far bit of reading however if someone has a link to a recent general beginners thread I would be interested. A lot of the threads are quite old & techniques & components change a fair bit.
Any battery manufacturers in the Sth Island that are recommended?
I don’t want to hijack oldmates thread but any tips or pics of your build would be appreciated esp sourcing gear etc.
I’m still a beginner and about to do my second build after my first died because of salt water getting in. You can find the post of my build through my profile.
To answer your questions, my next design is going to make everything inside as waterproof as possible and think I found an easy way of making an external heatsink.
My box is a useless piece of rubbish, other boxes are generally local and not sure if they ship to me in Australia. I’m fatigued and given up on finding the right size and hoping something is better, so am using my old box with a bit of silicone on the lip.
My first build had a large heatsink inside, but the air warmed and escaped, then when in the water cooled, air contracted and sucked in water. This is common for other builds as well with a box on board design.
My Foil Drive box has a good seal, but the box manufacturer doesn’t have any with a good size for my build.
I’m using Flipsky parts so I don’t have to mess around with wiring the remote receiver, which is complex for some ESCs. But it seems there are many issues with Flipsky parts and programming with VESC Tool was problematic.
The 6384 is the standard motor choice, and I’ve upgraded to a Foil Drive 6384.
I’ve also gone from 8s to 14s, which is the max for the 6384. I managed to overheat my system, not the ESC, with my 8s setup by accidentally going too fast on a glassy day. I did one good run on 14s before it died, and the higher volts with lower amps seemed much better.
I should start my new build at the end of next week and will post the details.
I am also 85kg, and the 6384 has heaps of power when combined with my battery, esc and prop combo, can ride around in efoil mode for minutes at a time. I haven’t run it like that until overheat / low voltage but its more then enough for foil assist.
My build:
10s3p battery comprising Samsung 50s cells (home made)
Flipsky 6384 waterproof motor
Flipsky 2 blade aluminium props
Flycolor Hv3 160A ESC
MATEKSYS BEC12S-PRO to power receiver circuit
Flipsky remote VX3
Bud industries NBF3284 box for battery + bms and reciever (same box as original foil drive)
Bud industries small aluminium box for housing ESC (sorry dont have serial)
Jaibada BMS for charging only
Design
I followed a design I was shared from some other guys in the forum which amounts to mounting the ESC in an external aluminium enclosure, potted in silicone. The xt-90 power connection, and other leads for the bms and remote power come through a hole that is sealed with 3M 5200 fast cure.
The 3 phase motor cables connect to a MR-60 connector that terminates on the edge of the aluminium box and is sealed up with dielectric grease.
It was a pain in the ass to make the external ESC holder, but it does dump heat really well, and allows for a larger battery, especially compared to trying to jam all of your components inside the bud box. Someone with decent tools would probably find this a lot easier to make. Will upload some photos soon.
Battery
I don’t know who to recommend as apparently some of the commercial builders have built sloppy dangerous batteries no better then what I could make. I built my own battery after learning how to do it from @seagull_nz, who later experienced a battery fire, so I expect its only a matter of time before mine goes up in smoke. I charge and store my battery on a concrete floor inside a ‘fire proof’ battery bag with cinderblocks around it and I never leave it on the charger after its full.
There is also a question of building a battery that will fit inside the bud-box as 3 rows of 21700 cells + insulation paper + heatshrink only just fit in the box. If you go for a larger box like the camdenboss that people recommend, you might be frustrated at the size of it on your board.
Board
I started on my 6’4 midlength wing board, and have dropped down to the 5ft Axis foil drive board. I’m still working on my skills, but have enjoyed having a smaller board, its a lot easier to pump and control foil height when transitioning in and out of motor power. It’s also a lot easier to get out through the New Brighton shore break then an 85L board.
Box is attached to the board using the 3M velcro that foil drive gen1 used, as well as a 3d printed mount for a bunnings strap. It has held on in quite heavy crashes and wipeouts so far.
Prop
I’ve ordered an official foil drive 3 blade prop, apparently that makes life way easier for the powered / unpowered transition. Flipsky alu prop is better then no prop, but its not great. You need a 3d printed hub adapter shared in this forum.
What I would do next time.
One of the pain points for me have been trying to cram electronics into tight spaces, as I am somehow unable to visualise the geometry of the components and wires until things are connected and then finding they don’t fit. I dislike having the power leads coming out of my battery and then jamming them on a 90 degree angle to connect with the esc leads which again do a hard 90 degree angle to fit in the box. If you are bad at soldering like I am, you put too much solder into the wire, it stops being flexible and is likely to cause issues down the line.
The box on top of the board is ok but I like to ride big swell and if I could mount the box inside I would be a lot less worried about it when crashing at speed or taking sets on the head.
I am thinking about finding a wider, flatter box so I can build a safer battery with separation between the cells and a rigid frame, as well as avoiding tightly folding any and all cables.
Prior to building this I had zero prior electronics or hardware experience. In my opinion you need to build a simple box on board type design to understand how to make a better one. I made enough mistakes getting this one going, and I got a lot of help from members on this forum.
Good luck!
That is outstanding old mate. Thanks for taking the time. Please excuse my ignorance but I haven’t seen any of these in the flesh. I will have to do a bit of googling to sort out what each of the components look like & how to connect them. Could you please post a pic of your charger? Also I am interested in a waist belt type setup. More work to do that then the box on a board? I make my own shitty boards & have a 6’6" I’m happy to chop up to fit a box inside. The esc cooling must be a problem for those??
My broinlaw lives in New Brighton & funnily enough thats where I thought it would be very cool to have a foil assist. Jeez I could imagine the screaming if you rocked up to Sumner with one.
Great stuff thanks. I’ll follow your progress
It is great that oldmate replied to you.
We have differing approaches to our builds, and hopefully you can get the best of both.
@kaimoana I’m not sure about a waist belt setup, especially after seeing what a lithium battery fire could look like and imagining that strapped to my back. My waist leash broke yesterday in a cleanup set, so an electrical lead would need to be designed in a way to handle that.
New Brighton is pretty good, though the setup in Sumner is better for foiling I think as it stands up for a long time and doesn’t break as heavy as NB. The demographic that lives in Sumner is cashed up so there are real Foil Drive and Tow Boogie setups being used there.
I’m currently having issues with bearings, I replaced the original ones with some from nzminiaturebearings, but the new ones haven’t lasted very long. I think part of the reason is I have to launch through a shorebreak and some fine sand gets in everywhere and wrecks stuff pretty fast. I probably should take the motor apart and clean them out more often but its a pain to do so.
The Facebook Foil Drive page had a post from someone whose motor looked really trashed. Not sure if he rinsed and put lanolin on it after each ride, but assume he would as all FD people do.
The explanation was sand from the beach break, so for some reason, some are bad.
They have shadow or comment banned me from the group for discussing DIY, going to leave the group today.
Recent update, I splashed out and got an offical FD 3 blade prop and hub adapter.
Safe to say it is a big upgrade from the flipsky 2blade alu prop, even easier to get on foil and far more forgiving when transitioning back to power.
I met up with a local guy who builds insane custom e-skate boards to talk battery safety and general design advice. He suggested looking into LiPO batteries for this use case. I’m currently exploring options but if anyone has tried LiPOs and can report back I am keen to hear more.
As a side note, if you want to buy a custom e-skate capable of doing 100km/hr look no further.
