Newbie questions

EFOIL.builders Builds
1

Would be nice if we can get something like a noob questions thread or FAQ, I’m struggling finding the answers I want on the forum.

How big motor do you need? In terms of horsepower and size, what type and do you need special cooling?

Is there any point in running dual drive for more power?

The foil, these are very expensive, can they be built out of tree like Clearwater’s, does those work for efoil?

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  • There are quite a few options for the motor. It all depends on how much power and speed you want to board to have. I just wouldn’t try with less than 3KW.
  • A dual drive setup would probably work, but would introduce a lot more drag and would be less efficient.
  • Yes you could build the foil like Clearwater does. Ultimately you can use whatever material you want to built the foil provided it is stiff and strong.
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What’s the biggest difference between using and inrunner and an outrunner? can both be used?

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Inrunner

  • Easier to implement cooling
  • less drag
  • will need gearbox
  • Most setups on here are like this

Outrunner

  • need to insulate motor
  • need to change bearings
  • less power/thrust
  • no gearbox
  • not that many setups exist
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5

Prices are going down: if you don’t want to buy from China, you have alternatives such as The ALLVATOR aluminium foil from Gong at 399€ shipped from France to Europe without custom Tax and possibly 332€ without VAT if shipped to outside Europe. Add 20 to 30€ for shipping, that’s less than 370 GBP delivered to a UK door.
This ALLVATOR for kitefoils is pretty unique as its front wing is quite wide (65cm) ensuring early takeoff and stability and a max speed of 20+knots. Front wing surface is around 900 square cm (less than a SUP 1200 cm2 and more than a kite 600cm2). Should be very good for efoiling.
Downside: available end of July 2018 only if pre-ordered.
Brand history: Gong has been making boards since 2001. They have been developing, manufacturing and selling their own hydrofoils since 2014. They stock their spare parts.

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6

That’s a very good price!

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Are there any companies building VESC based efoils one could buy in 2021?

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Not so much to my knowledge, maybe Manta foils but not sure. True question would be why chosing a VESC for a commercial project, it’s still advertised and sold as “test unit”, you don’t have any warranty on it…

9

Thanks, I haven’t found any either.

Because I would like to expand Metr app (https://metr.at) into foil market a bit more and have a foil for testing, I also think it is super fun to surf!

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10

Hi Roman,

what type of connector is on the antenna extension? - the PCB side. Reason for asking is i have 2 antenna (IPX13) already installed into the nose of my board one for remote and the other is spare. i would like to use the spare for my metr module but unsure if i need an adapter

cheers

11

Depends what Metr Pro you have:

Metr Pro - standard u.FL connector
Metr Pro CAN - smaller IPEX MHF3 connector

12

Cool, i have one of each but will be using the CAN one in the foil.

Thanks again

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New builders ! We know it’s not always an easy task to find answers to your questions, especially because it has been answered many times before on so many threads that it’s not possible anymore (or difficult) to find where / when precisely.

Feel free to ask anything here, I’ll try to help you as much as I can and hopefully other expericenced users will follow later. Don’t be discouraged, we started like you ! I personnaly spent one whole week of reading before even registering on the forum !

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14

Hi there all,
I just want to make my first basic question.
I so a lot of board design and sometime in the detail I so the volum of the board in liters.

My question is… if my weight is 95kg, I need to make a board of at last 95 lt volume,
(plus battery weight, electronics etc…) in order to have a piece of board out of water ?

Thanks a lot
Denis

15

Are you sure all inrunners require a gearbox? I’m just a baby in this field but as far as I’ve noticed here, for example, the Flipsky 65161 motor is often used as a direct drive.

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For a beginner, the consensus rule is a minimum of :
rider’s weight (kg) + 30 kg for (board + battery+ foil + wet wetsuit) = 125 l
If you want to start in comfortable conditions, stand on a floating board and “have a piece of board out of water”: add 30-45l = 155-170 l for you
After a couple hours of practice, you will appreciate it is only 130 l because you will have gained some riding experience.

This being said, in an early July (21) video, Supernova (back to life) takes off with a 150x45cm board with only 60+ litres using a special take-off technique.

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Commenting on a post from 2018 when no direct drives existed yet :rofl:

Now there loads of direct drives available!
FR direct drive
65161
70165
Couple other lesser known ones too…

18

Ok. I’m a fool. sorry!

(hapily things have developed in the meantime)

19

Ok… I’ll make a 130 lt board. It’s already so big :slight_smile:
I’ll lost some kilos also :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot for your answer
Denis

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I have some family and friends taking out my board which is 90L. A bigger board would have been far easier without having to worry about submerging and losing reception. I’m going to build a 125-130L board next (that I can also use for wing foiling as well)