Need some help with VESC/motor because my efoil does not fly.
My build:
I have a Flipsky 65161, Flipsky 75200 84v, 14s11p battery with Daly BMS, Maytech remote and a Flite prop. My mast and wings are 3D-printed and supported by aluminium profiles insider and then reinforced with fiberglass (I am aware that this is a risky build and I already have a gong setup at home for V2).
When setting up my VESC I followed the link below from Ludwig Bre, but followed it poorly to the point where I almost burnt me ESC from not clicking âFalseâ on the phase filter. My motor went from running smooth to only stuttering and making noises and became very hot when benching. After following the guide super closely it now runs smooth again.
Now to my issue; when testing in the water it was very slow and motor didnt seem to rev very fast. Could the ESC/motor be damaged from trying to run it on my previously bad settings? Since I followed the YouTube guide from Ludwig who seems very knogledgeable I think that I now should have enough power, no?
Good news then!
The previous runs with incorrect settings is not related to the issues. If it runs at all, it runs, it wonât run at a lower performance due to esc damage. Could be some settings are still off though but i doubt it, since:
You have several tough things in your build, diy wing and mast combined with rifle case board, and on top of this a duct. All these will cause a huge amount of extra drag so if you get this flying, hats off to you!
Remove the duct as a first step, it only adds drag (and in my opinion no safety). This is a significant factor and youâll need all the thrust you can get.
If you have a gong setup, (even if it hurts to do it) then if the duct removal isnât enough then iâd switch to the gong. Too many factors at the same time to do any effective root cause investigations. With a known wing and mast you can rule these out of the causes for not flying.
Which current can the battery and daly bms supply?
Youâll probably need all the power that battery can muster to get the rifle barge moving. Hard to tell, but the front wing also looks a bit small (and as mentioned by Lars maybe a bit draggy). If the wing is small it means you need more speed to generate the needed lift and that can be challenging with the rifle case.
What did you set your Motor Current max and battery current max to? What is the current limit on the Daly BMS? Or is the BMS wired for charge-only?
I 100% doubt my own choice of trying to make everything myself instead of using a Gong mast, wing and fuselage to begin with, hence all the material for V2 is already home the front wing i probably to small like you mentioned.
But to me it seems the board is to slow and even when reving i bench and it âdoesnât feel like 6000wâ. I would have accepted high speed but no lift because of the 3d-printed setup
I set the VESC to 180A and absolute max to 200A. Battery current set to 150A.
The BMS is for both charging and doscharging and I have not changed anything on it.
Do you need some screens shots and if so what do you need?
Sure thing I will remove the duct tomorrow and make sure the battery is a 100% full.
I Should add that when holding the propeller in water but keeping the efoil in the dock it does not seem to generate that much power.
I am a small guy, only like 63 kg so that should not be a problem. Sure my frame inside the board is welded from steel and a bit heavy but that shouldnt make a difference in this case
Weightwise you are good, Iâm 125 kg with all the gear and board but run a 110cm board. Sanding it with 400 grit sandpaper made a noticeable difference in how easy it is to get on foil. Thatâs how much the drag counts and the duct will remove static thrust also. Letâs hope for tomorrow!
I am about the same weight as you. My board has the same motor/ESC and I previously also had a 14S pack on it. When I did a dock test I sat on the board and it could almost lift me up when I gave it enough power. Did you feel the board/case trying to lift you up when you did the dock test?
Oh wow even sanding maze that much of a difference!? For sure I will remove the duct.
I can see why rifle cases is a bad board but it is so practical and tempting for a first time builder and heavier people made those work (although with professional masts/wings)
If compared to a small outboard engine like a 5hp this 6000w/8hp motor seems way way weaker with these settings.
I put the board on the dock and let the propeller be in the water. The pushing power didnt seem that hard to be honest. Sure the tip of the board lifted up from the dock but doubt it would lift me.
I will try without it today also realized that the four large holes in the front, where the threaded rods for the motor mount, are creating a lot of drag. Gonna tape over those to try at least, then on to V2 with Gong mast even if this would fly.
Is this propeller extra bad together with a duct? Larsb mentioned something about losing static thrust with a duct
Did you also purchase a Gong foil set with the mast. If so please tell us what that is.
The Flite prop by itself is great. However there have been multiple threads here where it was found that running it in a 3D printed duct has created a problem, remove the duct and performance improved. I myself have experienced this.
Fliteboard runs the prop inside its own proprietary duct and it works. Not sure what that secret sauce is or whether they sell the duct or if it would essily mount on a third party motor.
As @Larsb mentioned it is questionable if a duct adds much to the safety anywayđ
I bought a Gong wing foil X-over ALU (large) with a 75cm V2 mast.
I my Gong build later on I think i will experiment with different propellers/ducts if nothing else because its fun. My duct today is not optimized at all and probably creates a ton of drag
Much better with ducts with no fuselage support I guess.
Just seems so scary to have no duct if I were to but my feet close to the propeller at start up but I will try that today. When foiling and falling the break in the motor will kick in so not so scarred of that (If I get foiling haha)
Hope my thick wet suit boots will save at least one toe
Without duct you will have the same suction but the finger, toe etc gets thrown out by the first hit. With the flite propeller - that is actually not sharp - i would dare to purposely put a neopren clad finger in the propeller. Toes, wouldnât worry. Face, duct might actually be useful if it doesnât break off, which it probably will since board is falling on you with force if you get your face on the prop
I am much more worried about the wing and stabiliser. The YPRA wing and Veloce stab i have could easily cut your face off. I round off the tips on every wing i have but itâs still a risk
the front wing i probably to small like you mentioned.
also realized that the four large holes in the front, where the threaded rods for the motor mount, are creating a lot of drag. Gonna tape over those to try at least, then on to V2 with Gong mast even if this would fly.