Pacificmeister Build Info and CAD Sources

Yes, I always wear life jacket and a skateboard helmet for protection. Sure, its fun to fly free and feel the wind but I was out kiting a couple years ago, and TWO guys the same session sliced their heads open on their boards and one guy needed an ambulance. I have kids so I am all about having safe fun!

Oya, my buddy sucked up our tow rope on the seadoo the other day and it pulled in a lot of rope before stalling the motor. Imagine a short leash pulling your foot into the blade. no thanks :slight_smile:

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Hi Pacificmeister, your setup is awesome, I want to built a efoil to use in Como Lake :slight_smile:
if you have this information, what is your top speed and autonomy with this setup?
as I notice, the only ā€œproblemā€ to be solved with your setup is the esc cooling system. Do you agree with that or you notice another criticity?

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My top speed so far was just above 20mph. That was without duckt, a bit less with. I wouldnā€™t say that ESC cooling is the only open challenge on my build. Here is what comes to my mind right now:

  • ESC cooling for sure. But it was a lot better with 200C rated 8awg cables in the ESC box on my recent run. Still thinking about finally adding the water hose.
  • waterproofing remote
  • cooling batteries, especially for longer rides, they get pretty warm too
  • need to add a kill switch
  • better prop/duckt design = better efficiency, could overall reduce heat at ESC, batteries and motor
  • reliability of remote, mine still cuts out sometimes

The great news is that all these topics are heavily discussed on this forum now and I am learning a lot here :smile:

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@pacificmeister
Firstly wanted to personally thank you for sharing your knowledge and STL print files. Youā€™ve really helped me a lot.
I have purchased the FlySky FS-GT2B transmitter the same as yours. I noticed you have printed a smaller housing for it. I realise that itā€™s not waterproof, but a great start to rid the bulkiness. Would it be possible to share the STL print file for it please.
Thanks again for your efforts.
Roger

Hi @rogjalon, I found it on the electric-skateoard.builders forum. At the time I found these options (they have new remote projects going on there too now):

My friend @Morris picked one and printed it on his Ultimaker - I think it is the 3rd one on the list.
But I have high hopes that we will soon have something way cool for the water when I am looking our waterproof remote thread here :smile:

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Thankyou @pacificmeister thatā€™s great. Iā€™ll give it a go

Hi guys,

Any theorical / practical link that you are aware of explaining gearbox reduction vs amp consumption vs thrust ?

Likeā€¦
PM, you are using a 5:1 ratio. Motor is 500kv. Does that mean that a 50kv-100kv motor would prevent us from purchasing a gearbox ? Would love to understand the physics behind it

Thank you

@pacificmeister is there any reason why you did not put the ESC close to the motor (down into the tube)?
I am not a specialist, but since there are always higher amps on the motor side of the ESC than on the battery side, I would keep the distance between ESC and motor short, rather than the distance battery to ESC, also you got the high frequency switching on the motor side and the battery side has large capacitorsā€¦
Also you would have a better cooling for the ESC and only 2 wires going down.

Possible if you add big capacitors. And you need to find the space. The small Torqueedo outboarders have it all down below and they are quite bulky. But it solves the cooling and in general I like the idea if it can be integrated nicely without adding lots of drag.

hi, iā€™m a mechanic student from Vietnam. I really like your EH, so i want to make it but I donā€™t know the parameter of each component. Can you give me information about it? Please!

Hi @Phu_Le, nice to have you here. I suggest you start reading the posts and ask specific questions if you canā€™t find something. I also recommend the search feature, it works great. Good luck with your build!

If youā€™re using the Parker gearbox, you might like my post on some of the challenges youā€™ll face:

Hi Pacificmeister,
Great work on the CAD files and your build. A question about the Aluminium tube and how it fits to the Seal mount 3d printed part. Also the same at the front where the tube interfaces with the mast clamp back bracket. Are you using silicon adhesive or some other type of water proof glue to join the tube the the printed parts.

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Itā€™s a tight fit with double O rings in back, locked with a couple short screws (or set screws) on the wet side of the seal. I epoxied the front piece to the alu tube, mast mount side. Thought about double O rings here too but it would have made it a little longer and I didnā€™t see an urgent need. Silicon to seal wires coming through. To disassemble, I peel out silicon and pull motor/gear combo out through the back.

I just disassembled my rig and found water inside. I assume it came in though the lip seals in back, they wore out because my shaft coupler came lose and the prop wiggled. I might have to go back and add an extra bearing do the design just before the inner lip seal, I had that in my first version. Gives it more shaft stability. Took it out to make it shorter when I added the thrust bearing.
Hope this helps.

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Thanks for the feedbackā€¦only time will tell if the design holds up. Will look into this issue.

CAD Update - REV2 (last update11/17, fixed duct thread issue)

I made an update to the CAD and added a bearing again. Here is the complete REV2 assembly. The only changed part is the SealMount. Iā€™ll also post links in first post above.

Reason for this update is that I am trying to minimize vibration to keep the two shaft seals alive. This time I am adding a ceramic bearing on the wet side so it is even closer to the prop for max shaft stability.

Here some history on this setup:

Frist Parker 7:1 gearbox based design. You see I had a bearing on the inside (should have kept it):

This is the second Neugart 5:1 gearbox desing (current version posted above). I removed the bearing, added a thrust bearing close to gearbox. I wanted to minimize length and was hoping the shaft is short enough to be stable:

Now this below is Rev2, havenā€™t printed and tried yet. You see a bearing at the very outside close to prop. I just ordered this ceramic bearing. Hope that stabilizes everything. If I would have a lathe here I would make a custom shaft with that 10mm pressfit bore for the gearbox output. These hobby shaft adapters are not the best solution but they work.

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The oil seal near the prop needs to be rotated.

Hi pacificmesiter, I come in work today opened my CAD machine up to have a look at the shaft seal bearing issue and you had already modeled itā€¦speedy skills.
Are you modelling the bearing , gear boxes from data sheets or are you getting them from suppliers?

@superlefax is that because you assume the pressure is higher from the water side? I wasnā€™t sure from which side there is more pressure because of the heat building up inside the tubeā€¦therefore I have one seal in each direction :slight_smile: . I would like to learn more.

@morgansteven1970. Lol :blush:. Both, from suppliers (e.g. Neugart or Parker gearboxes) or measuring and modeling them myself (like the oil seal or the SSS). Whatā€™s awesome in Fusion it that McMaster integration. Any bolt and nut you need you can just pull in directly from the supplier as CAD.

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