Simplifying drive units

Hi all.

First off I have only found that out that these Efoils even exist! And wow I am hooked!! I must have spent at least 8hrs on this forum reading posts etc.

It seems making the drive line more simple is one of the biggest hurdles and bringing the cost down…less expensive, with gear reduction boxes, joining couplers, gear heads and on it goes.

Has anyone contacted a motor manufacture such as Alien power? Other manufacturers. in requesting a custom built motor with a low KV that will eliminate all these extra components?

It just seems a direct drive… motor… seals… prop would make the build 10 x easier and cheaper

This community is large enough that a group buy might be possible ?

I love all the build threads. And will be putting together my own build in the future.

Thanks
Nathan

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Alien is doing two 100KV motors now. One is waterproof and that is the one I am testing right now.
The other one is an inrunner but requires 110V which most people regard as too dangerous.

They also have a third motor which is modified version of an existing model called PowerGlider Edition. This one can be easier waterproofed.

I would like to add a temperature sensor, but Bruno was of no help with that. It seems to me as if he doesn’t care a lot about answering emails. He did not really answer my questions which is a bit frustrating. The motor I got is completely sealed. There is no way to take it apart because everything is bonded with sealing compound and without technical drawings or at least a picture, I don’t even know where to apply force.

Oh wow problems solved. I’d be interested to see your results on the new motor

Hi Nathan,
It’s not so simple. You can’t “just” use a low kV motor. There are a lot of paramaters to take care : efficiency / diameter / temperature / etc.
For example, the intensity that the motor can hold is depending of the section of the wire used in the motor, and the kV of the motor is depending of the number of loops of the wire in the motor, but the space in the motor is limited, so you can’t do all what you want.
I think that the inrunner motor + gearbox + propeller is the most versatile solution. It will work, even if all the parameters are not all very precises and with the lower tension / current (so with the cheaper ESC, comparing to other solutions).
I think it’s important to understand that an eFoil will never be 10x cheaper than the Hiort or Pacificmeister solutions and that it requires a lot of skills to make and use one. If someone wants an eFoil at this time, he must have 1/money 2/time 3/skills. If one of those is missing, he must wait a commercial and affordable solution or he will lose money and time.

Yes I understand…

I have played with brushless motors before with other projects and learnt the hard way by blowing many motors and esc by overloading. Efficiency is key to a sustainable long term use.

Would people like to share what the costs they have spent in building a successful efoil from scratch?

I know china will eventually develop a ready to go package before long if they see there is a market for them

I am not done yet.

Board:
30€ for foam
100€ for epoxy
30€ for glass
40€ for paint

Electrics:
350€ for VESC 6.4
250€ for Lipos
200€ for accessories
50€ for camera case
120€ for Motor
500€ for Foil

50€ For CNC Mills (still good)

1720€ in parts so far.

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Thanks Max

I’m trying to budget on around 2500-3000 Aus dollars

Some of these will be second hand parts like a reshaped cut down SUP board.

I have a 120a esc laying around and 4x 6s battery’s

Looking at building my own foil from timber and fibreglass, I found a company that will send you profiles and plans etc for the required lift etc I may need a high lift foil as I’m pretty heavy 193cm and 110kg

And I’ve had experience fiberglassing boats

Motor and driveline I’ll have to purchase off the shelf along with prop system. And some ingenuity as I don’t have a 3D printer.

Lots of misc costs along the way too I’m sure.

But I’m super excited. I’ll be posting my build

Nathan

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