I haven’t found much information on here relating to the power/torque requirements for a jet impeller motor.
I want to build my E-foil from scratch using as many supplies as I can that I already have. I assume that everyone here wants to DIY avoid the high cost of boards, e-foil, etc…
I have an ego push mower that has a battery and I was thinking this motor probably has enough power to propell a board and I have a leaf blower that I can remove the impeller from simply use that whole assembly so there is no need to biuld an enclosure. Obviously need to modify the motors with a watertight housing. What do you guys think about the viability of this idea?
Your leaf blower will have a plastic impeller which is fine for blowing air but the impeller will be too big and flexible to move the amount of water that you need. Creating a jet that is capable of pushing the right amount of thrust to get a board out of the water and up on for is no small task!!
Yeah I didn’t think about the rigidity of that impeller. Good point. I’ll have to disassemble it and inspect it to see how it is. If it’s not sturdy I’ll have to source something else I have laying around that I can manufacture or substitute with or i can resize the blower impeller, wrap it in carbon fiber, and epoxy it. Now I’m just more concerned with the mowers motor RPMs/torque value.
I don’t think it’s viable unless you are a very talented fabricator. just too many things going on there. Lift has a 'tilt meter that cuts off power to the motor when it reaches a certain degree of tilt that means a wipeout is happening. That mower battery is TINY compared to a LIft batter (close to 40lbs, size of a briefcase). AND making everything completely water proof. These batteries are serious business, you don’t want a short in the water. Lift and Flite (the 2 biggies) use 5kwh motors which equals about 7hp from what I’ve read.($$) It moves you out FAST (inches off the water, go cart effect) and is a very serious motor. The prop is aluminum and very strong. The cost of that is several hundred dollars. The batter is $3995 from Lift, $2995 for the new Lite (7lbs) batter with 60 minute run time instead of up to 120. The board matters, the drivetrain matters. If you’re up for it, rock on! Several have done it. Several hundred have thought about it or tried and failed. No shame there. Even the cheapest chinese knockoffs are 7k or close so it’s hard to put anything decent together for MUCH less than that. Lots of guys (ok some) with 5k in and nothing functional or approaching what is out there already for 7… JMO
MLB. Excellent points you brought up. As far as my fabrication abilities. I have worked in a machine shop as well as fabrication of many things for the oilfield as an underwater welder.
I just don’t have a milling machine or a 3d printer but I have enough patience to make the same things with some molds and or a dremmel. My biggest concern is the torque/RPMs needed to get up on plane. As far as electrical needs I can sort that out but would still like to know what people are saying is the best quality batteries out there that I will manufacturer by spot welding in series or daisy chain packs together. As far as waterproof sealing goes, I have a lot of experience in that arena and will essentially mirror what the manufacturers like awake, lift, flite, etc… have done.
I have seen a lot of the builds on YouTube but those ways get way to involved and require the purchase of most materials.
There is a huge amount of info over at foil.zone. I sugest you spend a good couple of weeks going through some of the info over there before you tackle anything
I’m sire gonna give it my all. I prefer to make use of my capabilities/skill rather than have someone do something for me that imperfectly capable of doing myself. Like paying someone to change my oil is just absurd to me. Oh yeah im a cheap ass too.
