Foil Drive | From Box to Board | Ben Jamieson’s Setup Guide
Hey guys this is Ryan from mat kite today we’ve got Ben from foil drive with us we’re going to go over a few kind of tech tips and tricks on uh setting up your system system this is not a full install guide it’s not a quick start guide but
Maybe a few things you missed if you like me ripped open you’re in your system like a uh a kid on Christmas Day and threw everything together rushed out into the water I’m sure it worked great but there few things you can do to make it work better and make sure that it’s
Working well in the long term so you want to run us through yeah sure top to bottom few quick things we’ll talk about like um there’s a lot of order of operation that is easier to set things up and also is less likely to cause damage with your gear so things like
When you’re setting up the motor pod and installing the motor taping the cable on and then setting it all up with your actual kit on the board there’s a lot of things like the three little screws that hold your motor plug into your um either your max or your slim we obviously don’t
Want to cross thread those or get them crooked and if you’ve already installed all your kit onto your board onto your MK sorry and that’s then sitting on here it can be very difficult this is a 25 cm motor so there’s a bit of space here but
If your motor’s lower down here you’ll have to put this on an angle and then you might be driving your screw in on an angle as well and you risk cross-threading your screws so one thing that we you know talk about in the install video the full install video on
Our on our website and in the um you know quick start sort of videos is an order of operation so what I mean by that is get your box on your board put your Mast onto your box then you Loosely do up the Pod onto your Mast so that you
Can still slide it up and down a little bit and obviously we’re a retrofit product so there’s lots of different Mass these No Limits V2 Mass are pretty straight but there’s a lot of mass that are really tapered like your Armstrongs your axis your a lot of the carbon Mass
Are very tapered to do up the pod Loosely and then get your motor Loosely sitting in the back of the Pod here so that you can slide it up and down and get the right length of cable hanging out the back here so that when it’s sitting there it all very
Nicely and smoothly wraps down here and you don’t have the motor pod too high and low and you can then move this up and down a little bit because you’ve done it up loose to get this all right then you’re able to then remove the motor tighten up the Pod you know that
It’s in the right position and you can put the motor back in do up your oh sorry do up the screws put the motor back in and then tape the cable all on so there’s a few things like that just to make sure you don’t damage these um
Threads for these little screws going into the the housing to make sure you get it nice and straight um something else on that is then when you get to taping the cable um you can see here with Ryan’s demo setup here that the cable guide here that is on the back of
The M that’s holding the cable nice and straight so that you you’re helping the water to pass around the Mast as smooth as it can and everything’s all in a straight line we all know foiling is all about reducing drag so keeping everything streamlined is really important but the cable guide here he’s
Got it starting just below this uh heat shrink area and if you actually push this up all the way up to the Pod you don’t particularly have to tape any higher than that but that’ll close up this Gap here so that water’s not going and closing behind the MK and then
Hitting another object and getting all turbulent so very small things but having that uh cable guard come all the way up just smoothens this water flow that obviously the water is coming through here and then going straight into your propeller so it’s difficult it’s uh very important to get smooth
Clean water flow through to the prop um and obviously a nice clean tape job uh like we have here again helps that water uh pass over the Mast really nice and easily um we’ve got some things around like keeping the rotor off um you don’t particularly obviously these propellers
Are are quite um you know not so much delicate but you want them to be in good condition as well so while you’re playing with all this gear and moving everything about and and doing all that kind of stuff you can um remove the rotor from the Mast pulling nice and
Straight directly back put this aside so that while you’re playing with everything and getting everything mounted up nothing can accidentally fall over you obviously want to look after your M as well but um leaving that off you don’t need it on there and even even when you’re putting the battery in and
Getting all started then you’re not at any risk of the motor starting accidentally it’s totally fine to leave that off and just before you jump in the water carefully slide it on um some things with the the kit itself obviously when you go and insert the battery in
And try and put the nose cone on if the nose cone is not fitting all the way in and going all the way closed where your the gap of the nose cone before you do up your latches is not going all the way on nice and smoothly it could mean that
Your batter’s not all the way in and it could also mean that there’s a little bit too much grease on this o-ring and you not need to take the O-ring out clean the extra grease or sand or grit or anything like that that could have got in there you don’t want to be
Forcing these latches closed they should be tight and should make a nice snap noise when they go together but they really shouldn’t be like forcing on them to really try and get them closed that’s when you risk breaking things so everything should be pretty straightforward and easy to put together
Um motor pods like we talked about before lots of different marks different tapers the Gap here can vary a little bit by a few millimeters or fractions of an inch for you guys uh so don’t get too worried if there is a little bit of a gap here sometimes they’re super tight
Sometimes they’re a little bit wider especially with tape and M As you move them up and down unless you’ve got huge big gaping holes uh there’s really no issue there and the other one would probably be back to the motor plug again that when you’re undoing this cable or
When you’re putting it on it’s very important to get this nice and square Square let push it down nice and square using the plug itself now taking it out it’s obviously very tempting to just grab this cable and pull it up but then you’re actually tearing the plug out on
An angle and you can damage the pins so getting a finger under one side and you can use close to the plug the cable to help you lift it out little Wiggles backwards and forwards to try and undo that plug nice and straight um I think
You’ve done pretty well to get this all set up and jump in the water but there is obviously a few little bits and pieces like that that can really help you just yeah get in the water first but as we said we’ve got lots of um videos about installing everything so please
Watch those while you’re waiting for your gear to ship and um yeah you’ll really enjoy your your first session outet for sure um if you guys enjoyed this video uh and you’ve got uh any comments of anything that you found uh helpful while setting up your unit or
For long-term care uh feel free to drop drop a comment down below um or reach out to us at the shop uh Cheers
In this video, Ryan from MACkite and Ben from Foil Drive (co-founder) present a comprehensive unboxing of the Foil Drive system. They start by highlighting the detailed assembly instructions, which include QR codes leading to additional online content for quick setup guidance. The package includes various components for both the Assist Slim and Assist Max systems, with slight differences like the nose cone sizes but similar contents overall.
They discuss the importance of handling the electronic components carefully, especially in saltwater, to protect the system and maintain its lightweight and compact design. The motor comes with a protective cover for the sharp blades and standard two-blade folding propellers, with an optional three-blade upgrade for more torque.
The video also covers the universal pod that connects the motor to the mast, accommodating over 115 different mast sizes with short and long nose cones included for versatility. The battery case and battery feature protection covers, and the package includes different nose cones to fit both slim and max systems.
The remote controller is introduced with a wrist leash and offers a fully proportional throttle and cruise control functions. Additional accessories, like foam inserts for better signal transmission and a rubber cable guide for the motor, are discussed.
Ben and Ryan go through the included hardware, emphasizing the adaptability of the system to various boards and masts. They also show spare parts, charging cables for the battery and remote, and tools needed for assembly. The package includes grease for protecting electrical connections and a microfiber rag for cleaning.
Finally, they suggest additional accessories like a three-blade prop upgrade, fast chargers, and a paddle mount for the controller.
The video concludes with a reminder that MACkite and Foil Drive offer full support and additional accessories to ensure the best experience with the Foil Drive system.
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