Foil Drive Help: Carbon Boards & Controller Signal
Your Foil Drive controller talks to the unit under your board over a 2.4 GHz wireless signal. That signal has to pass through the board, so board construction and where you hold the controller both affect how well you stay connected. Most boards work really well. Small, heavily reinforced carbon boards, boards that are fully underwater, and boards with carbon foil tracks can make it harder.
What blocks the signal
- Water. Water soaks up 2.4 GHz signal very effectively. If water sits between the controller and the unit (for example a small prone board that's fully submerged), connection gets harder. As the board gets moving and water drains off the deck, the signal path improves.
- Carbon. Fibreglass lets the signal through fairly easily. Carbon cuts it down more, but it's woven fibre and resin, so some signal still gets through. Boards vary a lot (number of layers, weave, reinforcement, thickness, track construction), even between model years of the same board. A carbon board doesn't automatically mean problems.
- Carbon foil tracks. Full carbon tracks add another layer of blocking material right where the signal needs to pass. This shows up most with a small board, a heavier rider, a submerged board, rough water, or the controller held high above the board.
How to improve your connection
- Check the signal indicator in the top-left corner of the V3 Controller screen.
- Keep the controller close to the board. On tough setups you can briefly hold the controller right against the deck to establish connection, then move it away once the board is moving and water clears.
- Keep as much of the board out of the water as you can before applying throttle.
- Release the throttle when you lose connection. For safety the throttle has to return to 0% before the motor will re-arm. Let go, bring the controller closer, wait for it to reconnect, then apply throttle slowly.
- Get moving first. Use a little throttle to get the board moving and clear water off the deck, then go into your normal take-off.
- Try different spots on the deck. The centre and nose can transmit better than heavily reinforced areas around the rails or tracks.
- Fill carbon tracks with the foam inserts during installation, especially between and around the foil bolts and in front of the front bolt.
Cruise control doesn't change signal strength, but if the board slows down and sinks back into the water the signal path gets harder. A slightly higher cruise speed can help, at the cost of more power use.
Still dropping out? The External Antenna
The Foil Drive External Antenna is a passive secondary antenna for Gen2 and Gen2.5 systems. It's mainly meant for boards with full carbon foil tracks laminated into a full carbon board. A thin antenna plate sits between the electronics box and the board, and a cable runs around the nose to a small pad on top of the deck, above the carbon. Most boards don't need one, so work through the steps above first.
The antenna plate adds about 2 mm of height, so check that your mast plate bolts still engage the T-nuts properly. Foil Drive offers longer bolts (85 mm for Assist MAX, 65 mm for Assist Slim). Foam is supplied to keep the nose cone level.
Questions? Call or email The Foil Shop. Call (909) 326-0732, email info@foilshop.com or contact us here and we'll help you sort it out.