Foil Drive™ Rotor RefurbishmentUpdated 10 months ago

Carrying out regular servicing and refurbishment is important for the longevity of your Foil Drive™ system.

Below are two videos to guide you through the process of refurbishing both the outer surface and the inner surface of your rotor. 

Below is a detailed diagram of the parts of your Foil Drive™ motor. In this video series, you will be working with the rotor. 

External Rotor Refurbishment

You will need:

• Motor with circlip removed and outer spinning Rotor removed. Click here to see our article/video on removing the circlip (FD kits prior to 2023) and separating the rotor from the stator.
• Wet and dry sandpaper around 400grit and 120grit (not super important exactly which grit you use)
• Isopropyl cleaning alcohol or similar cleaning agent.
• Paper towel or clean rags
• Painters masking tape
• Good Quality Black Rust Preventative Epoxy Enamel Spray Paint for Metal Surfaces
• Replacement Motor Can Sticker
• 2.5mm Foil Drive™ hex driver

* For our customers in the US, you can use this or similar as a lubricant for your rotor and stator- Lubricant/Corrosion Inhibitor (It can also be purchased at Home Depot). For Australian Customers, you can use a WD40 Lanolin Based Rust Preventor.

Instructions:

1. Remove the propellers and hub from your motor.
2. You can use your motor pod attached to your mast as a stand, or mount the motor to your bench 
3. Remove the old sticker from the rotor.
4. With your wet & dry sandpaper, remove the surface corrosion and paint back to bare metal. Note: We use the Foil Drive™ system to spin the motor at a medium speed RPM during this process. 
5. Once the rotor is back to bare metal and smooth, use a cleaning solvent like isopropyl alcohol to ensure the surface is completely clean.
6. Mask up and protect all areas of the motor to protect it from paint over-spray.
7. Run the motor slowly and apply a very thin, light coat of paint to the rotor.
8. Repeat the light coating of paint 3-4 times until a smooth consistent paint coating is achieved.
9. Once the paint is completely dry, apply a new replacement motor can sticker to further protect the paint when out in the water.

Internal Rotor and Magnet Refurbishment

1. Remove the rotor from your stator
2. Consider the condition of the magnets inside the rotor. If it is simply missing paint and there is some light surface corrosion, a refurbishment is recommended. If there is significant material loss to the magnets, we can supply a cost-effective replacement rotor.
3. Use a small strip of sandpaper and two fingers to sand back any loose debris, surface corrosion and paint until the rotor is back to bare magnet material. Note: Using water with wet and dry sandpaper can help keep the sandpaper clean as you go.
4. Use fresh water and a clean rag to wipe over the surface. Then again with isopropyl cleaning alcohol to completely clean and dry out the internal surfaces ready for paint.
5. Use masking tape to mask up the external surfaces of the motor from overspray.
6. It is incredibly important that you also mask up the entire motor shaft from top to bottom to protect from overspray of paint. Any paint on the motor shaft will not allow the shaft to pass through the ceramic bearings. Note: In the video we have used a small syringe outer tube to cover the motor shaft.
7. Using thin, light misting coats of the epoxy enamel, paint the internal surfaces of the rotor. Do not spray too much paint at one time as this will cause the paint to run or pool in the bottom of the can. 
8. Take your time and do two or three coats coming at it from both left and right sides of each magnet to ensure a complete coverage.
9. Wait for the paint to be completely dry (at least a day to cure) before re-installing the rotor onto the stator.

If you require replacement parts, click here to access the 'repairs' parts on our website. Note: You will need to log in to access this section of the website. If you have not created a logon for our website, click here to learn how.

If you have any questions or simply do not feel comfortable carrying out this maintenance, please email [email protected] and we will assist you further. 

Related Articles - Click to read:
 Full Foil Drive Motor Refurbishment
Replacing and Securing Ceramic Bearings on Foil Drive Motor

Motor Cleaning and Maintenance

Foil Drive Motor Design | Universal

To learn more, check out the other articles on our Help Centre which can be found under the 'Support' tab on the website.

As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected]. 

Happy Foil Driving!