instructables Surfboard LED Fins Installation Guide

: June 9, 2024
: instructables

Table of Contents

instructables Surfboard LED Fins Installation Guide
Surfboard LED Fins
- by mosivers
UPDATE:
Step 1: CAD Design
Step 2: 3D Printing
Step 3: Assembly
- Surfboard LED Fins: Page 4
Step 5: Final Remarks
Read More About This Manual & Download PDF:
References
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instructables Surfboard LED Fins Installation Guide

Surfboard LED Fins

by mosivers

A while ago I decided to combine two of my favorite hobbies river surng and electronics, which resulted in motionreactive
LED strips for my surfboard. Since it is impossible to have too many LEDs on any project, I recently added glowing LED ns.
The ns are 3D printed from transparent lament and include a space in the center for a coin cell battery and a 5mm LED.
The ns consist of two halves held together by screws and sealed with a gasket printed from ex lament.

UPDATE:

Version 2 with an improved seal is now available on Thingiverse. Supplies:
For each n you will need
CR2032 coin cell battery
5mm LED (color of your choice)
small piece of packaging foam
transparent 3D printer lament (e.g. Filament Crystal Clear)
ex lament (e.g. Playmaker PayFlex)
6pcs M2. x 6mm plastic screws

Surfboard LED Fins: Page 1

Step 1: CAD Design

The parts were designed in Fusion360 based on these existing Thingiverse models. The ns are designed for the FCS system. I made a large n and a small center n
as commonly used in rapid soring.
As already mentioned, each 0n consists of two halves.
The space where the LED and coin cell ts is surrounded by an elliptical groove into which a gasket is inserted.
The gasket is squished together by a ridge on the top part with a triangular cross-section.
All stl les are attached below

Step 2: 3D Printing

I tried out different types of transparent filament
Filamentworld transparent PLA: very good print quality but lowest transparency XVICO transparent PETG: worst print quality, medium transparency Fillamentum Crystal Clear: good print quality, best transparency
As you can see I got the best results with Fillamentum Crystal Clear, however, it took me a while to get there as this filament can easily clog the nozzle of Prusa printers (see e.g. her e , or her e ). As suggested in one of the forum posts the problem was mostly solved by replacing the heat break. I still sometimes experience the typical clocking noise on my extruder but the prints do not fail entirely.
Regarding the print settings, there are many tutorials on getting transparent prints (see e.g. here) and making 3D printed objects watertight (e.g. here). Luckily, the requirements are somewhat similar so it is not impossible to achieve both.
After some experimenting I found the following adjustments to be usefu infill: 100% nozzle temperature: 220°C infill/perimeters overlap: 5% cooling fans: off
print speed: 70% flow rate: 110%
The gaskets were printed from Polymaker PolyFlex filament with 100% infill and 0.1mm layer height.
I did not do any post-processing except for some mild sanding. Coating the parts with epoxy might be a nice addition in order to improve transparency and waterproofness.

Step 3: Assembly

First, you have to shorten the leads of the LED a bit so that they fit inside the 3D print. The coin cell battery is simply placed in between the LED leads. The gasket is inserted into the bottom part of the fin and the top part is fixed with M2.2 x 6mm plastic screws. I also placed a small piece of packaging foam on top of the coin cell to hold it in place after the fin is sealed.
You can of course use whichever LED color you prefer. Most LEDs work fine when supplied 3V directly from a coin cell battery. For the center fin, I used an RGB LED with an integrated controller that cycles through the rainbow. I also printed fins from Fillamentum Iceland Blue filament that are used with a white LED.

Surfboard LED Fins: Page 4

Step 4: Testing Waterproofness
Step 5: Final Remarks
I immersed the sealed 0n completely in water for several minutes to test if it is waterproof. At rst, I tried this without the electronics. Only after I checked that no water entered I tested it with the LED and the coin cell inside.

Step 5: Final Remarks

The disadvantage of the simple design is that there is no\ switch to turn the LEDs on and o3. In order to do so, you
have to unscrew the top part and remove the battery but I was unable to and a watertight switch that is suAciently small. With a switch installed one could also
think about permanently sealing the 3D print with epoxy but then you would not be able to replace the battery.
With a typical capacity of 220mAh for a CR2032 cell and

a typical LED current of 10mA, the battery should last 22h.
Unfortunately, I was not able to try out the fins yet. When I do, I will post a video so that you can see them in action. I hope the fins will turn out to be as watertight in real-life conditions as in my tests.