Electric outboard - my expensive mistake

[mainsail1]

I purchased a brand new Torqueedo electric outboard for shed loads of money a couple of years ago and have been very disappointed. Not even waterproof in any real sense of the word as I would understand it, but to them it is waterproof. Now sits in my garage with an error message that will not clear.
Has anyone else got a story to tell about their electric outboard - good or bad? Or am I the only mug to ever buy one?

 

[sailorman]

I purchased a brand new Torqueedo electric outboard for shed loads of money a couple of years ago and have been very disappointed. Not even waterproof in any real sense of the word as I would understand it, but to them it is waterproof. Now sits in my garage with an error message that will not clear.
Has anyone else got a story to tell about their electric outboard - good or bad? Or am I the only mug to ever buy one?

they are good for pond fishing

 

[FWB]

My Torqeedo 1003S bought in the summer is superb.
and allegedly waterproof

 

[penfold]

I purchased a brand new Torqueedo electric outboard for shed loads of money a couple of years ago and have been very disappointed. Not even waterproof in any real sense of the word as I would understand it, but to them it is waterproof. Now sits in my garage with an error message that will not clear.
Has anyone else got a story to tell about their electric outboard - good or bad? Or am I the only mug to ever buy one?

Wanna sell it? I like tinkering with broken stuff.

 

[Greenheart]

I like the idea of electric outboards...I just don't like the idea of spending a fortune on a bit of slick-looking design which mayn't be vastly better than the most basic of the same variety...

..okay, Torqeedo uses lithium batteries? Does that cover the huge mark-up over Minn Kota?

 

[Seven Spades]

I purchased a brand new Torqueedo electric outboard for shed loads of money a couple of years ago and have been very disappointed. Not even waterproof in any real sense of the word as I would understand it, but to them it is waterproof. Now sits in my garage with an error message that will not clear.
Has anyone else got a story to tell about their electric outboard - good or bad? Or am I the only mug to ever buy one?

Doesn't it have a guarantee? Have you been quoted for repair?

 

[flawed_logic]

Been thinking about getting one. Without wanting to hijack the thread if anyone recommends one I'd be interested to know!

 

[FWB]

Been thinking about getting one. Without wanting to hijack the thread if anyone recommends one I'd be interested to know!

See post #3

 

[flawed_logic]

See post #3

Ta, just looked at the video. Seems pretty good to me!

 

[Piers]

I purchased a brand new Torqueedo electric outboard for shed loads of money a couple of years ago and have been very disappointed. Not even waterproof in any real sense of the word as I would understand it, but to them it is waterproof. Now sits in my garage with an error message that will not clear.
Has anyone else got a story to tell about their electric outboard - good or bad? Or am I the only mug to ever buy one?

What does the supplier you bought it from say? I know the Torqeedo chap responsible for UK dealers. If you want I can send you his details.

I have one and it's just excellent....

Piers

 

[mainsail1]

Thanks for all the replies. I can see that some people have had good experiences with their Torqeedo motors and I think I should go through the whole sorry episode and then you may say I am being unreasonable.

I bought the motor in Jan 2011. It is a 1003 model. In their advertising Torqeedo showed the motor being thrown in the water, recovered and run to show that it was waterproof. To me this was a deal clincher as if it had not been fully waterproof I would not have bought it.

I used the motor for ten months with only the occasional error message that could be overcome by reading the manual. However, no manual or in the dark and things are not good as you usually have to know what the error code means to get the beast working again.

My wife and I went for a trip up the Beaulieu river from Bucklers Hard to Beaulieu and return in the dinghy with the Torqeedo going at less than half speed to conserve power. Its not a huge distance, maybe 2 miles each way. The return journey was stressful as the battery power was dropping towards zero and was actually on zero when we arrived back. Unless you run with a spare battery which costs about £450 you have no way of refuelling which adds to the stress. Anyway, I decided I could just about live with that limitation.

For those that don't know, the outboard is in three parts. The prop shaft, the battery pack and the control tiller. This is great as it means you can stow it away easily on the boat in bits. I was alongside a pontoon at Bucklers Hard in the dinghy taking the outboard to bits. Only the shaft remained clamped to the stern when suddenly...PLOP... the shaft had clearly not been properly clamped on by me and it fell off into the water and sank. I was quite relaxed about this as the depth was only two meters and the shaft must be waterproof. The other bits did not go in the water. Recovered the shaft when the tide was out. No obvious damage. Dried it and put the three parts back together. Error message! Would not work. Sent back to Torqeedo Agent in UK. He reported that water had got into the shaft. I asked if it was covered under warranty (ten months old) he asked Torqeedo who said that it was only waterproof to a depth of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes and as it had sunk to two meters it was not covered.

I paid about £400 to have it fixed. Worked first time out and then ERROR MESSAGE and no joy since even after a lot of fiddling. The Agent has said send it back and he will fix it again but I have lost the will to continue!

If it is that delicate I don't feel I can trust it on a dark night at sea heading back to an anchorage from shore.

Am I being unreasonable? I leave you to judge. In mitigation, I have had a number of petrol outboards over the years that have fallen in the water and worked just fine afterwards AND you do not worry about running out of fuel.

Incidentally, yes, the outboard is going to be up for sale. Any offers now you know the full story?

 

[FWB]

Sorry to read of your problems.
To be fair to the manufacturers the Torqeedo is waterproof to only 1m but for an hour.
The repair is obviously not done properly so I would send it back and keep your will to live.
I am very pleased with my 1003 but I think that for a there and back trip I would turn around when there was 60% or so charge left.
They have their limitations but for me the selling point was the fact that it splits into three making it very easy to fit onto a tippy tender.

 

[Piers]

Thanks for all the replies. I can see that some people have had good experiences with their Torqeedo motors and I think I should go through the whole sorry episode and then you may say I am being unreasonable.

I bought the motor in Jan 2011. It is a 1003 model. In their advertising Torqeedo showed the motor being thrown in the water, recovered and run to show that it was waterproof. To me this was a deal clincher as if it had not been fully waterproof I would not have bought it.

I used the motor for ten months with only the occasional error message that could be overcome by reading the manual. However, no manual or in the dark and things are not good as you usually have to know what the error code means to get the beast working again.

My wife and I went for a trip up the Beaulieu river from Bucklers Hard to Beaulieu and return in the dinghy with the Torqeedo going at less than half speed to conserve power. Its not a huge distance, maybe 2 miles each way. The return journey was stressful as the battery power was dropping towards zero and was actually on zero when we arrived back. Unless you run with a spare battery which costs about £450 you have no way of refuelling which adds to the stress. Anyway, I decided I could just about live with that limitation.

For those that don't know, the outboard is in three parts. The prop shaft, the battery pack and the control tiller. This is great as it means you can stow it away easily on the boat in bits. I was alongside a pontoon at Bucklers Hard in the dinghy taking the outboard to bits. Only the shaft remained clamped to the stern when suddenly...PLOP... the shaft had clearly not been properly clamped on by me and it fell off into the water and sank. I was quite relaxed about this as the depth was only two meters and the shaft must be waterproof. The other bits did not go in the water. Recovered the shaft when the tide was out. No obvious damage. Dried it and put the three parts back together. Error message! Would not work. Sent back to Torqeedo Agent in UK. He reported that water had got into the shaft. I asked if it was covered under warranty (ten months old) he asked Torqeedo who said that it was only waterproof to a depth of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes and as it had sunk to two meters it was not covered.

I paid about £400 to have it fixed. Worked first time out and then ERROR MESSAGE and no joy since even after a lot of fiddling. The Agent has said send it back and he will fix it again but I have lost the will to continue!

If it is that delicate I don't feel I can trust it on a dark night at sea heading back to an anchorage from shore.

Am I being unreasonable? I leave you to judge. In mitigation, I have had a number of petrol outboards over the years that have fallen in the water and worked just fine afterwards AND you do not worry about running out of fuel.

Incidentally, yes, the outboard is going to be up for sale. Any offers now you know the full story?

Mailsail, let me have a word with the Torqeedo guy I said I knew, who is responsible for UK sales as a whole. I think a problem is the immersion it had, but let me have a word and get back to you.

Piers

 

[mainsail1]

Thanks Piers. I will be interested to see the response.

I feel sure the problem is due to the water ingress. I guess my point is to warn people that advertising that uses the word Waterproof does not really mean Waterproof in the sense that the average punter would expect.
After the incident it horrified me when I discovered that most of the vital electronics for this outboard are in the shaft (and not encapsulated in resin). I thought all the delicate bits would be above water, possibly in the handle or battery. Apparently, only a couple of 'O' rings are between the electronics in the shaft and the water. Does not sound robust to me.

Richard

 

[lustyd]

I just don't get the whole electric outboard thing, same with electric cars and hybrid cars. I do understand the marketing, don't get me wrong...I just don't get the reality of it all and how it's supposed to improve things.

My outboard was made in the 90s I think. I'd wager it uses around 25L fuel per year. In 1990 that would have been about £10 and today about £33. Let's take £22 as the average and say that since 1990 (22 years) it's cost £704 to push a yacht around the solent. Maybe there have been some parts in there but by the look of it it's all original apart from maybe the anode and impeller. Let's add on £100 for misc parts and say £800 and an engine which is still working fine. It's not as quiet and does give off some small amount of fumes but I'd hardly say damaging to the environment; even the manufacturing process was just metalwork and plastic moulding.

Now the electric one. We'll assume, for the sake of argument that they were available in 1990. We'll also compare apples and oranges since they don't make one to power a 20 foot yacht, so we'll use the dinghy one. in that time, the battery would have needed to be replaced 6-7 times since rechargeable batteries last only around 3 years (even the HUGE car ones only state 5 years and that's optimistically hoping that owners are happy for under 50% original capacity). We'll say 6 times and that we've been lucky. That's £2700 on batteries. Not on power or fuel, but on batteries. We're also assuming that the windings in the motor last 22 years - after all, who's had to replace a starter motor or alternator on a boat? Oh, lots of people, all the time...well we'll ignore them for this...and on to the planet. Of course electric power saves the planet. It must do, there are no "fumes". Apart from the hideous chemicals and processes used in creating and destroying ("recycling") the batteries. Oh, and the fumes, lots of fumes in fact, from the power station and from your diesel engine which is charging the battery while you're aboard.

So, three times (at least) the cost for half the longevity and serviceability and twice the cost to the planet. I wonder why we all don't have one yet

ETA: I forgot to mention the Lithium batteries. LITHIUM on the WATER

 

[Greenheart]

The silence is nice, though.

 

[lustyd]

The silence is nice, though.

How's the silence on the big boat while you recharge the battery? Sorry I know I'm being a bit glass half full and I'm sure that eventually it'll be the way to go.

 

[VicS]

ETA: I forgot to mention the Lithium batteries. LITHIUM on the WATER

Is this a problem ??

 

[lustyd]

Is this a problem ??

Nope, Lithium loves the water

 

[VicS]

Nope, Lithium loves the water

what like caesium?

...... But is there any metallic lithium in a rechargeable lithium battery ?

.