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My Sailing Dinghy has got to have an engine, now which one?
- Thread starter windlipper
- Start date
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Oars are much cheeper than an engine, think of your nest-egg.
Not so sure about that, at all. The Torqeedo is so expensive, it makes a suitcase genny (which will have numerous additional benefits once aboard the yacht) look cheap. And range won't be an issue with a generator...even a small fuel can will run it for hours. Clever bit of kit, the throttle responds to the application's demand - open up the electric motor's power and the genny opens up and delivers. The rest of the time it's very quiet, unlike any outboard I've known.
And a Minn Kota or other trolling motor can be used with a separate battery if preferred...unlike the Torqeedo.
And I reckon I'd feel happier arriving at the pub/restaurant carrying a 13kg suitcase-generator, than an oily outboard with its hot bits and petrol stinks, demanding to be carefully stood in a corner. That assumes we're afraid of having an outboard stolen from the transom. I'd D-lock the Minn Kota to a thwart, it looks so puny I doubt any thief would look at it.
I'm actually a fan of any electric solution, but Torqeedos look too rich for the popular pocket as yet, so they really wouldn't be top of my list.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
It's an intriguing idea, and the principle is good - it's how diesel-electric locomotives work. The idea is that the generator set runs under optimal conditions, and the electric motor provides the flexibility of torque and speed. However, the $64,000 question is whether a small generator can meet the power requirements of an electric putboard. A 1 kW generator can provide a maximum current of about 83 Amps, but that's assuming the internal wiring can handle that much current. Of course, a battery can, easily. But isn't the 12V output of most generators limited to a few amps, intended for battery charging, with the maximum wattage only available at 240 VAC? And an invertor to handle that kind of current would be pretty hefty. It would be good to hear from someone with practical experience if the limitations of small generators.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Agreed. I'm far out of my depth, I just like the idea.
DownWest
Well-Known Member
Inverter? It produces AC, so a big battery charger would do. Except....another box and not light.
I did have a little 2T mase that could put out 20amps. Not much heavier than a fuel can, but I suspect one would need a battery to smooth the load.
On the bench at the moment is a Honda 4.5 hp ex. genset motor, being linked to a 60amp 12v car alternator. For a friend who sails his 34ft gaff ketch engineless and needs to charge batteries.
(he pulls/pushes her around with a rigid dinghy and a big Seagull, but has decided that it is too sparten and will fit a 16hp diesel soon.)
I did have a little 2T mase that could put out 20amps. Not much heavier than a fuel can, but I suspect one would need a battery to smooth the load.
On the bench at the moment is a Honda 4.5 hp ex. genset motor, being linked to a 60amp 12v car alternator. For a friend who sails his 34ft gaff ketch engineless and needs to charge batteries.
(he pulls/pushes her around with a rigid dinghy and a big Seagull, but has decided that it is too sparten and will fit a 16hp diesel soon.)
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Greenheart
Well-Known Member
I thought the challenge was how to turn the 240v output of a suitcase genny, into plenty of amps but fewer DC volts, required by a trolling motor?
Reptile Smile
Well-Known Member
After all the fond, self-deluding, Libby Purves-style praise of Seagulls over the years, your remarks ring fabulously true! Tempted to quote you in other threads here, Dartmoor!
1 person's opinion, gleaned from experience, and therefore definitely worth listening to.
I - like many others at my club and I think on the forum - get a bit tired of people who haven't used them or, worse, owned them, having an opinion about them. My experience was great, and I'd have another. I think they're beautiful. They're insanely cheap. They burn a lot of oil and tend to be messy. Mine could be temperamental and so could I. It wasn't the most unreliable thing on my boat - that was probably me. I know many others who don't agree with my observations about Seagulls and that's fine. What I find tiresome is people who haven't owned one having an opinion about them that goes outside the aesthetic.
This argument comes and goes all the time - I accept they're like Marmite. It really doesn't bother me whether people agree with my opinion or disagree with it. I just wish they'd have the decency, like Dartmoor, to base their opinion on experience and not hearsay.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
here is some advice based upon first hand experience over many years
forget seagulls
thirsty, messy, unreliable, bad for the local environment, dribble crud into the boot of your car
buy a Honda
cheap to run, amazingly reliable, powerful little blighters and much, much better for the local environment
they also use the same fuel as your car so you can always feed it with fresh stuff, v happy to run on tickover
D
forget seagulls
thirsty, messy, unreliable, bad for the local environment, dribble crud into the boot of your car
buy a Honda
cheap to run, amazingly reliable, powerful little blighters and much, much better for the local environment
they also use the same fuel as your car so you can always feed it with fresh stuff, v happy to run on tickover
D
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Fair enough. I agree...although, like Marmite, in truth they're probably worthy neither of great love nor great hatred...
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MCL
Well-Known Member
Fowl and feather. Eggselent !
*sigh* .... Yes I made a spelling mistake, yes I am genuinely dyslexic. Thankyou for highlighting it presumably to make me feel stupid.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
I thought it was a great joke, never occurred to me it wasn't deliberate. Is it fair to say that "BRITISH SEAGULLS ARE OFFICIALLY FOWL"?
Bird-spotters might disagree but lots of yachtsmen would concur.
Bird-spotters might disagree but lots of yachtsmen would concur.
alahol2
Well-Known Member
Now, not only do you feel stupid but Dylan feels ashamed. He could feel so ashamed that he goes and shaves his head and wears sackcloth all next week. How will you feel then?
FWB
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Hey MCL, I really thought it was deliberate ! It should have been it was great. I promise not to feel ashamed
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parbuckle
Well-Known Member
MCL not stupid , an amusing error I believe they call it a malapropism and even spellchecker is made to seem a dunce when faced with our complex language.
DownWest
Well-Known Member
Sorry, I phrased that badly. The genny produces 240volts AC, so one needs to step it down to 12 and rectify it, like a battery charger. An inverter usually does the reverse, 12 DC to 240 AC. Not needed in this case.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Though oddly enough a TIG welding inverter steps down from 240V AC to low voltage, high current DC. Odd, that.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Umm...I'm still not clear on this...is it prohibitively problematic to drive a 12v (or 24v) trolling motor using a 240v generator?
alahol2
Well-Known Member
I think the prohibitively problematic bit, judging from the dinghies I have used/owned, is the fact of having 240V in the same boat as me.
onesea
Well-Known Member
AntarcticPilot's, Dancrane,
I have pondered the electric outboard / torqueedo combination before. As I understand it is possible without an inverter as well..
I think Fischer Panda generators where one that could easily produce DC voltages 12, 24, 36 etc. I think this combination could make an excellent auxiliary engine for small boats. Many small early fiberglass boats could be given a new lease of life if only the technology could brought together.
Easily installed by amateurs (no alignment), no need for Gas, short periods of silent running possible, 240v available on-board..
I have pondered the electric outboard / torqueedo combination before. As I understand it is possible without an inverter as well..
I think Fischer Panda generators where one that could easily produce DC voltages 12, 24, 36 etc. I think this combination could make an excellent auxiliary engine for small boats. Many small early fiberglass boats could be given a new lease of life if only the technology could brought together.
Easily installed by amateurs (no alignment), no need for Gas, short periods of silent running possible, 240v available on-board..
DownWest
Well-Known Member
Last thing I would want on board a small open boat is 240volts. So it would have to be a 12 v generator. Onesea, it would be OK on a larger cabin vessel, but we are talking about a tippy dinghy here.
