Whaup367
Active member
Damn, I was hoping you'd come back with a "Yes, here's a link"!
(I know you can get electric ribs that can plane but I believe they need hefty inboard battery packs)
:-(
The small ICE outboard.
- Thread starter ithet
- Start date
(I know you can get electric ribs that can plane but I believe they need hefty inboard battery packs)
:-(
Bouba
Well-known member
As I said...no such thing as totally reliable transport (except the Cummins QB6)
B27
Well-known member
3.5knots on flat water is much less power than 3 knots into a strong wind and chop.
My outboard is 2HP, but mostly I only need a fraction of that power.
Most weekends away, I top up the fuel, it will have used very little.
Sometimes though, I can burn most of a tank in one trip, over a pint that is!
The question is, what's the minimum I'd feel safe with?
I think when the wind and chop are against you in Salcombe, the thrust needed is a bit more than 65lb?
Of course that assumes keeping the same inflatable boat, which is not the finest bit of streamlining.
It would, IMHO be better to be using a higher voltage battery pack to keep the current down and improve efficiency. 60A is a lot! It reduces choice of battery just on the current rating.
Most people, most of the time are doing short easy trips from the moorings to town in Fowey or similar, 10 minutes each way if that?, on an average weekend they are probably not needing to recharge. If you want to be free to anchor, distances could be a lot greater.
The other thing is believing a cheap electric outboard will give 10 years of service to the coastal yotsperson.
Mark-1
Well-known member
B27
Well-known member
Depends on what parameters you want.
You can get plenty of range by throwing lots of money at batteries in a low drag displacement boat, like a catamaran.
You can get speed from either lots of power or low drag hulls or something like a foiling surfboard.
Having a starting point of an inflatable yacht tender is a restriction.
Wanting something which will carry 3 adults in choppy water is another restriction.
Wanting to stay reasonably dry is another.
If you are able to use a long, light rigid dinghy, the numbers may be very different.
A nesting dinghy might work for some, but that's not a cheap solution.
penfold
Well-known member
Where do I get reasonable LFP cells for that? I have a couple of projects but the unknown quality of the cells is offputting.
Kelpie
Well-known member
Alibaba. Best to put in a few hours researching the supplier first, get first hand accounts from here, Facebook groups, and the DIYSolar forum.
There is an element of risk involved but it was a chance I was willing to take. Not worth paying two or three times the price just to remove that small risk.
If you're really paranoid, you could buy a fifth cell just in case.
Alfie168
Well-known member
I ran quite a few two stroke motorcycles and never had a sniff of a problem with any of them, but then I thought Suzuki engineering was always a bit more robust than Yamaha's or Kawasakis, even if the Suzukis were more conservative in some respects. Note: this is 45 years ago now.I don’t have a lot of experience with two stroke outboards...but I have loads of experience with two stroke motorcycles...an of course that two stroke experience is the reason why I never got a two stroke outboard
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sailingmartin
Active member
My Torqeedo has a 12v charger as well as 240v. Have been at anchor for two weeks with solar and wind generator and keeping the batteries topped up. Recharge the Torqeedo battery when it gets below 70 per cent and when the sun is shining.
B27
Well-known member
I seized a Suzuki, had an MZ which refused to start, a Gilera which was only happy in the rain and a Benelli which ate its big ends. A Maico tried to kill me.
They're made out of holes. What can possibly go wrong?
Boathook
Well-known member
So far wind and chop don't make as much difference as I thought it would. The electric epropulsion spirit produces a lot of torque, more than than my malta. With the malta I could hang onto the side of my boat and test the engine to full power, can't do that with the ePropulsion spirit. There is a difference in top speed with the malta getting my dinghy onto the plane one up.
As I have previously said, it is early days, but I still have the malta on board unused since getting the ePropulsion.
Bouba
Well-known member
People are switching to electric for a reason…easier to carry from mother ship to dinghy…easier to store…no petrol onboard in jerrycans or fuel tank…no carburettor to clog up…instant effortless starting…quietness at the anchorage…
Of course ice has some advantages…but people are voting with their feet…this is not a company car
Of course ice has some advantages…but people are voting with their feet…this is not a company car
Boathook
Well-known member
My main motor is petrol so stacks on board for.
Have found the dinghy is noisy with the electric outboard. Noise of the water running past the bow, people talking, birds tweeting. Next it will be the fish ................
Mark-1
Well-known member
Yes. And the people who stick with ICE are doing that for a reason.
There are pros and cons and people will take the solution that works for them. Electric outboards have been around long enough now for everyone to full understand the pros and cons of each. (I had a mate who used a trolling motor as his tender OB nearly 15 years ago.)
fredrussell
Well-known member
As Kelpie says above, electric outboards needn’t be ruinously expensive. I bought an old one (one of the first Torqeedo made) for £200 and re-celled it.There’s a chap in Germany that makes purpose made ‘drop in’ cell packs for outboards but I made mine from scratch as a useful learning experience. All in the whole project was £400. I used 2nd hand cells from eBay. There are people on there selling cells that are checked for capacity and internal resistance before sale, or you can buy a charger with capacity measurement for between 25 and 100 quid.
Incidentally, the ten year old original battery on the Torqeedo still had 75 - 80% of its capacity which is pretty impressive I reckon.
Incidentally, the ten year old original battery on the Torqeedo still had 75 - 80% of its capacity which is pretty impressive I reckon.
Mark-1
Well-known member
Is that really the going rate? I can see no used Torqeedos on eBay at all, let alone at £200.
At that price with 75pc battery capacity I'd cheerfully buy it, I'm sure I'd get £200 worth of value out of it.
fredrussell
Well-known member
It was one of the early ones - a T800 - I’ve bought two of them now, both under 200 quid. One is used as a future parts donor and I will eventually recell the battery pack as spare for longer journeys.
snowbird30ds
Well-known member
I believe the early torqeedos are quite noisy from the gearbox, something sorted on the newer model by going direct drive, I'm happy with the e-propulsion I bought, takes us on a 7 mile round trip at a decent rate quite happily in an airdeck dinghy, that's on barely tidal no chop water but I recon it would do the trip twice with care on the power.
rgarside
Active member
That sounds very good. What size solar and wind gen do you have? Boathook mentioned using a 100W solar panel, but I'm not sure whether that is permanently mounted or not. I have not figured out how to permanently fit any solar panels to my 27' boat that lives on a swinging mooring. I have a 20W panel that keeps the batteries up on the mooring, and can help when not sailing. I don't really want to fit a wind generator, and I haven't found the space for Bouba's 6KVA generator yet! The engine is a 1GM10 with a 35A alternator, so at the moment I can just about keep up with the electrical consumption by motoring in and out of anchorages, but not too much spare for charging anything new.
dgadee
Well-known member
There's an ePropulsion for parts on eBay now I notice.