Has anyone installed an electric motor in a boat that originally didn'y have an inboard? It's just an idea but I was curious I anyone had done it. I have a Helms 25.
Hi I'm still in exploring and spec'ing stage myself - and clearly see the advantages over a 35 year old Atomic4.Some companies I've found in my search: Auxilia, Elco, Electric Yacht, Electroprop, Oceanvolt, Propulsion Marine, Tema, Thoosa and it looks like this space will grow....
I do not believe the hobby grade Hobby King power supplies are meant or designed to be run in series. Some lab grade supplies can be run in series, they are specifically built & wired for this, but cheap ones often can not. At the worst, depending upon internal AC/DC wiring, you could create a short and kill one or both of the power supplies.um, i was only supporting his choice of generators and matching his voltage and rating. Two in series would be 36 volts, which is what his motor runs on. I was not making commentary on the over all power to push his boat.
BTY: I'm not sure your calculation is completely accurate on how much power to push his boat at a reasonable speed. I don't believe you would need to hit full hull speed to be practical. If you can hold 4 knots into a 30 mph headwind, you have enough power. On days with no wind, that would likely add 2 knots or more - fast enough to be practical.
This would work for motors like my LEMCO brushed motor. Indeed some boats used contact switches to provide power to the motor. I'm not sure if newer AC phased motors would allow for jumper cables as a backup though. But, it is a feature that is available to get one moving should controller electronics fail on brushed motors. Though after eight years I can say my EP system has been pretty trouble free and have never had to go to any backup plan.One comment I would say about running any EP setup. One should have extra cables on hand at all times to bypass the motor control. If for some reason the smoke escapes from the controller, you don't want to be stranded. You also don't want to be stuck running full speed. You should have enough wire on hand to run the batteries in any kind of series/parallel combination, so that you can approximate the speed you need.
I'm in my ninth season with electric propulsion and you are right in your assumptions. When I did the conversion back in 2008 there were not many boats who had ditched the diesel. I went through a lot of "what if" scenarios. I started with having a Honda 2000i generator for charging at anchor or on the mooring. If that did not work out an inboard marine diesel generator was my Plan B. Never had to go there. Honda handles all my needs. Added a 48 volt wind turbine and solar panels and hardly use the generator except maybe on a windless day when I need to do some extended electro-sailing. I'd never go back to diesel.I'm seriously considering an electric solution. it's odd how these discussions get mixed. the electric motor works wonderfully well. the issue is the power source; batteries and the ability to keep them topped up.
my solution is a diesel generator which I intended to have even if the boat had a diesel engine. so the way I see it, I get rid of one engine, all the spare parts and all the maintenance, reduce weight, and increase (quiet) enjoyment since I don't need the generator running as often as I'm running the electric motor. add in solar and wind gen plus a big prop sized to serve as a hydrogenerator and you have unlimited range....subject to the size of your fuel tanks, wind and sun or combination thereof.
See answers aboveSailingCinderella,
I just went through your blog. Great stuff! It raises a bunch of questions.
1. Any other considerations as to the motor purchase? Brushless vs Brushes? Why Manta? - I went Manta because of the price of controllers. The main options are SEPEX PM or AC. AC is theoretically the most efficient and powerful, but after running the numbers on my boat, I was able to get away with DC (considerably cheaper controller and motor). That leaves SEPEX and PM, lots of people are using SEPEX motors for EV conversions, old forklifts are usually the donor. They work, but are usually much harder to find a regen controller for, and require voltage to excite the coils, which sounds like less efficiency. I decided to go PM and saw the Manta on Ebay for cheap. The power curves on the motor seemed questionable, but at the time the motors were only $300, so I went for it. It has turned out to be great. I don't motor at max speed hardly ever (unless the bridge guys are holding open for me) and I get about 6 miles of range out of the cheapest O'Riely marine hybrid batteries they sell. If funds were unlimited I'd probably buy some Fireflys.
2. How did you determine/make the motor would compatible w/ the prop shaft? - I grew up on a farm working on old tractors and fixing old hay balers every season, I was just going to make it work. That being said, ideally you gear these motors down. Regardless of what "conversion" the diesel guys show you, we are all constrained to the propeller. They don't like to spin faster than 1500 RPM due to cavitation which proceeds to destroy the prop. Knowing that this motor will spin at 3600 RPM at full bore, I geared it down as much as I could (roughly 2.5 - 1). On my prop shaft I installed a pulley and on the motor I installed a pulley, The belt drive is super quiet and belts can handle way more HP than my little motor can make.
3. How did you overcome concerns about motor dependability vs the ones that are being sold for marine purposes (which seem to be ridiculously expensive) - Motors are very simple, one moving part, I'm not worried
4. Can you talk a bit about the controller? In hindsight, any other considerations other than programmability, regen-ability, reverse-ability & headroom? Looks like you selected a controller that was 3x the motor's rating.
I wanted overkill, the controllers are not designed to run peak loads for very long, you basically want to double what your motor would require at peak. Most controllers out there now can be programmed, so that is kind of standard. Regen is not standard, and these motor produce lots of power spinning as a generator. In regen mode, the controller has to handle a lot, probably more than actually motoring, another reason to go big there. Having an internal reverse is also nice, I just programmed my potentiometer to recognize the middle as "neutral" and I was able to eliminate complicated contactors. Price was also a factor for me, which is why I went with Kelly, they were spoken highly of. I have been happy with it, and if you are willing to wait a bit they are responsive, just halfway around the world.
5. I'm assuming Seattle Boat Works calculated minimum specs but I can't imagine they'd be too happy about using their services and then not purchasing their products (Clean eMarine Thoosa, etc). How did you manage this? just not tell them what your intentions were. Not judging at all. I think these companies are gouging people. - I ran the numbers myself, but Alex Wilkenson here in Seattle is pretty much the PNW pioneer in EV and the more boats running EV out here proving it can be done is only helpful to him. I also got a quote from the Annapolis based EV group which gave similar numbers. (Sort of triple checking my work) That is what made me do it myself in the first place, $7k without batteries!
6. What was the resistor and diode for? You didn't really explain them. - They were required for the controller. The schematic they had online had them, so I kept them when I made my modified wiring diagram. They are controller specific.
7. Is there a limit to how much tonnage these motors can reasonably drive - That is a good question and its more based on hull shape. I am not sure, but to put it into perspective my motor's max is 100amps, I use 25 at hull speed...
8. What would you do differently now that you've been through the process and have experience under your belt? - Build a more robust motor mount and make it easier to tighten and loosen the belt. What I have works, and I have no doubts will take me around the world, but my tendency is to overbuild and that didn't happen on this rushed project.
9. Any thoughts on monitoring draw & regeneration? - I use a cheap amazon monitor I got for $15 it works great, but is not waterproof, so it is in my cabin. I would consider buying the throttle assembly from electrovolt if I had more money. Theirs looks slick and my battery meter is not smart and does not give accurate voltage while motoring.
10. What types of problems have you experienced since installing? - I failed to ground my contactor in the beginning and the motor never got enough power to spin. That was frustrating, but other than that, none. the motor is great.
11. Any thoughts on isolating the components from a lightening strike? - I am not sure how I would do it, or if it would really make any difference. Living in the PNW, I hadn't though of it. I guess I would just keep sailing her, the motor at that point would probably be the last of my worries.
12. What type of programming does one do to the controller (w/ a PC)? - Most controllers connect to PC via RS232, which I am very familiar with due to work. Basically you connect it to your PC, run the program that comes with the controller and follow the steps. It's really easy, but some parts were a bit confusing. Kelly was pretty good at clarifying when I emailed them.
So many thoughts running through my head!! Thanks a bunch! EXCITING
PSea