[Rhodes22-list] Electric Motor

[David Keyes]

Thanks to Charles and Shawn for comments.  I have started researching on the internet.  The competition (where full time shore power is not assured) is between the Torqeedo Travel 1103 C and ePropulsion Spirit 1.0.  Both have remote throttles as an option, in lieu of the tiller models.  The ePropulsion appears to be a little heavier and also quieter.  Both have snap-in batteries.  The ePropulsion’s remote is Bluetooth and does not even require a cable, although it has an optional cable.  A question for each is whether it looks like I could hook up the motor to the tiller cross-arm for linking the steering to the sailboat tiller.  Obviously, I wouldn’t want to drill a hole in the battery top (to insert a pin—such as was done by Stan for the Yamaha 9.9’s cowl top) or for that matter deface the engine.  Both can use remote steering but that involves arms that would not work through a sailboat rudder.

David Keyes

> On Jun 5, 2020, at 1:13 PM, Charles Nieman <blue66corvette at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I bought the 3hp this spring; it’s great. Max speed on a flat lake is about 4 mph. I haven’t tried to see what it will do against a strong head wind. But I am very pleased. I store motor in cabin, and carry 8lb battery home to charge between trips. It may not work for everyone, but it is perfect for the small lake in Dallas where I sail. 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Charles Nieman
> 
> 
>> On Jun 5, 2020, at 12:01 PM, Shawn Boles <shawn.sustain at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all :
>> Torqueedo has a remote control if you don't like the tiller  control. I
>> also bought a add-on from them that allows you to charge the battery on the
>> Travel models from house battery using a 12 volt plug cable. (About $50).
>> They also make a solar charger for the travel models.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Shawn
>> s/v Sweet Baboo
>> 
>> 
>>> On Fri, Jun 5, 2020, 8:50 AM David Keyes <rhodes22dave at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Well, I just thought of a problem (about using an electric motor with
>>> heavy batteries installed onboard).   My lake (Lake Travis, Austin, Texas)
>>> has large fluctuations—up to 80 or 90 feet—in dry weather when the City of
>>> Austin and many downstream water users (rice farmers and downstream
>>> industries all the way to the Gulf of Mexico) take water out of the lake.
>>> Some summers, when the lake gets very low, our marina has to move it’s
>>> docks out from their cove and into the deeper parts of the lake—where there
>>> is no shore power.  So a motor such as the Torqeedo 2.0 or 4.0 would be
>>> inoperative for an entire summer.
>>> 
>>> This would not be a problem with the small, 3 hp equivalent, Torqeedo C
>>> 1103–its relatively light battery can be carried back and forth, charged at
>>> home, and snapped back into the engine top, where it looks like part of the
>>> engine.
>>> 
>>> Problems: low power and range, rated for sailboats only up to 1-1/2 tons,
>>> and steering and throttle only by its non-removable tiller.  I have Stan’s
>>> electric motor lift, which is so close to the boat that I would either have
>>> to replace the lift or devise a bracket or pin at the motor top clear of
>>> the snap-in battery that sits there.  The bracket or pin would permit
>>> attachment to the cross-arm that pivots from the sailboat’s rudder head.
>>> Also, this could work only if the motor’s tiller can be rotated to a
>>> vertical position so as not to hit the transom.
>>> 
>>> David Keyes
>>> S/V Arrowhead II (if a name were painted on it, which it isn’t)
>>> Lake Travis
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>>> On Jun 4, 2020, at 3:06 AM, jose <jose.faraldo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi David,
>>>> 
>>>> You're quite right; the remote throttle is significantly wider than the
>>>> tiller, so I doubt there would be a good way to mount it there - though I
>>>> might lack imagination. In our boat Stan mounted the throttle on the
>>>> port-side gunwale (see picture attached), so it is within reach while
>>>> handling the tiller.
>>>> 
>>>> Jose
>>>> 
>>>> <http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t665/throttle.jpg>
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Sent from: http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/
>>>