Scott:
Don't get me wrong I am very happy with the system I choose. But, as an early adopter it was rather scary to plop down thousands of dollars for the electric propulsion system with the non responsive distributor. But, I believed in the concept and am happy with my choice. I just needed some hand holding at the time and did not get it to my satisfaction. Once I got the system installed I felt much better as almost all of the componets where off the shelf industrial quality parts that could be replaced easily whether or not the distributor stayed in business or not. Other than the Xantrex battery monitor failure (which is a Xantrex problem) the system has met my expectations.
I think the response here on the list from those involved this new business are doing the right thing in making sure that it survives and florishes. Now that I've gone electric I for one am never going back to diesel. I encourage others to make that leap but, to do that requires people like Arby and yourself to provide the systems and components and advice. Not all of us are tinkerers and want to build a system from scratch. Some of us a mostly sailors who like the idea of electric propulsion and need a little help here and there with a turn key system.
Mike
http://biankablog.
--- On Thu, 8/13/09, mtrgy <sdmcmillan@comcast.
From: mtrgy <sdmcmillan@comcast.
Subject: [Electric Boats] Re: The Electric Boat Industry
To: electricboats@
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2009, 11:08 PM
Mike,
I have heard similar complaints about another European supplier. I suspect they aren't all that interested in the US market. I think the European market for elecctrics is bigger and it is difficult for them to be competative, due to the exchange rate, etc. I asked one of them about a product recently. They provided information, but said they don't ship to the US. I think they are concerned about US product liability law.
There are now a few of us building small businesses here in the states. If you have further needs, I would encourage you to contact one of these companies, including Electric Yacht. We almost always answer emails within 24 hours. I think you will find the response from others in the US is also much better than the European companies. Except for the recent complaint on this board, I haven't heard complaints of unresponsiveness from any of them.
I have had good response from the Dual Pro battery charger people and another small US company called Quick Charge Corp. Quick Charge has a broad array of sizes. They are worth a look, especially if you need something out of the ordinary for voltage or higher current. I am currently using a 72V 10A unit that I bought specifically because its input current falls within the limit of a 1Kw Honda generator. It is well built and seems to work fine. Their 48V 15A charger would work in this capacity, as well.
Scott.
--- In electricboats@ yahoogroups. com, Mike <biankablog@ ...> wrote:
>
> Arby's generous offer and the discussion of the fledgling electric boat industry struck a chord in me and makes me want to semi-rant.. Back in the fall of 2007 when I began to think about replacing my dead diesel with electric propulsion I started doing on line research. Joining this list was part of that endeavor. I finally decided on a system and began to make inquiries sending an email. I had some initial contact and then nothing. A while went by and I tried again. I then got a response that they had been having trouble with their email account. So we started again. Long story short. My inquiries and the responses were sporadic, many times my emails unanswered. I thought this was strange I was a customer with money in hand desperately wanting to buy a system. But, I had concerns and questions as NOBODY I knew had ever done this. I could not understand this behavior. I found that inquiries to the parent company in Europe where useless because they
> forwarded them to the U.S. distributor. The only explanation I could think of is this was a small operation perhaps the U.S. distributor had a full time job and was completely swamped by inquires and could not keep up. I almost scraped the whole electric propulsion idea because if this was how it was before I turned over my money. How would it be afterward? Eventually I got my questions answered, a system spec'ed and felt confident enough to order a system which I am very happy with. But, I still have rather poor communication and unanswered emails on some minor issues. I was able to get some answered from other owners I've met on line. Also as a self reliant sailor who is very comfortable around electric systems I'm also able to figure a lot of things out myself. But, if the industry is to survive and grow the suppliers of EP systems need to be responsive to their customers. Happily my system has been relatively problem free and I am a happy
> customer. But, I still find the unresponsiveness I encountered to be very strange and it almost cost them the sale. Such non response to customers questions may not move this fledging industry forward as fast as it should be going. But it's not just suppliers of systems it's also much bigger companies. I recently had a problem with my Xantrex battery monitor dislay. I sent an email to Xantrex tech support over a week ago and am still waiting for a reply. Because of this I am now also looking for a replacement for their product.
>
> Mike
> http://biankablog. blogspot. com
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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