Victor
The idea is great but the thoughts seem to be more skewed toward the unknown.
We live in a petrol world . . . we know petrol and we're comfortable with the short-comings of petrol. Petrol never let's us down. That is, as long as we have petrol we feel confident.
Never mind the countless days and monies expended to keep an exploding engine going and never mind about the engine conking out while in a precarious location. I know people who will habitually go out with a petrol engine that they don't have really strong faith in. Let's not forget clogged lines, water in the oil, leaking manifolds, dirty carberators(sp), and, yes . . . dead batteries(if it's for am IC engine).
We have all our life to feel comfortable with the operation of a petrol engine, even when we're not confident, much, at all. IT'S WHAT WE KNOW . . . or at least, it's what we think we know.
I say petrol engines are frought with potential problems that are usually minor, but zenith at explosion and death. Be that as it may, the petrol engine is the way to go cause that's all we know. I think we feel that the jerry-rigged work-a-rounds that we employ day after day becomes part of the petrol society mentality.
ELECTRIC is the great unknown. SURE, we know how to compute horsepower, thrust and wattage, and we know how to deilver voltage and ampreage, but our minds seem to work overtime concieving and inventing all sorts of scenerios and problems that for the most part, never concern 99% of the boaters who are now using petrol. All of a sudden the problems that very few of us ever experience, is the problems that virtually all of us need to fear and address. The answer to all this uncertainty is to over-react. Humans have always been very good at over-reaction. What I mean by over-reaction in this case is the need to resolve ALL THE POSSIBLE(and near impossible) SCENERIOS that might occur. No matter how rare or unlikely.
No matter what the numbers say(about electric), it's not good enough . . . it's never good enough.
I say the shortcomings of electric are things we'll have to eventually work around and after all is said and done, we'll realize that we will eventually miss the old putt-putt days, the slight "sheen" on the water, the smell of burnt oil in the air and that good ole smell of gas on your hands. BUT, eventually, the same problems we're concerned with today about electric(the whole miriad of problems we're trying to resolve before they happen), will become the every-day discussions of tomorrow. The only real difference will be more people will be discussing them and more infrastructure will be available to resolve them.
I say, be realistic, do your best about going electric and accept that you cannot install a system that will get you through all those situations you, basically, will never experience anyway. Otherwise, forget the electric.
I see that going electric is just as much about attitude as it is about the physics.
I wonder what horsemen thought about the "horseless" carriage?
I'm going electric and I plan on using electric to get me from my dock to the point where I raise the mainsail. I'm not going to plan on a system that will push my sailboat at hull-speed across Lake Erie. After all IT IS A SAILBOAT and I have no interest in "motoring" across Lake Erie in my sailboat with my petrol engine.
I will work with the electric and I will no doubt tweak the system as I see weaknesses that apply to my usage. I just don't plan on "tweaking" the system before I install the system.
It's just the way I see it.
John Francis
Pearson 26
Port Clinton, Ohio
@yahoo.com> wrote:
Victor,
There are lot's of choices out there. I like the convenience of AGM's.
You can get some good prices on AGM's here;
http://www.batteryconcepts.net/ yuasa/ub121100. html
Compare that with a DieHard at;
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/ p_10153_12605_ 02827582000P? mv=rr
and you're not saving that much money for a battery that will need maintenance.
Mark
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups. , "vjmtymo" <vjmtymo@...> wrote:com
>
> I've finally found a good source for drive pulleys, bearings and so on so thanks to all the advice here on this site.
> Now to batteries - would flooded work? I have a steel boat and there are some who think this is a bad combination although the batteries would be in a sealed compartment and well vented to outside. Really, how many people here with sailboats have mopped the acid out of their bilges or battery boxes due to flooded cells? I don't recall this being a serious issue 25 years ago when all you could get were flooded deep cycles in your sailboat. Can't say after a spell of rough water I've had to clean up a mess from the batteries. In fact right now I have a fully topped up deep cycle battery keeled over about 15 degrees from vertical and I'm rolling it from side to side and nothing is spilling out. After a minute, still dry on top. I might swing it around the room some but knowing my luck the strap will break and it'll go through the wall. Opinions? Experiences?
> What would be the real advantage of AGM's aside from the obvious of little gassing and maintenance, mounting? Prices - ouch! Never liked that little detail about them.
> And part 2: I've been recommended an AC drive system for the boat (36ft, steel hull, about 17,500# displ) since the Et-rT motor may not be able to cut it, even at 60v. Man, I'm starting to get that feeling again from when I started building the boat years ago - too many opinions and not enough real experience. Boating is rife with this dilemma, just like hunting and, well, most subjects now that I think of it. I appreciate the caution but can anyone REALLY say I need a lot of power or necessarily AC for this project? Skip the regen issue for now. Again, lay the advice on me and some experiences if you've got them.
> Again, appreciate the help.
>
> Victor
>
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