Hi Tony,
I promise to stick to the topic.
I did install my own system in a 28-ft ketch with a displacement of 7,000 lbs (I think). I bought the parts and pieces from EV America who provide a similar package as Thunderstruck; maybe not the same parts and pieces but all the electrical components and I had to build the mount, reduction, coupling, housing, blah blah blah so on and so forth. It was a 48 volt 6-hp system. I think the telling piece of my story is that I am now in the market for a new electric system for a new boat and I am researching and likely buying a system from a supplier not repeating what I did before. I will answer your questions below.
1) Did you buy an off the shelf product? No components but will not do that again, see above.
>
> 2) How much did you know about Electric Propulsion and the issues of design and safety before you bought? Very little, learned on the job.
>
> 3) How had you learned when your project was done? I don't really understand this question.
>
> 4) How long did it take you to build your system from first idea, to motoring away from the dock? To long. After chasing down the mounting system, reduction, how/where to mount to controls, what should have been a month project (I do have a 50 hr a week job) just took way to long.
>
> 5) A 10 hp diesel engine delivers about 7500 watts of energy. What size electric engine would be appropriate as a replacement? I guess the simple answer here is they say 1 hp electric is equal to 2 hp ICE. So my uneducated guess would be a @ 5hp electric plus or minus would replace the 10 hp diesel. The question is did you need the 10 hp diesel? Maybe a little smaller would do. not sure
>
>
> 6) If you were going to purchase an electric boat, would you be more or less likely to purchase based on home brew vs commercially purchased? Commercial as stated above. My feeling is let the systems guys figure out as much as possible on their end. You will have enough to do getting the system installed. That being said, most of the "Commercial" systems out their are by very small companies. When I first went down this road 5 years ago, many of those "Commercial" systems are no longer available. Even Vitas doesn't sell their system in the US right now.
>
> 7) What are the biggest gottchas when designing and installing a home brew electric propulsion system? Reduction/mounting design, install and the miss-steps and the costs associated those miss-steps
>
> 8) How much time have you spent using your new electric yacht? I used my old system about 2 years before I sold the boat. I was never happy with the install, and charging was always an issue for I was on a mooring.
>
> 9) Have you ever found yourself out of power, or feeling you had too little power to get yourself out of a difficult situation? When the batteries charged, I had plenty of power.
>
> 10) Are you happy with the results? Would you do it again if you could start over again? If you answer yes, what would you change about the system you installed? Obliviously the answer here is yes but I would go with a "commercial" system and be realistic on what is needed to keep the batteries charged.
No comments:
Post a Comment