T-Pain Is On A Boat: Re: [Electric Boats] Re: concept for an electric houseboat

Friday, May 4, 2012

Re: [Electric Boats] Re: concept for an electric houseboat

I'm not any kind of expert but I'd agree about the deepish rocker, and I think 6 tons comes up being kinda awful heavy. a pontoon configuration was mentioned but I'd think for that kind of length its doubling the waterline drag and making turbulent drag between em, so no advantage, then theres the structual "fun" of something catamaran (no thanks!).

I like the looks of something like a Mundoo, might be large enough and would likely get around better on lower power. very similar to the Mundoo's is http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/storer/tc35/index.htm

Displacement - approx 1800kg (1.8 tons) (includes crew and tankage half full)

sure.. its giving up a bit of square footage going that route, but oughtta travel better.

other stuff.. I'd recently installed the "low power A-C unit" into my little electric runabout toy, it's essentially a 1gpm 0.3A 12v pump, through a 6x8x2 automotive heater core, with 2 45 cfm 12v computer case fans. idea being if water is 65-70f, it oughtta blow 80-90 cfm of air maybe 5-10 degree warmer, oughtta be nice when HOT out. it draws a total of 0.8A

its enough to change out the air of a 6x6x6 (216 cu ft) 22-25x an hour too.

currently plumbing and wiring the same little pump for my fishin boat's livewell, should be enough to change the water 8-10 times per hour is plenty, and only 0.3A to do it.

--- On Fri, 5/4/12, danbollinger <no_reply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

From: danbollinger <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Electric Boats] Re: concept for an electric houseboat
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, May 4, 2012, 8:06 AM

If this was on a lake and you only had to deal with the occasional headwind I'd say that 10Kw (13HP) was enough, but not in a 4 mph river current. I use my Torqeedo on a 12' john boat on the Wabash and its typical 2-3 mph current is formidable.

Concerning the hull form, I'd take out the severe rocker. Putting in a flat bottom admidships will give you greater pitch stability, reduce draft and power requirements, too.

--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, Keith Jacko <nrixez@...> wrote:
>
> I'm interested in building an electric house boat. The basic concept is an easily driven houseboat, strictly displacement speeds (6 - 7 mph), powered by an electric outboard. I'm thinking about a 10kw outboard. The boat as sketched would displace just a little under 6 tons to sit on her lines. Here are a few pictures of the boat sketch (and a .skp file if anyone wants to play around):
>
> http://www.dwdogs.com/Fusion/
>
> I'd love to go with a ~40 kwh LFP pack, but reality probably has me sticking to around 20 kwh. There is enough space on the roof of the boat to fit 2 kw of solar panels. More if I really stretch it, but I'm thinking 2 kw should be enough.
>
> Basic boat dimensions: 32' x 8' with a 16" draft. At 12,000 lbs with the proper center of gravity, the bottom of the transom would just be touching the surface of the water.
>
> I live in Minneapolis, and this boat would be for cruising on the upper Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. Fairly sheltered, and no currents greater than 4 mph (hopefully less most of the time).
>
> The boat will be built with plywood covered in glass / epoxy. I do plan on having fairly thick cabin walls for a boat... 2x4 construction, with closed cell foam insulation / floatation in the walls, hull, and cabin roof.
>
> Any feedback about the sketches or general idea? I'm designing this as a liveaboard, and I plan on living on the hook as much as possible.
>
> About the outboard, I'm not really sure how to figure the proper prop size, pitch, and rpm to shoot for. I understand the general rule of thumb "bigger prop, slower rpm, better"... but I don't know much past that. Could an electric outboard like say the up and coming Parsun 10 kw efficiently drive a heavy displacement boat like this? Or would it be better to think about using an inboard instead, so I would have the flexibility to tailor the rpm to my liking? I really do like the overall project simplicity of an outboard, but if it's really less than ideal I could consider alternatives.
>
> Thanks for your thoughts and feedback. Cheers!
> -keith
>