Re: [electricboats] ThunderStruck 10kw kit overheating?

The Thunderstruck 10KW kit uses the ME1115.  Are you sure you have an  ME1616?  The ME1616 is liquid cooled with fittings for the coolant on the side.  The housing is sealed.  The 1115 has cooling slots all around the housing.   The ME1616 is the motor in the 12kW liquid cooled kit. 

ME1616
http://www.motenergy.com/mepmwaco.html

ME1115 (which may now be designated a ME1917?)
http://www.motenergy.com/me1115motor.html


The 10kW ME1115 is actually good for 6kW continuous which would likely be about what you are running at 3/4 power with a 12,000 lb boat?  If you want to run at higher power levels you NEED to have cooling.  That's why I went with the 12kW liquid cooled kit and added a liquid cooling block to the controller.  
http://dan.pfeiffer.net/10m/electric_drive_cooling.htm
My boat (Pearson 10M) is about the same weight.  12500.

The Thunderstruck Can Translator kit is a plug-in setup that will give you data on a device via bluetooth.  Well worth having.
https://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/can-translator.html
My motor heats up faster than the controller according to the data from my instrumentation.  But both need cooling for higher output operation. 

Add cooling!

Dan Pfeiffer

On 2024-05-05 11:36 am, Ryan Sweet wrote:

I have a 30’ Rawson ketch, 12,000lbs, with the ThunderStruck 10kW kit about four years old. Me1616 I think and the sevcon gen4. I have 1000ah of battery at 48v.  I have operated her regularly without much issue for about four years.

The sevcon unit has heat sinks on the back. I have a 600a breaker in the circuit. There is no other cooling.

Yesterday I had a problem when running at 3/4 throttle for 40 minutes or so against a tidal current - the motor whined a couple of times and cut out - I shut off the throttle and waited for 20 min and then started again at 1/4 throttle. Luckily the sailing was enough to keep me making forward progress against the current, though barely. I assume that it was overheating - I have not seen that before but I rarely push it at that rate for that long.

My question is: which component was most likely too hot - the motor or the sevcon? What strategies have worked for others for improving the cooling? Would a 12v fan or two in the engine compartment help?
It’s a big compartment - used to have a 40hp diesel and even then had plenty of room. There are a couple of scoops for fresh air and I could fit a 3-4” fan inside one.