Saturday, June 11, 2011

Re: [Electric Boats] Want to Put an E-drive System into a Ranger 29 Sailboat in SF Bay

 


 

Jim,
 
Good to see that you are going to convert to an e-drive system.
 
I converted my Catalina 30 to an electric drive 5 years ago, and have been steadily improving the system since then.
 
We now sell the  system as a Propulsion Marine 5.5 KW Electric Drive.
 
It consists of   
 
- Motenergy Permanent Magnet, Double Stator, 3 phase AC brushless motor with temperature sensor (5.5 KW continuous and up to 10 KW peak)
- Sevcon 110 amp, controller mounted on heatsink with thermal transfer paste
- Clearview Display
- Contactor
- wiring harness
- heavy duty 48 volt nominal, 58 volt maximum battery switch and  250 amp DC heavy duty fuse
- Electronic Throttle with center neutral detente
- 3 x 6 foot x 2 gage motor to controller battery cables
- Browning 3201 Gearbox
- Gearbox flange coupling half mounted on Gearbox
- PYI flex coupling
- drop pan mount
- 4 adjustable motor mounts
- stainless bolts, nuts and washers
- 12 volt motor fan activated by controller at 60 degrees C winding temperature
- 1  relay for fan  
 
Gear reduction with a gearbox is a very effective and efficient solution.   The thrust bearing is incorporated in the gearbox and immersed in gear oil.   The system is ultra low maintenance:  change the gear oil once every 10 years and check the batteries occasionally.   The gearbox is small and makes the entire unit very compact. 

The Clearview display gives you up to date operating information plus programming capability for setting the throttle, maximum speed in forward and reverse and much more.   The heavy duty coupling comes with a PYI flexible coupling which makes alignment very easy and compensates for any small amount of left over misalignment.   

The drop pan mount is custom made to fit your boat.    The wiring harness is also custom made for your boat.   We include a heavy duty Class T fuse and inline fuse, all rated at over 100 volts DC.  The system includes a battery switch also rated at 48 volts nominal, 58 volts maximum ( which is experienced during charging and hybrid operation)  Our rating of 5.5 KW is plenty for your boat and is very conservative.    The system can operate continuously at 5.5 KW without exceeding 120 degrees C winding temperature in 70 degree ambient temperature conditions.  
 
We have 3 DC to DC converter options including an 80 amp DC to DC converter that charges a 12 volt battery. 
 
I am an ABYC certified marine electrical technician and provide as much tech support as you need throughout your installation.
 
We also provide assistance for solar, wind, chargers, and inverter chargers.
 
A complete analysis of the system including range calculations can be found on the website http://www.electricboatdesign.com
 
Feel free to stop on by and go for a electric cruise when you are in the neighborhood. 
 
 
Best Regards,
 
 
 
James
 
James Lambden
Propulsion Marine Products by
 
Above the Waterline, Ltd.
6 Harbor Way # 226,
Santa Barbara, CA
93109
 
805 455 8444
 
 
 
 
On Jun 10, 2011, at 1:01 PM, jim_ranger_26 wrote:

 

Hi everyone,

Just joined the fray and wanted to get in contact with others whom have done conversions of sailboats (Ranger 29, in my case) with an existing dead Atomic 4 engine. I read the article in the June 2011 Good Old Boat where Joe Steinberger converted a Tripp/Lentsch 29 to an e-drive, and he provides a list of components and suppliers, but, he didn't go into any detail about how the components were chosen, what trade-offs he made, where he obtained details and specs for the components and how to hook them together, or how to evaluate other options.

In looking briefly at the files and links section here, it appears that a bunch of marketing info has been dumped in mostly by suppliers/vendors, along with a plethora of links to a wide range of equipment and enthusiastic hyperbole, but, I haven't seen anything obviously labeled something like "Start Here". I'm an ocean engineer and computer scientist, so, I'm quite capable of understanding the technical details, and could design and install a system from scratch, given enough time with a McMaster-Carr catalog. However, I was hoping to come up with a variation of something someone else already has working for a sailboat similar in size to mine, and to replace an in-board engine.

Since the Atomic 4 engine in my boat was DOA when I bought the boat, and its problems are too difficult to diagnose, much less repair, down in the bilge, I plan to pull it and do an overhaul in a much more comfortable location where I already have all of the needed tools, parts, etc. However, it's going to be a part-time effort (especially now that the weather is so nice), so, I wanted to just drop the components for an e-drive system in, connect it to the shaft, and be able to get in and out of the berth/channel into SF Bay from Marina Village in Oakland. I'll only need a minute, or so, of drive time to get between my slip and the channel, and occasionally, I may need up to 20 minutes of drive time if the wind is coming directly down the channel and I don't feel like tacking every 30 seconds.

Steinberger gets up to four hours at three knots, and up to two hours at four knots, which would allow me to get anywhere in the SF Bay area when/where sailing would be difficult. Are there significantly different options from the components listed in Steinberger's article, or is that a reasonable-enough solution that I can just go with it? Here's what he used:

Motenergy (nee Mars) Electric ME0201013601 brushless motor $450

TeamDelta RCM187 Etek motor mount $ 60

Kelly KBS48101 brushless motor controller $200

Crydom solid-state relay $100

ProStar PS-15M-48V solar charge controller $200

Suntech 20-watt, 24-volt solar panels (2 each) $140

Kelly HWZ Series 48-to-12-volt, 300-watt converter
(for ship's power) $130

Kelly F4815 48-volt, 15-amp battery charger
(for charging from shorepower) $200

Thanks for any pointers, and hope to be able to find anyone with a similarly-sized converted sailboat so we can compare notes, and if you're on the West Coast, perhaps we can meet so you can show off what you've done.

Thanks a boatload, and All the Best!
Jim


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