Briggs and Stratton E-tek outboard
 

Scored a 3 hp/ 150lbs thrust etek outboard on eBay for a reasonable price on eBay. Luckily we hooked it up and it worked perfectly. Going to be installing it on a light weight v bottom aluminum boat that I normally have a mercury 3.5hp 4 stroke on.

I'll post pics soon.

Any ideas on what kind of range/ speed I can expect?
I've got a 107 amp hour "deep cycle" lead acid pack and a 3.5 hp mercury did 10-11 mph with 2 adults.

Nice! Can you find specs on current draw, or do you have an ammeter you can hook up?

You could extrapolate a WAG from a test of my 17 lbs thrust Minnkota:


http://images.shipstore.com/ss/images/min/minendura.jpg


http://ecomodder.com/forum/images/st.../wol_error.gifThis image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 638x309.http://forkenswift.com/album/solar-l...kota-watts.gif

From: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...sion-9015.html

I saw some mentions of 70 amp draw on peak.

Unfortunately, the biggest amp meter I currently own is 10 amps (HF).

Any recommendations on an affordable Amp meter in this range? I'm also in the market for a state of charge meter (something that ANYONE can understand like the Golf Cart ones so the batteries don't get drained to far) as the included one is not working.

Next step is steering, this one is setup for remote steer which my boat isn't, I'm thinking of stick steering someplace up front with cables run allong each side.

Oh, and what is WAG?

WAG = Wild A## Guess!

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Is it a 12 volt system? I thought those golf cart gauges were simple LED voltmeters.

WAG, Good stuff.

No, it is a 48 Volt System, I've got 4 12 Volt Flooded Lead Acid batteries in series.

I think the Golf cart ones are either LED/ analogue with Red (low volt) to green (high volt), key here is not assume that the operator knows what 44 volts means.

Great timing on this!

I just got a call the other day from a guy who was interested in what's out there to make a boat into an electric boat. He sounded interested in converting an outboard to electric.

I mentioned that I know that guys have done it using Eteks, which is what runs my motorcycle.

If anyone is interested, I did a short blog post on what's available out there to make your boat into an electric one.
Electric Boats Blog Entry

I'll be following this thread. Maybe I will be building an Etek Outboard soon!

Please do.

Looking forward to hearing your opinion on how well it works.

Just got back from Test #1!!

Ran 1 3/4 miles up river at 3/4~full power which was 4 MPH cruise 5 MPH max with 2 adults + batteries.
Ran back to dock, downriver, 1/2 ~3/4 power which was 5 mph cruise and 9 mph MAX (full throttle test).

On return batteries are 12.7 volts each and 50.7 volts full pack.
Electrically loaded at return full pack was 48.1 volts.
Batteries are charging on 20 amp 24 volt charger now, as soon as I can find my connector I'll have a 48 Volt 20 amp charger for normal use.
Unfortunately. I have no Idea where my kill-a-watt is.

Still no Pics, but Youtube video uploading now.

Subjective opinions, Quieter than my 3.5 hp gasoline, but not dramatically, I really need to get the cover repaired / mounted.
Easiest motor ever to dock with, instant throttle response.
I really really need a steering setup, grabbing the handle sucks to steer.

1 pair of batteries charged, took less than 1 hour @ 20 amp rate (wasn't watching closely).
Youtube upload quit 1/2 way thorough, restarting now.

A very good Friend of mines inlaws have a Duffy in Virginia, one of my all time favorite boats, few complaints 1) to damn heavy 2) Steering is terrible 3) poor battery management (just very old golf cart battery charger that boils the batteries away). It has been a while since I've been on Duffy, there have been some upgrades (charger) but it is largely maintenance free despite being shipped back to the manufacturer in the past for service (owner does 0 service). We were recently discussing some sort of trolling motor based steering as the rudder is pretty bad. Neat fact, Duffy registers a a Yacht in Virginia. More neatness is that the lake is a byproduct of a Hydro Electric project which likely powers a large portion of the boat.

Crappy quality is due to my phone being in a ziplock bag.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QiTI...ature=youtu.be

Cool - thanks for posting that video!

Took it out for trip #3 today (in salt water this time), had 5 people in the boat, it did very well, 0 issues.

Picked up a 200 Volt / 200 Amp meter from Amazon Amazon.com: Volt Meter/DC Digital LED Amp Volt Meter + Shunt /200V 200A /Blue: Home Improvement Which looks very promising, only issue is that it "runs" on 6-24 volts. Any body have a good idea on ho to get a 6-24 volt low power source out of a 48 volt nominal pack? Normally I'd use a 7812, but max input on those is like 36. Any and ALL cheap skate ideas are welcome, although I'm trying to avoid an extra battery.

Just a few pics from the trip

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7...78ac4d37_k.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7124/7...d7dcb5eb_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7...089510ea_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8285/7...20f978c8_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8439/7...c4b3af1b_c.jpg

What the heck? What happened to those boats? Old boats put out to pasture? Neglect? Storms?

I would like to know. lots of hurricanes around this part of the world, shifting / declining fisheries could be cause as well, totally don't know.


Few Upgrades.
Transom stiffened so that shaft doesn't press up against the drain plug when under power.
Loosened drag on steering.

Still need legitimate steering.
Still need battery mounts/ good spots for battery's.
I'm starting to want to improve aerodynamics of the boat behind the golf, it knocks mpg down to around 35-40mpg@65mph.

When I was 12 I could plane a jon boat with oars.

regards
Mech

Much Stronger than I.
I can do 2 mph max with the oars. The 3.5 gasoline doesn't even plane this boat when I hit the rev limiter.

Installed the volt+ amp. meter today.
I added 1.5k ohm resistor to the power feed which drops input voltage from 50 ish down to 15 ish.

Meter appears to work very well for the price.

Lowest speed that the controller will do is about 2.5 amps, max continuous draw out of water is 10 amps, and peak acceleration draw out of water is about 60 amps which I assume will be approximate draw loaded in the water.

I also learned that the state of charge meter does work, you just have to shut the motor off and press the battery button (which is the momentary bit after off). Very nice to have.

Next time out I'll have some decent data.

Moving right along in the video:thumbup:. I have a 9.9 Evinrude that I was thinking of converting to electric. TMFP( Too Many Projects):D

That would be pretty cool, I'd like about 10 hp in this boat, but then again, I seem to spend most time at 1/2-2/3 throttle so I guess it doesn't matter.


Would be super easy to convert an outboard. Coupler, mount motor, add controller and batteries done.

That said mine is probably better designed (ground up), Kort nozzle, no Reverse gear, solenoid to lock motor from flipping up when put in reverse. None required, but it is nice.

Permanantley mounted my volt+ amp meter to the front of the motor.
Attached the lid for the first time.
Wished for a steering setup, shorter shaft, stronger transom( so tilt would be actually adjustable), and for an easy way to get the batteries under the seat (oh so close).
Oh, and wished for a day of boating.

Due to not having an efficiant tow vehicle this boat still hasn't had an outting with the volt/ amp meter.

However neither has the myth busters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EV2qq2-Lck