PDQ 36 Electric Outboard Project: Upgrade

[maxicrom]

The Story:
I'm pretty sure that we have hull No. 12, II the Max (formerly "Buckaroo" - we had to change the name). This boat was built with a single Yanmar 24 HP diesel inboard in the port hull. Once underway she handles great, easily cruises at 6-7 Kts burning under .75 gal of fuel per hour. That 's the good news, apparently the original owner had mooring. I have twenty years of handling mono's, multi-hulls, even commercial vessels and have never seen a boat as impossible to dock as this one. The boat was in great condition and after getting to our marina we mounted an electric trolling motor on the starboard hull and fabricated controls for the console (the largest 12v model available). This fix works OK in calm weather and far superior to the controlled crash docking before it was installed, but is problematic with current or wind. The 18 Ft. Lbs is no match for the 24hp on the port side and the boat tends to spin rather than turn. We love this boat and have been looking for a good solution so we can get out of the slip on good sailing days.

Enter Torqeedo 2.0R Cruise:
In the last year a German company has developed an electric outboard called the Torqeedo - that it states is equivalent to a 6 HP gasoline outboard. Ours will be arriving next week, the model we purchased is 24v and comes with a charge meter and control unit. Hoping will be completed by the end of August (scheduled for the yard approx. 8/15).

I really think that this will be a good solution for us and will keep anyone interested updated on the project.

Maxi

Link to Torqeedo:
http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/cruise.html

[Sunshine]

Hello Maxi - We have hull #2 (34002) with 9.9 HT yamaha's. While they are running fine now, I am thinking about options for when they may need to be replaced. Besides the obvious (replacing them with the new generation yamaha), I'm intrigued by these two companies. I don't know anything about them, except what I can read on the websites. The re-e-power company has been unresponsive to my requests for information... they're too busy building motors. There is a re-e-power group linked to the site. You can get more info there.

http://www.ecyclemarine.com/eCycleOutboard.html

www.re-e-power.com/

Good luck,

Bill

[Cat Tales]

Bill,

My requests for info have also been unresponsive. My original request went to Dan @ ecycle.com, djs@ecycle.com. Here is his reply:

Hello Chris,

Thanks for your inquiry. Like most others these days, we're turning it over to Jay Graham of James Graham Engineering, our outboard powerhead distributor in Maryland. Jay is an expert in boats and electric propulsion, and I'm confident he'll do a fine job of understanding your needs and, therefter, be in an ideal position to make appropriate suggestions.

Dan Sodomsky
President
eCycle, Inc.
610-939-0480
610-939-0474 fax

This email, along with a separate one from myself was sent to James Graham, jmgraham@qis.net, again with no response. Please let us know if you make any headway with any of these companies, including re-e-power.com.

On a separate note, Yamaha has just come out with their new outboard jet-propulsion engines. So far it seems that they are only available from 25hp and up. I believe their 9.9hp is the best selling of their power line which means that with enough pressure, they may adapt the technology to their smaller outboards.

Chris

[SeaPaws]

When I called the guy at re Epower, he answered pretty quickly. Bill did you try the phone number or just an email.
I was thinking about it for the new boat and talked to him about it. He felt his largest unit would work for us in our Voyage, but I am not sure. I think for one of the outboard PDQ's they would be a good option

Maxicrom, I had never heard of a single engine put in one hull of a modern cat. I am surprised PDQ even did it, but the customer is always right. I don't know if I would put the torqueedo in, seems a little light in power. Does it regenerate power the Re Epower does. Where do you keep your boat, we are in the Cheaspeake out of Shady Side just south of Annapolis. PM me if you would like to get together

[maxicrom]

All,
Our needs our basically for getting in and out of the slip and since 1/8 hp trolling motor will move the boat, I'm sure that 5 or 6hp will move us just fine. Since it requires 24v operation in the short term I'll install 2 group 24 batteries and a seperate 24v 8A trickle charger. The reason that I'm sharing this is that since we do fine with the single diesel underway other owners may want to see how this works out for us.

There is no regeneration and underway for any distance we would have the Torqeedo in the up position - the specs show a number of hours running on 2 group 24 batteries and our normal use of the existing electric motor is about 10 minutes per trip (leaving our slip entering the fairway and again on return). I'm thinking that the small charger will be fine. Down the road I may add solenoid switching to be able to go from 24v to 12v and use the boats charging system when the Torqeedo is not in use. One difference from the outboard models is that I've mounted the electric aft of the cockpit directly across from the propeller.

[Page 83]

I'm really excited about your choice of the big Torquedo. It will go a long way towards giving you twin engine maneuverability in moderate cross winds. Have you considered recharging the Torquedo batteries (some kind of special chemistry, aren't they?) with their A/C charger from your inverter? I really want to hear what your top speed will be on it alone.

[carib sailor]

Are there 2 tfuel anks under the cockpit sole?

[maxicrom]

All,
Thanks for your interest, the Torqeedo arrived yesterday - kind of like Christmas (very cool and well constructed). The Torqeedo Cruise 2.0R is set up for 2 regular 12v batteries (in series) and does not use the Torqeedo power pack.

About Buckaroo (II the Max) if there ever was an outboard in the STBD hull it was removed before the owner we bought it from (the outboard locker is the battery box). The owner we bought it from said he thought it originally had a bow thruster - when we had it surveyed there was no sign of the hull ever having a thruster installed. There is only the single tank under the cockpit sole.

After we bought it in 2004 and a couple of advntures trying to get into the slip I used an heavy duty pivoting marine antenna mount to install a 12v bass boat trolling motor on the inside of the STBD hull (34 ft lbs thrust) and fabricated rocker switch controls on the console. It will actually move the boat but is no match to balance the Yanmar, as I mentioned it offers little to no control in wind or current. Looking at our new Torqeedo motor I can start on the mount design so it will be ready to install when we are hauled in mid-August. I plan to install it very close to where the trolling motor is now, aft of the steering rod on the inboard STBD hull as close as I can to the same location as the port diesel Propeller.

I'll keep the thread updated,

MB

Orig. Motor Down Position

Orig Motor Down.JPG (60.3 KiB) Viewed 13655 times

Original 1/8 HP Electric Motor Install

Orig. 34 Ft-Lb 12v motor.JPG (73.25 KiB) Viewed 13654 times

The attachment Torqeedo Mounting - down position.JPG is no longer available

[carib sailor]

(Hull 12) had a diesel engine in one hull and a Yamaha 9.9 in the other.
There was no bow thrust in the boat in 95, of that I am certain!

[maxicrom]

Hauled out in the yard now - working on the new motor mount.

One of the drawbacks of the Torqeedo is that they have very select distribution int he US. For example West Marine does not carry the remote control version of the 2.0 Cruise motor - only the tiller control. Only Jamestown Distributers and another company carry the remote version - only after ordering did I find that there is a short, long, and and extra long shaft version (which I don't know if anyone carries). First thing I found was that to get the motor deep enough in the water it would need to be mounted at steering bar level. To address this I'm using an outboard lift mount and will replace the Torqeedo transom mount with a custom version which will help to lower the prop. The lift mount will extend beyond the steering bar in the down position. Working on the new mount pieces hopefully to take to the welding shop before the weekend.

MB

[maxicrom]

Success!
The new Torqeedo is installed and provides the manueverability that we were looking for. What a nice feeling to be able to stop and have control as we entered our slip. The only issue that we are having is that the Torqeedo lift mount vibrates when 3/4 or higher throttle is applied (a stabilizer bar will compensate for this - it will take a little thought for the best way to install it).

The vibration probably has more to do with the custom mount plate that I fabricated to lower the Torqeedo in the water - normally an outboard would mount about 8" to 10" higher with the thrust centering on the lift mount rather than below it. Once I download some pictures I will post them on the site.

mike

FYI: Chester, thanks for the "drive-bys" at the yard in Deale - looking forward to seeing you on the bay. We had a great run down from Solomon's to the Potomac - motor sailing at 9-10 kts (making time).