Electric skiff/Catalina 27 Minn Kota crossover

Voltron

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May 2, 2013
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Santa Barbara CA
Started fiddling around with getting a battery ready for seeing how well the Minn Kota motor I got for temporary use on my Catalina 27 project would push my inflatable skiff around.

Your basic soft bottom inflatable is just about the worst possible platform for efficiency, so that taken into account, it will be just great for harbor cruising and short trips out to the anchorage.
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Those packs have been around the block. The blue ones started out as Pedego recall packs, that got unfolded out straight, then series-ed together and run at 72v, the black is a Ezee battery from a project a guy gave up on, and the purple ones are from a Bosch rack mount pack, reconfigured in a straight line, they will be going back into a brick, and should fill out the toolbox space nicely.

Before anybody points out how sloppy the wiring is, this is a test, so it will be evolving. I hardly run 36v anymore, so this will be the final destination probably for several packs I have sitting around.
 
Pictures from when I was going the other way... Such a stupid pack design, all that nickel across the cells, and two tiny strips where it folds in half that makes a hot spot. Prob going to add some copper there, plus another pack in the box to spread the amps out will help.

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Been awhile and got sidetracked from posting, but the motor is great, other than a developing tendency for the main pivot pin to wiggle out.

On the lookout for the perfect shape box, but am able to fit 5 36v 14ah packs in, and it's still not too heavy to put up onto the sailboat, and then run off that instead of the primary batteries, as it's easier to take ashore and charge until I get solar going.
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It was pretty satisfying to electro skiff out to the sailboat, swap the motor over, then go to pick up friends for afternoon sail, and then swap back at the end of the day, and take them and their dog to a sand spit beach that's hard to walk to, so yay electric boating!
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One big difference I've noticed running this thing compared to a bike, is the amp draw stays high, and doesn't peak during acceleration and then wind down as the back EMF builds. It just goes high, and stays there, heating the wires more than expected.

Possibly governed at a lower rpm keeps it from getting good back EMF? It sure seems like it's capable of more power, but maybe more that the mount can take?
 
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