Electric motor fittings...
If you have been following my posts you will remember that I decided to use the Torqueedo electric motors instead of the ones from Re-E-Power.
One of the challenges of using these was that they are in an outboard configuration. One of the things I wanted to avoid was the use of a box to house the outboard which can cause shaking and noise when being hit by waves underneath the wingdeck. Additionally I have always felt that the props on the outboards were not submerged low enough and would therefore be prone to cavitation.
So, what we did is remove the lower motor part of the Torqueedo and throw away the rest of it (except the controllers). We built an extended leg out of aluminium which you can see on the photos and made up a stainless steel bracket/hinge underneath the beam.
We will now build a couple of 'arms' out from the lower part of the leg which will fit into a slot on the side of the hull. Just above that we will put another block with a pulley and using a jam cleat and spectra room I should be able to easily raise and lower it from the cockpit. Still have to yet prove the theory but it should work fine. I will know soon.
The plus with this system (if it works) is that the motors will tuck under that wingdeck quite nicely out of the way of most of the green water. Also, when they are in the down position they are deep enough to remove the risk of cavitation. The below photo gives an idea of where they will sit.
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 07:44PM
Reader Comments (2)
How are the shafts locked in place to prevent lateral movement? I am most intrigued with this design element and commend your innovativeness. Pleas give us more details.
Hi Greg,
We are planning a locating pin which be located on the hull above the water line. When the shaft is lowered it will be held in place by the pin which will have an amount of flex to allow for beam movement. The rope and pulley system is going to be important to hold it in position. The boat is being dissasembled this week and shall start to be put together next week. At that time we will get into the final details of how this system will work.
I will do a blog entry with more details...I hope within the next 2 weeks.