My new electric sail drive

Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
My commentary was not based in naysay. Anybody who has seen some of the stuff that's come out of our shops understands the willingness to push the limits, but even that is guided by the "straight to the bottom" common sense approach.
If it's below the waterline, do not think about how it seals, think about why it can fail.
 
Ted

Ted

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Jan 26, 2005
1,255
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
Here's my two cents. If your drive is mounted to the hull with a rubber isolation block/seal and the motor is attached to the drive with a belt, I can't imagine that there would be much of an issue with vibration. Electric motors run very smoothly to begin with and they don't jump around nearly as much as a small diesel motor does. You might want to consider a secondary interior seal in the event the primary exterior seal develops a leak. Belt and suspenders type of approach. Sounds like a great project. Be sure to keep us posted on your progress. Carry on!
 
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Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Skipperdan said:
http://saildrive.com/ same thing only I am attaching an electric motor instead of a vibrating diesel.
Click to expand

You're missing the large rubber bellows that allow the sail leg to be physically isolated from the hull by a flexible rubber seal. The sail leg passes through a double layered rubber gasket/bellows which can occasionally house a leak sensor between the inner and outer diaphragm. These are maintenance items..

This is the seal/isolator/bellows and this image shows why they are maintenance items...


This is the outer flexible fairing...

 
Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
Maine Sail said:
You're missing the large rubber bellows that allow the sail leg to be physically isolated from the hull by a flexible rubber seal. The sail leg passes through a double layered rubber gasket/bellows which can occasionally house a leak sensor between the inner and outer diaphragm. These are maintenance items..
This is the outer flexible fairing...

Click to expand
The 8 bolts that are attached to the isolator are directly attached to the motor mount in the drawing. http://phildanitestsite.net23.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/VSD10-fact-sheet.pdf. Unless the drawing is showing the isolator and not the fiberglass mount. But the instructions said mount it direct to the fiberglass mount. The flexible fairing just gets pushed up into the fiberglass mount? Or does something hold it in?
 
Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
Meriachee said:
My commentary was not based in naysay. Anybody who has seen some of the stuff that's come out of our shops understands the willingness to push the limits, but even that is guided by the "straight to the bottom" common sense approach.
If it's below the waterline, do not think about how it seals, think about why it can fail.
Click to expand
Exactly why I am going this route. I was going to go with a straight prop shaft but heard horror stories about packing boxes and seals. This route seams less likely to fail
 
B

Benny17441

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May 24, 2004
7,131
CC 30 South Florida
The dampening requirements for an electric motor are significantly less than those required by a combustion engine. Much of the dampening design in automobiles and boats is to reduce vibrations that might be found annoying by the consumer public and not strictly because of structural issues. A sailboat's hull flexes and it can accommodate the large forces imparted by the keel so I do not believe a small source of vibration will damage the integrity of the hull if rigidly installed. The beauty of a tinkering project is to try things and to modify whatever does not work until it does.
 
Captn Scotty

Captn Scotty

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Mar 15, 2013
197
Islander 32 mkll Comox Hrb.
Awesome project Skipperdan, good on ya! I don't know how many projects I've tried that required either a fire extinguisher, a helmet, or hiding behind a dirt pile, but it's a few! Looking forward to the final results...Just Stay Safe!:)
 
Ron20324

Ron20324

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Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
...I don't know how many projects I've tried that required either a fire extinguisher, a helmet, or hiding behind a dirt pile, but it's a few! ...
Click to expand
I'll send you a picture when I finish making the cannon.
 
Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
Well there is no turning back now. I did figure out how to isolate everything. The motor from the unit was easy just a rubber bumper connection in between the two hubs. The unit itself will have a rubber gasket 3/4" thick and rubber spacers between the attach bolts. The secondary seal similar to what "Main sail" shows will be some what the same. The lower unit will be free to move, but very little. Enough I think to take care of the problem. All the questions and answers worked out well because it made me rethink the install and this method will be much easier. I just cut off a piece of the upper part of the lower unit and will weld on a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum to bolt to the base. Now if I have to service the lower unit, it just unbolts like normal. I am making the base now and will epoxy it to the hull. I still have to find the aluminum and order the motor.

Dan
 

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Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
I have the bed finished. Tomorrow I will look for some aluminum. It will be a few weeks before I can get the motor, but I should be able to get the drive mounted sooner.
 

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Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
Well a little update; I found group 27 deep cell batteries on sale at Runnings for 65.00 so I bought 4. If they only last a year they will be far less than the fuel I would have burned. I have them right behind the cabin steps centered right next to where the motor will go so not much wire run. I think it is a good exchange from the engine hanging off the back of the boat, but time will tell I guess. I pushed the public fishing pier in today so it should not be long now. 60 to 70 by the weekend.
 

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Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
The sail drive is in the water and operational. It works great. Simple controller and controls. Ran it for 1/2 hr to 45 min ran the batteries to about 80%. Took two hrs to charge them back up with a Honda generator. I do not have the solar panels purchased yet. It is so nice to just hit a switch and go rather than starting an engine. I do have some fine tuning to do.
 
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Likes: Whatfiero1 and Gunni
Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
So far so good motor works great. About 2800 rpms 30 amps. Moves me right along. I am running 60v and I may change to 48v.
 
Skipperdan

Skipperdan

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Jan 24, 2017
150
Chrysler C26 Lake Sakakaweea
Well I pulled the boat today to check things out. I was stuck in the weeds for a week because my anchor broke loose in these ND winds. We had 35 to 40 mph winds for a week. What broke me loose was a shift in the wind direction. even after being stuck in the sand for a week the sail drive looks great. starting to look like it belongs there. I have been doing some testing and at less than 1/2 throttle I can go 4 mph. there is a definite setting where the prop starts to slip and create turbulence. At that point it really moves the boat. I did not have my phone out so I do not know how fast I was going. I have to do a little more work before I put her back in.
 
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