Electric Motor and a Honda 2000 Generator?

[witzgall]

Hey RS;

have you done any testing to see how long, in real conditions, you can run your setup at hull speed? How about in adverse conditions? I have read some of your blog, and really admire that you are out there doing it "Electrically".



Chris

[Lost Horizons]

In my experience, it takes 0.7-1.0 kWt of electric power per 1 metric ton of displacement to move a boat in calm conditions with no current. It is nice to have a reserve power for motoring through a channel against a wind or current, perhaps 1.5-2.0 kWt or so per metric ton. Depending on sailing habits and local conditions, Honda 2000 may be adequate in maintaining a battery bank if there are no other means of doing it. It most certainly won't be able to serve as a dedicated power source for a 6 ton boat, unless all that is required from it is to motor at ~ 2 knots for short distances in and out of a marina in light winds.

The biggest problem for me would be the exhaust smell. I ran my Honda 2000 a few times to recharge the batteries while cruising, and each time I had to go to forepeak to escape the exhaust smell and noise. It makes it quite uncomfortable in the cockpit. Unfortunately, the exhaust gets sucked in the cabin a little if the companion way is open, so I would not leave Honda running overnight. Having to store gasoline on board and transfer it from a can to the generator is another pain.

[Rising Star]

Witzgall,

Hull speed is something I almost never do. I have two 48v banks and keep one in reserve for emergencies. Hull speed (50-60 amps) will deplete one bank in about 45 minutes. It would take the Honda & the charger several hours to recoup that. I seldom run more than 18 amps unless I am trying to clear a bridge opening or run a channel opening in adverse conditions. I ran it at 15-18 amps once for 17 hours of motoring in a dead calm.

Note to Lost Horizons: I tie my Honda up at the bow and 30 feet away makes quite a difference in noise and smell.

[witzgall]

I think what I am reading here is that for cruising the ICW, with access to shorepower occasionally if needed, and calm enough conditions to safely run the genset forward, electric is a viable solution.

Chris

Originally Posted by Rising Star

Witzgall,

Hull speed is something I almost never do. I have two 48v banks and keep one in reserve for emergencies. Hull speed (50-60 amps) will deplete one bank in about 45 minutes. It would take the Honda & the charger several hours to recoup that. I seldom run more than 18 amps unless I am trying to clear a bridge opening or run a channel opening in adverse conditions. I ran it at 15-18 amps once for 17 hours of motoring in a dead calm.

Note to Lost Horizons: I tie my Honda up at the bow and 30 feet away makes quite a difference in noise and smell.

[Maddog]

Plug your battery charger into your inverter attach to your house bank. Endless loop. Energy problem solved.

[klem]

Originally Posted by Maddog

Plug your battery charger into your inverter attach to your house bank. Endless loop. Energy problem solved.

How many investors do you already have for your perpetual motion machine? There seem to be a lot of them on youtube.

[hummingway]

I guess if my 19 ton pilothouse is going to go solar I'll have to do something like this:
SOLAR SAILOR HYBRID SAIL AND SOLAR PANEL CATAMARAN FERRY OPERATING IN SYDNEY HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA ROBERT DANE

[Maddog]

Well, you would be the first. Please PM me with your bank account info, I garuntee a 14% return on your money.

[wildernessdave]

Is running your electric motor for hours on end with the honda 2000 generator hard on the batteries, or cause things to overheat, or cause any issues? I am really interested in this system, it sounds like a good alternative to rebuilding an ancient diesel.

Thanks for may info you can share.

[StuM]

Honda 2000 generator? Maximum continuous output 1600W = 2.14HP.

On what sort of a boat are you planning to motor for hours on end on 2HP?

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by witzgall

I think what I am reading here is that for cruising the ICW, with access to shorepower occasionally if needed, and calm enough conditions to safely run the genset forward, electric is a viable solution.

Chris

NFW. If you are content to cruise at 2 knots on the ICW, a 2kw Honda Generator might suffice. Anyone thinking of cruising with electric power, they are delusional. Yes, if you try and do a Pardey and beg tows or or spend days becalmed or going in the wrong direction you can cruise with an electric motor and today's batteries.

If a boat takes 10hp for a cruise at 4 knots, you'll need a big generator to sustain that for more than an hour or two. The reality of cruising is you'll have times where you'll have to power at fairly high hp for multiple hours or days. There are long periods of no wind like in the Doldrums that are cruise ending if you are stuck there depending on your batteries and a Honda 2000 generator. Read Coleridge's 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' to see how much fun those calms can be. For the rare occasion when you have to go against a strong current, headwinds and/or seas, your engine electric run time will be in minutes not hours.

Electric engines works fine for those wanting and be limited to powering out of the slip and/or short time to where you can sail. Doesn't work here in SoCal if you want to do something as short as a trip to Catalina or the Channel Islands and get caught in a long period of light air/calm. Have had the pleasure of taking 5 days to sail from MDR to Sant Barbara in an engineless boat. With a Honda Generator and electric propulsion might have cut that down to 3 days. That's a passage that takes a day with decent winds or powering with a diesel. A very well prepared electric boat left here for points south. Situation developed that dictated a return to port after they'd sailed less than a 100 miles or so. Unfortunately, that was initially against confused seas and strong trade winds then 60 miles of calms. After a week, they finally got back to port. Strangely, a boat that they'd spent years preparing for their cruise went up for sale almost as soon as they tied up at the dock. This was not an inexperienced couple but one who'd crossed oceans previously with a diesel auxillary in this boat.

Seems like most of the electric true believers are looking at cruising with an electric motor through very very rose colored glasses.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by StuM

Honda 2000 generator? Maximum continuous output 1600W = 2.14HP.

On what sort of a boat are you planning to motor for hours on end on 2HP?

Even that is optimistic as it doesn't take into account conversion losses and losses to heat, which are there.
If I had to swag I'd guess converting mechanical energy to electricity and converting electricity back to mechanical energy you would lose maybe 10% as opposed to using the mechanical energy directly.
There are times that loss may be acceptable cause you coudl for example have an Azipod that could rotate 360 degrees, tough to do with a driveshaft, or you could put the generator anywhere you wanted in the boat, again tough to do with drive shafting, so hybrid drives do sometimes make sense

[rwidman]

Anyone who thinks that burning gasoline in an internal combustion engine to produce rotation to power a generator to produce electricity to run an electric motor to produce rotation to turn a propeller is more efficient than connecting the internal combustion engine directly to the propeller needs to go back to school to learn physics or at least common sense.

[44'cruisingcat]

Don't forget about the electric superhorses.

[wildernessdave]

We are looking at electric power for a 27 foot sailboat and my reason for asking about powering it with a generator is wondering if it would be possible to transit the Erie Canal slowly by powering the boat with a small generator, not motor around the world. I understand the limitation of electric motors, but I also understand that there are people who are very happy with their electric motors.

Rising Star seemed to have liked his electric motor set up from what I can tell from what I can tell. My wife and I are just trying to gather information to see if an electric motor would be a good solution for us. I understand it is not the right solution for many people.