My First Solar Powered Boat Project

[SolarCanoe]

[QUOTE=TomCat58;121929]

Instead of reading my voltage to see how much charge is left in my batteries I am testing this quick glance meter. So far its a keeper Reading voltage makes me have to think were this is a no brainer lol


http://www.cabelas.com/product/VEXIL...3725369&rid=20

That Vexilar Battery Status Gauge was too tempting to resist so I ordered one to try.

Some time back I also ordered the sonar phone but it will be a while before I can play with that.

[TomCat58]

[QUOTE=SolarCanoe;122077]

That Vexilar Battery Status Gauge was too tempting to resist so I ordered one to try.

Some time back I also ordered the sonar phone but it will be a while before I can play with that.

I think you will love it... battery status at a glance and its water proof too

Tommy

[ILFE]

I think you will love it... battery status at a glance and its water proof too

Not exactly, according to the review on that unit:

This product works great for the most part. But its supposed to be waterproof and yet I have moisture inside the screen. Make's it very difficult to read. That's what disappoints me about this product...

[TomCat58]

[QUOTE=livingincebu;122154]

Not exactly, according to the review on that unit:

Not water proof ? Hummm I have had mine mounted on my boat for about year and its gone through a few nasty storms and so far so good. Did your gauge get totally submerged or maybe its just a lemon ? Next year maybe I will agree with you but so far no signs of leaking. Where I have it mounted is very exposed to the elements too. Here have a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFAE6d8AsRo

Tommy

https://sites.google.com/site/serenitysolarcanoe/

[TomCat58]

[QUOTE=livingincebu;122154]

Not exactly, according to the review on that unit:

Livingincebu !!! Kamusta

Been there and done that. Cebu Mactan Leyte Negros but mostly on Bohol You are sure to understand were I got my ideas then on stabilizing my solar canoe . Philippine pump boats

https://sites.google.com/site/serenitysolarcanoe/

Tommy

PS I hope to come back there this Christmas.

[ILFE]

Not water proof ? Hummm I have had mine mounted on my boat for about year and its gone through a few nasty storms and so far so good. Did your gauge get totally submerged or maybe its just a lemon ?

I think there is a slight misunderstanding here. That wasn't my review. That was a review of someone else who had purchased one of those units, on that site. I read it when I visited the site to view the meter.

Livingincebu !!! Kamusta

Been there and done that. Cebu Mactan Leyte Negros but mostly on Bohol You are sure to understand were I got my ideas then on stabilizing my solar canoe . Philippine pump boats

https://sites.google.com/site/serenitysolarcanoe/

Tommy

PS I hope to come back there this Christmas.

Maayo man. Gwapo lang gihapon.

I lived in and around Cebu City and Cebu Province for more than eleven years. I will probably go back to live there full time, in 2016.

[ILFE]

https://sites.google.com/site/serenitysolarcanoe/

Thanks for the photos. You made me homesick.

[SolarCanoe]

I have had a chance to take a few cruises on Charleston Lake Ontario over the last week.

The trolling motor I have is a Minn Kota Traxxis 45 that has the Max technology to extend the run time. I believe it is a Pulse Width Modulated motor control. I am not happy with the motor because it pulses and vibrates the whole boat. I actually have two of these trolling motors and I have not tried the second one yet. It could be a faulty motor but I don't think so. I may try one of the trolling motors that uses the old 5 forward speeds to see if it runs smoother.

I took a video showing the motor running just on solar power and then full throttle. The traxxis 45 only draws about 30 amps on full throttle.

[SunEagle]

I have had a chance to take a few cruises on Charleston Lake Ontario over the last week.

The trolling motor I have is a Minn Kota Traxxis 45 that has the Max technology to extend the run time. I believe it is a Pulse Width Modulated motor control. I am not happy with the motor because it pulses and vibrates the whole boat. I actually have two of these trolling motors and I have not tried the second one yet. It could be a faulty motor but I don't think so. I may try one of the trolling motors that uses the old 5 forward speeds to see if it runs smoother.

I took a video showing the motor running just on solar power and then full throttle. The traxxis 45 only draws about 30 amps on full throttle.

Nice video. Looks like a great place to enjoy and relax. Even your dog seems to like it.

[TomCat58]

[QUOTE=SolarCanoe;123228]I have had a chance to take a few cruises on Charleston Lake Ontario over the last week.
"The trolling motor I have is a Minn Kota Traxxis 45 that has the Max technology to extend the run time. I believe it is a Pulse Width Modulated motor control. I am not happy with the motor because it pulses and vibrates the whole boat."


I have the Max Endura 45 Minn Kota. I am not sure but it looks like the same motor and controller as yours. It does vibrate some at full throttle but your setup seems to make a bit more noise then mine. Perhaps its because you have a aluminum canoe and mine is plastic ? I have changed propellers on mine also and that could change the amount of vibration from the motor.

I wonder if a buffer between the boat transom and the motor mount would cut down on your vibration noise ? Maybe use a old rubber inter tube and see if that helps cut down on the vibration noise ?

I am interested to hear how your older motor sounds/vibrates when you test it out... Take a video and share that test too pls.

TomCat

https://sites.google.com/site/serenitysolarcanoe/

[SolarCanoe]

Off Balance

Well I am back from the cottage vacation at Charleston Lake and I figured out what was causing the vibration in the trolling motor. It turns out it was a motor prop balance problem. I tried the second Minn Kota Traxxis 45 and it ran much smoother. This suggested to me that the problem with the first motor might not be the maximizer motor speed control. I then tried putting the weedless prop from the first motor on the second motor and then the second motor started vibration more but not as much as the first one. I had read on the Minn Kota web-sight that sometimes the motor and/or prop may not be perfectly balance and the suggested solution was to remove the prop and rotate it 180 degrees and reinstall it. I tried this with the second motor and the weedless prop and the second motor was running smooth again. I tried a few more combinations but the bottom line is that the vibrations are caused by balance issues. So now I will do a little research on how to balance a prop and motor. I suspect model aircraft builders probably have similar problems and might be able to suggest a way to balance the motor & prop.

Now for something more solar panel related. On a bright sunny day with the sun almost overhead I was getting 5 to 6 amps from the 200 watts of solar panels. This resulted in a very sluggish 1 - 2 mph. While the speed was OK it did limit the distance we could go and explore. I did not feel the need to run the motor full out but at 10 to 20 amps we found the speed much more enjoyable. The panels I was using are not the ones I have purchased to build the final solar boat design. I have 12 50W panels for the canopy and that would provide 3 times the current so that is about 15 to 18 amps. I knew I could accommodate another 4 50 watt panels and ordered them so when I get the final design built I should be able to cruise on 20 to 24 amps.

Well that is the end of the boating season for us. It is so frustrating to be on the verge of building an awesome solar electric boat and not having the room to work on it. There is only one thing for it and that is to get this condo on the market and buy a house out in the country with a nice big heated garage. I have a few more pictures to post when I get the car unloaded and find the camera.

[SunEagle]

Well I am back from the cottage vacation at Charleston Lake and I figured out what was causing the vibration in the trolling motor. It turns out it was a motor prop balance problem. I tried the second Minn Kota Traxxis 45 and it ran much smoother. This suggested to me that the problem with the first motor might not be the maximizer motor speed control. I then tried putting the weedless prop from the first motor on the second motor and then the second motor started vibration more but not as much as the first one. I had read on the Minn Kota web-sight that sometimes the motor and/or prop may not be perfectly balance and the suggested solution was to remove the prop and rotate it 180 degrees and reinstall it. I tried this with the second motor and the weedless prop and the second motor was running smooth again. I tried a few more combinations but the bottom line is that the vibrations are caused by balance issues. So now I will do a little research on how to balance a prop and motor. I suspect model aircraft builders probably have similar problems and might be able to suggest a way to balance the motor & prop.

Now for something more solar panel related. On a bright sunny day with the sun almost overhead I was getting 5 to 6 amps from the 200 watts of solar panels. This resulted in a very sluggish 1 - 2 mph. While the speed was OK it did limit the distance we could go and explore. I did not feel the need to run the motor full out but at 10 to 20 amps we found the speed much more enjoyable. The panels I was using are not the ones I have purchased to build the final solar boat design. I have 12 50W panels for the canopy and that would provide 3 times the current so that is about 15 to 18 amps. I knew I could accommodate another 4 50 watt panels and ordered them so when I get the final design built I should be able to cruise on 20 to 24 amps.

Well that is the end of the boating season for us. It is so frustrating to be on the verge of building an awesome solar electric boat and not having the room to work on it. There is only one thing for it and that is to get this condo on the market and buy a house out in the country with a nice big heated garage. I have a few more pictures to post when I get the car unloaded and find the camera.

Glad you figured out what your vibration issue was coming from. As for balancing a prop. I do fly RC planes and their props have to really be balanced or it shakes that little plane all over the place. The props I use are made of plastic and can be shaved if necessary to get them balanced. I use a little stand alone balance device that allows me to spin the prop without the motor. I can tell if it is unbalanced by how it spins and stops and then rotates in the opposite direction. The good part is that the props only cost a couple of bucks each at the most so just getting a new one is a lot cheaper than having your plane fall out of the sky due to an unbalanced prop.

I do not know what material you prop is made out of but if it is metal you may have a problem getting it balanced unless you can weld something on to it. Maybe others out there have similar issues with boat motor props and can help you.

[SolarCanoe]

Thanks SunEagle!

The props are made of plastic. In my case I think the motors may not be very well balanced either. So I was going to try to balance the prop and motor together. From what I have seen online, it is a trial and error process of adding small amounts of weight to one side and see if it gets better or worse. Is that what you do?

[SunEagle]

Thanks SunEagle!

The props are made of plastic. In my case I think the motors may not be very well balanced either. So I was going to try to balance the prop and motor together. From what I have seen online, it is a trial and error process of adding small amounts of weight to one side and see if it gets better or worse. Is that what you do?

I would use that technique to balance a ceiling room fan.

With my RC plane the motors are very well balanced and the props are pretty uniform in shape. The hole in the middle of the prop is sometimes too small to fit on the collett that attaches the prop to the motor so you have to ream it out a little. After the reaming you need to see if the prop is still balanced by using a Propeller Balancer (maybe need to google that). If it is not balanced you might be able to determine what to "shave" but usually it is better to start with a new prop.

There are a number of YouTube videos showing what happens when someone alters the prop to get it balanced. A not properly balanced prop will destroy the motor and mount due to the high revs. It can cause injury when the prop breaks apart and goes flying in all directions.

[inetdog]

Glad you figured out what your vibration issue was coming from. As for balancing a prop. I do fly RC planes and their props have to really be balanced or it shakes that little plane all over the place. The props I use are made of plastic and can be shaved if necessary to get them balanced. I use a little stand alone balance device that allows me to spin the prop without the motor. I can tell if it is unbalanced by how it spins and stops and then rotates in the opposite direction.

The technique that you describe will allow you to reach what is called static balance. If the prop and motor are heavy enough and especially if the rotor of the motor is out of balance, you may need to add in dynamic balancing.

(To give an idea of the difference, consider a shaft with half of a prop on one end and the matching half prop on the other end. As long as the two halves are oriented 180 degrees from each other, and the halves are identical, you will always have static balance. But when you start to spin the shaft it will wobble badly. That wobble is removed by dynamic balancing, which in that example would involve adding a counterbalance weight to each half prop on the side opposite the single blade.
In the case of the trolling motor, if the motor itself if out of balance, it can be difficult to get dynamic balance just from adjusting the added weight of the prop at one end of the motor shaft.
That is where rotating the prop relative to the motor shaft as well as adding or subtracting weight at both the edge of the prop closest to the motor and the edge farthest from the motor may be helpful.
With any luck, you will not need to resort to dynamic balancing. If you have to dynamically balance, then getting the motor balanced first will make it a lot easier to balance the prop and the combination. Unfortunately, balancing a motor either by adding weight or removing material is NOT usually a DIY job.