I took the Endura 50 back and found out it has fixed pulsing without user
control to extend battery life but does not have the rheostat to vary speed
infinitely. I guess I'll learn to live with the pulsing. The noise came from
extending handle and once it's pulled out all the way noise stops..
I love quiet performance of electric motors. The Endura 50 will end up on my
P19 for lake and local canal use. It sucks 40 Amps/hr at full power which
should give me 3 hrs flat out from my 125AMP, 205min reserve battery. So far
in actual use I have used it at most 1 hour at position 4 out of 5 and 30 mins
at position 5 (full power) without discharging the battery by more than 25%
according to the Minn Kota Batt chge meter.
Wal Mart sells a Minn Kota battery charge checking instrument that is compact,
easy to use and very handy for about $ 11.00. They have an offer where you get
one free with the 2yr factory extended warranty purchase.
With 2 batteries your 70 pounder should give you at least 3 hrs use at full
power... ( The last hour it does not run as fast, sorta like 75% power. For
your P15 that should be ample power...
I am going to hook E50 to my 20' 3000# powerboat and see if it will push it
well. Will let you know.
Keep me posted on how you do with your 70 pounder.
Solar Fry
In a message hlg@pacbell.net (Gordon) writes:
Your Sovereign is apparently much easier to drive than a P14.
If your Endura has fixed speeds, it probably doesn't have the Maximizer
pulse-width modulation.. The fixed speed settings are just different
resistors. One of the advantages of the Maximizer is the infinite speed
control, in addition to longer battery life. The pulsing frequency is
probably quite high, so any vibration I feel at higher power settings
probably just comes from the propeller. The vibration is barely detectable
through the motor tiller on the RT-70S, even at max speed, and it's
actually rather pleasant. The motor is almost totally silent to my ears,
but I have a high frequency hearing loss. (I worked on jets in the Navy
before they thought of using ear protection on the flight line.)
I've only had Manatee out one time so far with the electric motor. The
rains came as soon as I launched at last Sunday's club sail, so I never
left the dock on what would have been my second test..
I think I will enjoy the electric. When I've used it more I'll have a
better idea of what kind of duration to expect. I don't presently have any
instrumentation on the boat to show state of charge or how many amps I'm
using at a particular setting.
I suspect I might get more duration with a smaller motor, but I had hoped
that the bigger motor would be just as efficient at lower settings.
The additional 90 pounds of the two batteries has not made the boat any
harder to launch or recover. On my first launch, when I unhooked the strap
and tilted the trailer up, the boat slid off the trailer so fast that the
line I was holding burned my hand and I had to let go, and the boat
collided with the dock - with the brand new motor taking the blow. It
turned the motor but didn't break anything. Last Sunday I set my Tiller
Tamer before launching so the stern would swing away from the dock. That
worked okay but I had to move fast to grab a line and make sure Manatee
didn't hit some rocks in the other direction.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA
SolarFry wrote:
>Checked back on what I wrote... The MK 65T (36lb thrust) does not have
>gears... It has 5 speeds fwd and 3 reverse... It is very quiet... I tried
an
>Endura 50 (has same number of speeds, it is not infinitely variable) and it
>vibrates a bit and makes a pulsing sound... I believe the pulsing is from
the
>maximizer to extend batt life... I guess since I am right in front of it I
>hear everything.... The battery does last longer with the E50 than the 65T.
>After motoring for 1 1/2 hour the battery recharges in 1 1/2 hour at 10
AMPs.
>
>The E50 pushes my lil Sovereign at a pretty good clip but is kinda noisy in
>any speed position over 3. If the boat were larger I believe it would be
>quieter and I would not notice the pulsing. At position 4 it pushes the lil
>Sov at about 5MPH.
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