<< I hope nobody thought I was recommending using 24 V on a 12 V motor. My
motor is designed for 24 V so it is not inclined to overheat and burn up at
that voltage. Others are designed for 36 or 48 V. I think the advantage of
the higher voltage is to get more power without a proportionate increase in
current, which would require heavier wiring.
I just checked the MinnKota specs. My 24 volt RT70/S (70 lbf thrust) uses
45 A at full power, not 50 A as I think I said.
The next size smaller in the RipTide series is the 12 volt RT55/S (55 lbf
thrust), which uses 55 A at full power.
According to MinnKota, the RT70/S is supposed to be adequate for a boat up
to 25 ft weighing 3500 lb. The RT55/S is rated for a boat up to 22 ft
weighing 2500 lb. That seems very optimistic to me. They are probably
assuming a bass boat trolling slowly in quiet water and no wind.
Today, in my heavy first-generation P14 with the RT70/S, I used 100% power
to motor, sails down, at 3 plus knots, head-on against a 15-20 knot wind.
The power was quite adequate to get me where I was going in a reasonable
time, but was less than most gas outboards, including Dave Kautz's Mercury
(2 hp?) or my own 3 hp Seagull.
The clean, quiet performance and the positive control of the electric motor
are wonderful. I only take the Seagull if I need its greater range. On a
windless day (or downwind) I use 50-75% power to extend the range of the
electric. I recharge the batteries as soon as the boat is back in my
driveway, and I top off the charge the day before I plan to use it again.
MotorGuide has some motors that use either 12 or 24 V.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA
>>
Add to above excellent message about Minn Kota's:
Endura 50 with 50 lb thrust uses 40 AMP/HR at full power (5)
365T with 36lb thrust uses 36 AMP/Hr at full power (5)
I believe the prop is geared for a max speed of 4 MPH on all these motors.
Anybody able to verify that?
I've used 365T in salt/brackish water for about 3 yrs with no problems. The
50Endura I've had for one year. I do not flush my motors or slave over them
with hose and wax. In fact I've cleaned the 365T 2times in over 80 outings.
It sits on boat in wind and rain covered with a Tropicana gallon orange juice
plastic tainer year in year out. The Tropican juice container is also the
bailing devive with a cap on it.
Best
SF