Ryan Sweet
05/05/2024
I have a 30’ Rawson ketch, 12,000lbs, with the ThunderStruck 10kW kit about four years old. Me1616 I think and the sevcon gen4. I have 1000ah of battery at 48v. I have operated her regularly without much issue for about four years.
The sevcon unit has heat sinks on the back. I have a 600a breaker in the circuit. There is no other cooling.
Yesterday I had a problem when running at 3/4 throttle for 40 minutes or so against a tidal current - the motor whined a couple of times and cut out - I shut off the throttle and waited for 20 min and then started again at 1/4 throttle. Luckily the sailing was enough to keep me making forward progress against the current, though barely. I assume that it was overheating - I have not seen that before but I rarely push it at that rate for that long.
My question is: which component was most likely too hot - the motor or the sevcon? What strategies have worked for others for improving the cooling? Would a 12v fan or two in the engine compartment help?
It’s a big compartment - used to have a 40hp diesel and even then had plenty of room. There are a couple of scoops for fresh air and I could fit a 3-4” fan inside one.
Dan Pfeiffer
05/05/2024
The Thunderstruck 10KW kit uses the ME1115. Are you sure you have an ME1616? The ME1616 is liquid cooled with fittings for the coolant on the side. The housing is sealed. The 1115 has cooling slots all around the housing. The ME1616 is the motor in the 12kW liquid cooled kit.
ME1616
http://www.motenergy.com/mepmwaco.html
ME1115 (which may now be designated a ME1917?)
http://www.motenergy.com/me1115motor.html
The 10kW ME1115 is actually good for 6kW continuous which would likely be about what you are running at 3/4 power with a 12,000 lb boat? If you want to run at higher power levels you NEED to have cooling. That's why I went with the 12kW liquid cooled kit and added a liquid cooling block to the controller.
http://dan.pfeiffer.net/10m/electric_drive_cooling.htm
My boat (Pearson 10M) is about the same weight. 12500.
The Thunderstruck Can Translator kit is a plug-in setup that will give you data on a device via bluetooth. Well worth having.
https://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/can-translator.html
My motor heats up faster than the controller according to the data from my instrumentation. But both need cooling for higher output operation.
Add cooling!
Dan Pfeiffer
Kev
05/05/2024
Check your prop for an impairment.
Peter Knowlton
05/05/2024
I have heard / read accounts of people, with over heating boats and electric motors, who put in a fan in and liked the results. Don’t know if I’ll need to do that too, after installing an F6-A Curtis controller with an AC-34 motor at 48v and a 28000 lb sailboat.
Thunderstruck did recommended an additional heat sink with the aluminum fins, which they had. About $85. So, I’ll start there. Higher cost but no moving parts.
Ryan Sweet
05/06/2024
No, I’ve got that wrong. Thanks. I definitely don’t have the liquid cooled version.
James Sizemore
05/06/2024
If you do go with a fan, I have found that automotive radiator fans work well, the are waterproof and quite, and last forever, computer fans die quickly on a boat, so avoid those.
I have had zero heating issues after installing mine:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H29LYTI/
Dan Pfeiffer
05/06/2024
I like those fans. How is the fan placed on the motor? Do you have some sort of shroud to direct air over the motor?
Ryan, My Sevcon controller has an output programmed to go +12V for cooling when the temp goes above 125C (I think). If you have that you can use it to control a relay to operate the fan. It is something that would have been programmed by Thunderstruck.
Dan Pfeiffer
James Sizemore
05/06/2024
I have a shroud, so easy install for me.
Ryan Sweet
05/06/2024
Makes sense, thanks!
Lucy
05/13/2024
Your motor and controller both have temperature sensors along with a lot of other essential metrics made available over CANbus. The fact that the base thunderstruck kit doesn't come with a way to see any of this is criminal. Get the CAN to bluetooth translator or a display you can mount at your helm. Installing some sort of cooling won't help like you want if you don't know what the operating temp is.
Brian
05/14/2024
Hi Lucy, all our sailboat kits come with a display that shows temp, rpm , current draw and voltage. Hope we don't go to jail over this.
Brian Hall
Ric Sanders
05/14/2024
Hi Brian,
From an old and a,
Almost completely satisfied customer. We have Several years now on our AC 34 kit on one side in our 1990 Catana 42 Catamaran “Toolbox”. System still works great and does all we need but I would still like to be able to have a display to show voltage, amperage, and RPM at the same time at the helm. Anything new?
Cheers,
Ric Sanders
Lucy
05/14/2024
Sorry Brian. I stand corrected. Don't understand how I misssed such an obvious mistake
05/05/2024
I have a 30’ Rawson ketch, 12,000lbs, with the ThunderStruck 10kW kit about four years old. Me1616 I think and the sevcon gen4. I have 1000ah of battery at 48v. I have operated her regularly without much issue for about four years.
The sevcon unit has heat sinks on the back. I have a 600a breaker in the circuit. There is no other cooling.
Yesterday I had a problem when running at 3/4 throttle for 40 minutes or so against a tidal current - the motor whined a couple of times and cut out - I shut off the throttle and waited for 20 min and then started again at 1/4 throttle. Luckily the sailing was enough to keep me making forward progress against the current, though barely. I assume that it was overheating - I have not seen that before but I rarely push it at that rate for that long.
My question is: which component was most likely too hot - the motor or the sevcon? What strategies have worked for others for improving the cooling? Would a 12v fan or two in the engine compartment help?
It’s a big compartment - used to have a 40hp diesel and even then had plenty of room. There are a couple of scoops for fresh air and I could fit a 3-4” fan inside one.
Dan Pfeiffer
05/05/2024
The Thunderstruck 10KW kit uses the ME1115. Are you sure you have an ME1616? The ME1616 is liquid cooled with fittings for the coolant on the side. The housing is sealed. The 1115 has cooling slots all around the housing. The ME1616 is the motor in the 12kW liquid cooled kit.
ME1616
http://www.motenergy.com/mepmwaco.html
ME1115 (which may now be designated a ME1917?)
http://www.motenergy.com/me1115motor.html
The 10kW ME1115 is actually good for 6kW continuous which would likely be about what you are running at 3/4 power with a 12,000 lb boat? If you want to run at higher power levels you NEED to have cooling. That's why I went with the 12kW liquid cooled kit and added a liquid cooling block to the controller.
http://dan.pfeiffer.net/10m/electric_drive_cooling.htm
My boat (Pearson 10M) is about the same weight. 12500.
The Thunderstruck Can Translator kit is a plug-in setup that will give you data on a device via bluetooth. Well worth having.
https://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/can-translator.html
My motor heats up faster than the controller according to the data from my instrumentation. But both need cooling for higher output operation.
Add cooling!
Dan Pfeiffer
Kev
05/05/2024
Check your prop for an impairment.
Peter Knowlton
05/05/2024
I have heard / read accounts of people, with over heating boats and electric motors, who put in a fan in and liked the results. Don’t know if I’ll need to do that too, after installing an F6-A Curtis controller with an AC-34 motor at 48v and a 28000 lb sailboat.
Thunderstruck did recommended an additional heat sink with the aluminum fins, which they had. About $85. So, I’ll start there. Higher cost but no moving parts.
Ryan Sweet
05/06/2024
No, I’ve got that wrong. Thanks. I definitely don’t have the liquid cooled version.
James Sizemore
05/06/2024
If you do go with a fan, I have found that automotive radiator fans work well, the are waterproof and quite, and last forever, computer fans die quickly on a boat, so avoid those.
I have had zero heating issues after installing mine:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H29LYTI/
Dan Pfeiffer
05/06/2024
I like those fans. How is the fan placed on the motor? Do you have some sort of shroud to direct air over the motor?
Ryan, My Sevcon controller has an output programmed to go +12V for cooling when the temp goes above 125C (I think). If you have that you can use it to control a relay to operate the fan. It is something that would have been programmed by Thunderstruck.
Dan Pfeiffer
James Sizemore
05/06/2024
I have a shroud, so easy install for me.
Ryan Sweet
05/06/2024
Makes sense, thanks!
Lucy
05/13/2024
Your motor and controller both have temperature sensors along with a lot of other essential metrics made available over CANbus. The fact that the base thunderstruck kit doesn't come with a way to see any of this is criminal. Get the CAN to bluetooth translator or a display you can mount at your helm. Installing some sort of cooling won't help like you want if you don't know what the operating temp is.
Brian
05/14/2024
Hi Lucy, all our sailboat kits come with a display that shows temp, rpm , current draw and voltage. Hope we don't go to jail over this.
Brian Hall
Ric Sanders
05/14/2024
Hi Brian,
From an old and a,
Almost completely satisfied customer. We have Several years now on our AC 34 kit on one side in our 1990 Catana 42 Catamaran “Toolbox”. System still works great and does all we need but I would still like to be able to have a display to show voltage, amperage, and RPM at the same time at the helm. Anything new?
Cheers,
Ric Sanders
Lucy
05/14/2024
Sorry Brian. I stand corrected. Don't understand how I misssed such an obvious mistake