electric motor

[laneends]

Hi how do I ask on the national forum I,m new to this thanks Mick

2 main active forums:
yakshed, or kfdu

[isportfish]

Hi Mick,
Thanks for the details. Will help for those that can contribute. I will suggest you have a good read here for some safety tips.
http://www.vyak.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

Keep in safe waters and stay within your and the kayaks limitations to begin with. Post your trips on vyak and you may get others willing to join trips. Once your are more comfortable/experienced can then venture further.

With regards to battery size the weight and storage space will be the problem. A 40/50 ah deep cycle will be more than 10kg which is quite significant unless you willing to part with $$$ for lithium. I've only seen a few vyakers with motors and they had pro anglers kayaks with much greater payload and size than yours.

As Keith has already suggested the other forums will have more members which use motors. Just need to join like here to post.

Cheers

[Yako]

Hi Mick,
Hobie does make a motor for their kayaks called the Torqeedo but is about $3000 if my memory serves me right (which included battery and controller). I believe a couple of other kayak manufacturers are in the stages of releasing electric motors for kayaks. Many of these motors are used in inland or protected lakes but I know and have seen people using them in our bays too.
As others have said batteries can be heavy and pricey and can also make your kayak more unstable. Conventional Deep Cycle battery would be what most go for but they can weigh around 15Kg's for 60Ah and go up to 25 Kg for 100 Ah.
There is newer technology in Lithium Ion which for an 80Ah battery weigh's a mere 6.5 Kg's and are quite slim. You do have to treat them with more care than conventional batteries. They cost around $500 - $600.
If one is getting older and you don't want the added hassle of lugging a big boat around then it's not a bad option provided you do your homework and make sure everything is balanced and correctly set up and you have all or more of the required safety equipment (maybe also practice tipping and reentry with the motor and battery on if you can)

[maverick]

Make sure you have a kill switch.

[Yako]

Make sure you have a kill switch.

Yup very good point.

[fisho79]

well Mick very few guys run motors on the kayaks as most of the time the boat rego - licence and extra safety gear that goes along with upgrading from Human powered to motor boat puts them off

also the extra weight can quite often become a danger if you tip it over can you right it as easy as it would be unpowered

There is a thread on this forum somewhere about a guy who tipped his motorised yak off Altona. Basically he had no chance of righting it and ended up being picked up by the water police.

Make sure you do a test tip over before venturing too far from shore.

[Rhino]

There is a thread on this forum somewhere about a guy who tipped his motorised yak off Altona. Basically he had no chance of righting it and ended up being picked up by the water police.

Make sure you do a test tip over before venturing too far from shore.

I was called by Williamstown water police to see if I could Identify a SIK with electric motor on it after it was found off Altona without its occupant.
As I turned up to the police station so did the owner.
He had capsized the day before when the forecast strong northerly kicked in.
After a few failed attempts at re-entry he decided to abandon the yak and swim to the western shore from where he walked home.
He didn't inform anybody.
Later that night the southerly change came through and blew the yak back in towards Altona. It was found empty the next day and Police thought they had a search on their hands.
The guy hadn't checked the weather, hadn't practiced and was incapable of re-entry, wasn't licence or registered and wasn't carrying the required safety gear.
It cost him a fortune.

[cheaterparts]

The guy hadn't checked the weather, hadn't practiced and was incapable of re-entry, wasn't licence or registered and wasn't carrying the required safety gear.
It cost him a fortune.

He was still lucky as it could have cost a lot more

[Munroe]

There is a thread on this forum somewhere about a guy who tipped his motorised yak off Altona. Basically he had no chance of righting it and ended up being picked up by the water police.

Make sure you do a test tip over before venturing too far from shore.

Not sure if you're referring to Rhino's experience or mine where I and a few others witnessed a guy with a motorized Yak at Altona fumble around with the wires and battery ( before launch) trying to get the connection happening. Once he had power, off he went in the increasing chop/ swell... 150 meters out, he ended side on to the swell, Gone!! Why was he side on and going nowhere but south? most likely loss of power and another fumble to get wiring connected again with the hatch open... Yak was retrieved 4 meters below by W/police

If you're going to do it, do it right and with the right/appropriate kayak otherwise, it's just not worth it.

[4liters]

Lithium batteries make me a bit nervous because of the chance of an explosion or a fire. I don't have an issue with the 18650 cells because I figure they can just be chucked over the side but having a big brick of a thing catch fire in the hull where I can't access it on the water would be really bad news. I don't know if I'm just paranoid or if there is actually something to be worried about though