Powerperm motors

[Alan Hammond 2Participant @alanhammond2]

I am not exactly new to this hobby but tend to be a lone modeller and build other things than boats. I have however just acquired a brand new Krick Sirius from the bay for the princely sum of £90 for a winter project and with a view to sailing it at a local club next year. A quick look through the instructions and I find that the recommended motor is a Powerperm with a 1 to 6 gear. Now the name Powerperm is familiar from somewhere but a search on the net has not thrown up any leads. Does anybody know of this firm or their equivalent. If not a suitable motor and battery set up for this model. Any help welcome.

[Alan Hammond 2Participant @alanhammond2]

Motor query

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Alan

Is there a prop supplied with the kit or specified on the plan? If so what size (diameter x no of blades) is it? MFA do a 6:1 geared motor but you might prefer to use a larger, direct-drive motor (gears are very noisy).

Dave M

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

6:1 is a very high degree of reduction although Dave has done a drawing for it here: **LINK**. This German site seems to be suggesting a 550 type motor which would seem about right for the size of the model and its type but you will need to translate it! **LINK**

Colin

[Alan Hammond 2Participant @alanhammond2]

Thanks for the replies. The prop is still in its sealed bag so I have not had a chance to measure it but it looks to be about half an inch in diameter. It is also a real prop made from some form of plastic with a brass insert and not the rubbishy white metal effort supplied with a lot of models. The model itself is about 900mm long with a 330mm beam and so is reasonably substantial. I have done a bit more research and have a feeling that Powerperm may have been sold in this country as Decaperm.

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I doubt very much if it is just half an inch, Alan. That's about the same size as my thumbnail and wouldn't power a model a fifth of the size. Decaperms were made by a German company called Marx-Luder and were the bee's knees about thirty years ago, but they are noisy and expensive compared with what's available these days. I would suggest a 775 motor from Component Shop, running a 50mm – 55mm 4-blade prop with no gearbox on 12 volts. **LINK** The MFA 6:1 motor would be, on reflection, a bit too slow with a prop of that size.

Dave M

[Alan Hammond 2Participant @alanhammond2]

I have just done a quick measurement through the packaging and the prop is three bladed and about 2" in diameter with a 4mm prop shaft. So what I will need is a nice big torquey motor either with a reduction gear or without. Which should be easy and cheap enough to find.

I can well believe though that Powerperm and Decaperm are one and the same as this is a German manufactured kit and probably originates from about ten or fifteen years ago. It is still available from the main mail order firms at anything from £415 to £460. So I am well pleased with it.

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Alan

Either the 555 or 775 motors will do the job on 12 volts. £90 for that kit was a steal – I'm envious!

Dave

[Alan Hammond 2Participant @alanhammond2]

Odd one really. I just left a speculative bid of £100 on it before I went away for a few days expecting to be well outbid. Came back and nobody else had bid on it so I got it for the starting price. The same firm also had a Caldercraft Northlight kit up for sale at the same time. That went for £166 which was a good buy as well.. I suspect that the kits are old stock and the company which is a marine chandler was just getting rid of them.

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