Vehicle electric motors

[derfledermauseParticipant @derfledermause]

Hello, I wonder if anyone has experience of using motor car electric motors in model boats. From informed sources I have gone for the cooling fan motors situated directly behind the radiator as these seem to be the least used. 1 hours work at the local scrap yard and I have 6 motors for £10, they all work but the down side is that the vintage is not known and not one is the same in respect to diameter or length. What price a universal motor mount now by gum!!!. Using a high current power supply, 12 volt DC, all of the motors take approx. 1.5 to 2 amps no load. Trying to assimulate a load; (Industrial gloved hand and grip shaft hard), results in varying amps between 3.5 and 5 amps. Any advice would be most graciously received.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this post.

derfledermouse.

 

[derfledermauseParticipant @derfledermause]

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Derf. I used a Ford windscreen wiper motor in a fisheries patrol boat for a number of years with no problem. I have seen several posters admit to using something similar in the past, be it windscreen or cooling fan types.

 

The motors you have tend to be torqy, and not high speed as they are driving a large cooling fan, so would be best for something relatively slow with a largish prop.

 

HOWEVER…some experimentation might be the order of the day, connecting the motors up to a shaft and run various size props in water to determine the current draw and ability to turn different sized props.

 

It might be interesting to see your results later on !

 

Ashley

 

[derfledermauseParticipant @derfledermause]

Ashley,

Very many thanks for your reply, you are right that they are torqy, I could not stop them by squeezing the output shaft with my fingers. The down side is that I am building the 49″ Perkasa and these motors will not get it to plane. My other build is a unique boat, it was built by my father and his brother in the early 1950’s, it was a twin boom boat and they sailed it out of Cresswell, a small fishing village on the Northumberland coast. I would love to tell the story with foto’s but I am wary of putting foto’s on the site.

derfledermause.

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Der, A 49″ Perkasa will require a set of “normal” commercial model boat motors i am afraid, your vehicle motors will just not be powerful enough, as you have found.

 

Great for non-planing boats though , long lasting and cheap!

 

Ashley

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