Building Solar Electric Propulsion (Motor Katamaran)

@SolGato
Another thank you very much for your valuable posting. Until now I shied away from opening the motors, but I'll no longer. Regarding the potentiometers: My is also about 10 kOhm, in my case 12.5 kOhm linear. The throttle result is not symmetrically divided: from neutral (0 degree angle) it is 8.6 kOhm (0° to 170° angle) forward speed and 4.2 kOhm (0° to minus 90° angle) in reverse. So it is less "fine tune" possibility in reverse. I thought long time about reversing the prop shaft turning direction to be able to use different props as the more or less fitting left hand props are quite rare.

It is in general recommended to use one right hand and one left hand prop in a double motor setup (prop walk and things like this). Do you have experiences in this regard?
And it should be possible to reverse the motor shaft turning direction by interchanging 2 of the three leads between ESC and motor. I was tempted to do it in the 960 Watt motor but was worrying to cause unwanted side effects.

The bullet connections in the last pic are yours?

 

Looking at your motors and comparing them to mine more closely, I’m not sure they are made by Caroute. There are some Haswing models that do use the same housing with specs that match which in the past led me to believe they are made for them by Caroute, and with their offerings varying so much with different looks, specs, and features, and model inventory running times and being replaced with something similar but not identical, I suspected they were rebranding different manufacturers motors under their own name purchased in lot quantities.

Anyway the point is, I can not say for sure if any of stuff I have brought up applies to your motors, although the sealing issue and advice for adding extra protection is probably warranted in general with most trolling style motors. EPropulsion is the only one with a well designed Oring seal that I have seen, although their housing finish quality has also been an issue for owners.

I would suggest opening up a motor for inspection.

Not only are our housings a different design, but the potentiometer being different with more allotted for forward and less for reverse is a little suspect, that along with the pricing of some of the Haswing motors which makes me wonder if they aren’t built to the same level/specification.

I did recommend a friend buy one that looks identical to, and seems to work the same as mine. He previously bought one of their motors that had a gear reduction which was obnoxiously loud like the Torqeedo motors that drove him and his family nuts.

Did your motors have variable speed control or speed settings?

It will be interesting to see what you find inside.

Stuff like the gold plated connectors, extra efforts taken to insulate and isolate wires from vibration and chafe, use of brand name bearings, and the extra time and cost involved in potting the ESC in QSil (expensive stuff) are what set my motors apart from a lot of others on the market, and yet still one may experience a failure or damage due to something as simple as a poor Oring seal design and/or installation of a dry seal.

Post some photos if/when you get one opened up.

With my motors, you can just swap two of the potentiometer wires to change forward and reverse, but I imagine you could also do it at the motor with two of the 3 main wires that connect to ESC from the windings. The (3) potentiometer speed wires utilize a Futaba style servo connector with a locking tab that are not super common which might be a giveaway on yours.

Mine also have brand name NSK shaft and separate thrust bearings in the end caps, with spring washers to take up end play, and another NSK bearing in the shaft output housing with double lip seals to keep water out.

I have one of my motors apart at the moment and can take some photos for comparison if you’d like.

 

@SolGato
Thank you. Yes I would like some Photos very much. And I will take my motors apart, at least the 960 W motor, wich I was opening 3 years ago to look about the mentioned changing of leads, but only took a peek and closed it again. I dont remember anymore, what I have seen then.

 

@SolGato
Were you able to took some photos?

 

Sorry for the delay, been away from home house sitting while supervising and working on the construction of my new shop which has kept me from working on my boats. Building the shop is long overdue and key to my future boat builds, so I can’t complain too much about it eating into my summer season.

Anyway, here are some photos.

 

Thank you very much, @SolGato!