ONBOARD Hydro RETRIEVAL sytem!!

[electric]

OK, when do the these cowls go into production? Can we purchase one and is only available for the vac-u-pickle? It would be great if "VacU" offered this as a kit that could be purchased seperately. Seems like a great idea.

[Shooter]

questtek - Very impressive work. Is your module using a mercury switch?

Mine does not use a second ESC for the retrieval control. It simply taps off the balance plug of the battery (2S) for full speed, all the time. There is a diode across the motor for start-up. The only "brains" involved is an electronic relay that switches the motor ON when you put your controller in full reverse. Trying to keep things as simple as possible. It's a 2 channel RX/TX.

Your idea is definitely more user friendly (throttle control and possible steering reverse). I'm not sure it is worth the extra ESC though....have to think about that one.

[Shooter]

OK, when do the these cowls go into production? Can we purchase one and is only available for the vac-u-pickle? It would be great if "VacU" offered this as a kit that could be purchased seperately. Seems like a great idea.

Not sure that this will ever go into production, but it sure seems to alleviate a lot of retrieval headaches. It could also save a lot of boats during races that have blown over. Just head to the middle and avoid getting run over!! Right now the weight is probably an issue for racers, especially since it is predominantly in the rear.

[questtek]

questtek - Very impressive work. Is your module using a mercury switch?

Mine does not use a second ESC for the retrieval control. It simply taps off the balance plug of the battery (2S) for full speed, all the time. There is a diode across the motor for start-up. The only "brains" involved is an electronic relay that switches the motor ON when you put your controller in full reverse. Trying to keep things as simple as possible. It's a 2 channel RX/TX.

Your idea is definitely more user friendly (throttle control and possible steering reverse). I'm not sure it is worth the extra ESC though....have to think about that one.

I am using a damped inverted position switch left over from a previous project. A bit better than the mercury switch but the same basic concept.

Your system is great but it seems like you are limited to using brushed motors running only at full throttle with a relatively small current that is limited by the charging connector. Good for a basic retrivial system I am sure. However, I want brushless with full speed control for my application so this was my design motivation.

In thinking about your comment on requiring a second speed control, this morning I designed and built a NEW switching device that has many advantages. First, I do NOT need a second ESC, I just use the main ESC and connect my swiiching device to it. This both saves cost, space and improves reliability PLUS, my aux brushless inrunner motor when the boat is inverted can have a very high amp rating around 50 or 60 amps. I basically want to control the boat in the inverted position, hit a wake at high speed and have it turn over. Remember, the CG wants to make the boat operate in the normal position.

I have ordered two hydro hulls that I want to experiment with, both about 28" long with the top hatch perfectly suited for a brushless inrunner installation. Now I just have to wait for the hulls to arrive! Keep up your good, inventive work.

[questtek]

I posted a demo video tape of my two different electronic modules in operation onboard a twin brushless (over and under) motor set-up based on your your Onboard Hydro Retrival Idea. See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRgyZaq_qAM&feature=youtube_gdata

Pics of my operational test set up are attached.

[Shooter]

Now you are cooking with gas......only one esc! Nice. No doubt, mine is limited to a brushed motor, for retrieval purposes only. They tend to nose dive in the upside down position with too much umph. You'll have to do some testing when you get your hull. I think you might be a bit over enthuthiastic trying to right her over a wave...the cg ain't helping much.. Great video!

[questtek]

Now you are cooking with gas......only one esc! Nice. No doubt, mine is limited to a brushed motor, for retrieval purposes only. They tend to nose dive in the upside down position with too much umph. You'll have to do some testing when you get your hull. I think you might be a bit over enthuthiastic trying to right her over a wave...the cg ain't helping much.. Great video!

Thanks, just some mods to your basic idea. There may also be a way to take an aux drive off the main shaft via a small electromagnetic clutch for a simple, lightweight "Get Home" solution. I will have to think about it a bit more. If this can be done there is no need to mount another motor in the hatch but just design a prop system that would work in any type of boat....mono, cat, etc. It is worth some thought anyway.

I bought two of these hulls to experiment with. Pic attached. The back cowl should work well for the inverted motor testing.

[electric]

Fun watching the evolution and refinement of an idea. I race boats for fun with a few family members on some weekends and they refuse to run a boat unless it can roll over. I have alway thought that for an average "sport boater" this inability to get your boat back (roll over or second motor) discourages quite a few people from the hobby.

The issue is if your just playing/racing with friends you don't want the fun to go on "pause" while someone deals with getting their boat.

Keep going...

[Shooter]

Fun watching the evolution and refinement of an idea. I race boats for fun with a few family members on some weekends and they refuse to run a boat unless it can roll over. I have alway thought that for an average "sport boater" this inability to get your boat back (roll over or second motor) discourages quite a few people from the hobby.

The issue is if your just playing/racing with friends you don't want the fun to go on "pause" while someone deals with getting their boat.

Keep going...

Right on. Life is short. Why spend it retrieving boats?? Truth of the matter is, if your flipping all the time, you're probably way over-powered.....but that's how I roll!

[Boaterguy]

the thing is, you put in a system to recover from flips, but the extra weight would probably stop the flips, or at least delay them

[Shooter]

I just weighed a cowl WITH the system and one WITHOUT.

WITH: 7.25oz
WITHOUT: 3oz

Surprisingly, not much added weight. Too bad we can't get that weight up front though.....and the simpler we can make this thing the better. I don't think we can get much simpler than a relay switch tapped off the balance plug, but if anyone has any other ideas....I'm all ears!

[Shooter]

the thing is, you put in a system to recover from flips, but the extra weight would probably stop the flips, or at least delay them

Uncanny! I was weighing it as you were typing!

[Boaterguy]

a cheap, tiny brushless and micro esc, with an inversion switch that worked from the batteries, no BEC, that way the batt would not be run down very quickly and there would be no chance (minus malfunction) of the prop spinning
speed would not be an issue.

[Shooter]

Questek - Have you made any more improvements in your mad science lab??? I've been thinking about your idea of using the existing speed controller. Would it be possible to rig up both motors on the same controller (all three wires hooked to the controller)?? One of the (3) wires would be 'switchable' to alternate between motors? Would that work?

I've since added a system to the PT hull, despite the disappointment of some folks! to them! Funny thing is that it hardly ever flips, even running 60mph. Hats off to PT!

2011-07-17_22-19-23_387.jpg

[Jacked1]

I just saw the new parts to this thread and it is very cool!
The one problem I can see tho is the switch would work off of the downward acceleration from gravity and if the boat is bouncing around I wonder if it would momentarily cut the power to the motor that is in the water?

And to switch from one motor to the other without changing the esc you could use some fets and a full on gate signal to the leg of the motor you wanted to use and you would need to do this to at least two legs of the motor. But then again You would also need a floating gate controller since the source voltage would not be grounded.