TFL Patron Saint "Outerlimits" "Lucky Oct" 1330mm brushless buid

[Jesse J]

?Cat?? This looks like a mono! Bravo, own the build!

[Old School]

Jesse,
I am always up for a challenging build but this build is leaving me a little exhausted with frustration as the chosen drive leaves so much up to the builder and ongoing maintenance will be a nightmare. Greasing the outer shaft will not be an issue, however, the inner flexshaft will require the motor to be removed to extract the shaft. Hopefully, the quick change motor mount will maintain alignment with the flexshaft upon installation.

[hughb]

Though it was a hassle to install the Arneson drive, it does look great and makes for a very unique build!

[Old School]

Many thanks. Yes, there was a little head scratching but the end result is worth it. Currently awaiting the resin to cure on a stirrup plate that retains the aft end of the stuffing tube. This will enable the drive unit to be removed allowing me to then align the stuffing tube/flexshaft up with the motor. The T-bar wil support the stuffing tube at the forward end and the stirrup at the aft end with the drive removed. In normal use the stirrup will have no function as the stuffing tube slips inside the forward end of the drive unit. Sorting out the steering servos is causing a little headache but it will be overcome. I believe that the only thing that I still need to acquire is a prop, but no rush getting that as there is still a lot more work to do on the boat.

[Old School]

This shows the brass tubing that supports the steering cables and inner liner plus the CF plate stirrup located just forward of the Arenson drive. The purpose of this stirrup is to support the stuffing tube when the drive unit is removed. This will allow me to align the flexshaft with the motor collett and to be able to measure the flexshaft to cut for correct length.

[Old School]

This shows my thinking on the servo mounting. After the set up has been fully installed then removal should only be if the stuffing tube requires repair/replacement. I should still have access to the flexshaft for removal for greasing plus access to the motor collett. The plate at the rear is to mount the LiFe (2200 mah 30C 2S) receiver battery plus the receiver. This will be easily removable for access to the transom hardware if required.

I have uploaded additional images showing further progress. The steering seems overly complicated but necessitated by reducing sharp radii in the cable outer housing plus routing the exit point to the servo arms above the waterline. Oddly, one cable is about 1 cm shorter than the other so the R/H cable barely makes it through the end fitting clamp. I will swap over the cables and see if the difference is due the shape of the brass support tubing.

Edit: alas, one cable is over 1 cm longer than the other. Swapping over the cables gained me about 2 mm protruding through the cable clamp.

[Peter A]

Those T bars are threaded for an oiler. Why not either use an oiler on the shaft or fit a grease nipple for greasing, thereby eliminating the need to remove the flex shaft?

[Old School]

Those T bars are threaded for an oiler. Why not either use an oiler on the shaft or fit a grease nipple for greasing, thereby eliminating the need to remove the flex shaft?

Peter,
I do have the oiler canister and the rotating bearing cap with the oil attachment to fit to the forward end of the stuffing tube. I could go with a grease nipple and simply grease the shaft.

[Old School]

Minor progress. The receiver and battery mount plate in position. The plate is retained by two M3 screws so readily removable for access to the transom mounted hardware. An ON/OFF switch is fitted for the receiver. Hopefully, the receiver is far enough under the deck lip to keep it dry.

[Old School]

They say necessity is the mother of invention, well, I had a quandary with the rear mounting of the steering servos. The mount point was directly over the T-bar and to mount down through the bar would have been somewhat tedious. In my thinking moments, the time between getting into bed and drifting off to sleep, I thought why not a simple plate to hold down the servo. It is secured at the forward end and held in place by the carbon plate bracket it sits in so is under no real force.

Edit: The steering mechanism is now complete as far as a satisfactory testing. I still need to reassemble and seal off the transom mounts and grease the cables. The action is as good as I had hoped. The digital servos act in unison, are very precise, run smoothly and there is no "hunting" at the selected positions. I cycled the system about forty times. The next task is disassembly of the Arenson drive and aligning the flexshaft and final motor installation, then it is the electronics.

[Old School]

Minor progress. Flexshaft oiler canister mounted (not very elegant but sturdy).

[fweasel]

I don't think the oiler looks out of place. If it were my build, I might try to sneak the hose under the forward aluminum motor mount. Looks like there might just be enough room and it would clean up the appearance a bit.

[Old School]

I needed the height for the oiler and locate it where there was sufficient height clearance under the hatch. My T-bar does not permit direct fitting of the canister plus it would have interfered with the steering mechanism if located at the T-bar.

[Old School]

Images showing the mounting for the battery connection/capacitor board. The 300 amp Hifei ESC will mount directly below. The carbon fibre plate is isolated from the circuit board so no chance of a short circuit. The board surrounding the circuit board is G10 fibreglass plate.

[Old School]

Minor progress. Motor aligned and installed. Flexshaft cut to length. Main body portion of the Arenson drive fitted. Cooling hoses fitted. Still need to fit the steering gear and commence the ESC installation and wiring. Then think about battery install and connections.

Edit: I fitted slightly longer bolts to the forward half circle mount on the motor as when tightening down the upper mount the O-ring tends to inhibit the upper half circle mount from sitting correctly so the longer bolts mean that more threads are in contact before any pressure is felt to tighten down the upper half. Servo mount plates now fitted. I also removed the 6 o'clock position motor mount bolt on the aft motor face as it would have been very difficult to remove the motor insitu. There are still five bolts mounting the motor.