Electric Jet Ski Conversion

What motor, controller and batteries have you used. What is top speed and how long do you get from the batteries?

I would like to see a video clip of it in action if you have one.

Rick W

 

One of the cheapest IP68 motor kit i know :

http://www.re-e-power.com/E-Pods.html

This motor will need to be in water (or oil) for cooling and heat of the liquid taken out
You can also use water cooled engines but most are only IP 66

 

i posted all that information just a few posts above the one you quoted on the second page
I do not have a video but i suppose i could make one sometime

 

Just throwing this idea into the pot...
What about a trolling motor???

Take it all apart and get the motor and speed control, couple the motor to the jet drive with either a shaft coupler, betl and pulley, or chain and sproket.

Those motors will last quite a while on one battery, and with the big prop removed shoud get some high RPM.

 

that was the first thing that came to my mind, it would be ideal especially if you took the handle control and connected it to the throttle control cable in some way. I did my conversion without spending a penny b/c i had the stuff laying around but a trolling motor would be great. still need to consider cooling though b/c a trolling motor is made to be under water

 

Cooling the motor is easy, put a pipe facing the impeller on the jet drive. Run some hoses to a tank in which the motor sits in. Or some sort of electric pump but that takes Juice from the motor to run.

 

Or just a tube in direction of the bow
when going forward it pushes water on the engine
another reverse to drain by succession

Facing impeller seems smarter as pressure will be linked to engine effort...i like this a lot, very cool idea !

 

I kinda thought facing the bow would not create enough pressure, I dont know. I just like suggesting ideas and seeing what you guys can turn them into.

Edit:When you point the pipe facing the impeller going to cool the motor, have the water exit go into the inlet side of the impeller. Sort of equal out the forces.

 

Jetskis have water take-off fittings on the pump that feed cooling water to the engines, you simply re-use it to cool the new motor. Bypass fittings on the side of hulls give an exit point for the water coming off the motor and are a visual confirmation that the cooling circuit is not blocked.
I am putting together a unit with lithium iron phosphate batteries, looking to have weight of batteries, controller and motor within a 110lb limit

 

hi! here is a nice conversion !! pict done in phuket two year ago...
cheer's
bertho

 

I bet it runs quieter than before being modified.

Rick W

 

Hello All,

This is my first post, so if my signature is not proper please email or comment on this thread.

Boy am I glad to stumble onto this thread,
we cannot let it die !!

I am about to implement an electric conversion on one of my WaveRunner 750 SLT.

Leonardv9240,
Please do not use Lithium Polymer batteries for this application,
Lithium Iron Phosphate would be more adequate, I can elaborate on that subject / chemistry "pros & cons"
(will do so later if this thread picks up again)

A lot has evolved since the very first post on this thread was written and I can assure you that a conversion is in order and viable with today's technologies
1- electric motors
2- controllers
3- various battery chemistries to support 1 and 2

I cannot wait to get involved with you boys and girls.

Christian StClaire

________________
StClaire's Patent # US 6,168,288 in Gulf's Oil Spill cleaning effort, assigned to Tektite Corp. NJ New Jersey News Report
Device marking the oil spill's containment booms

 

Check out these links...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYKE5hQnXbM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yNu2_LlO9s&feature=related

I haven't given up on my electric boat but no time right now. I almost planed my wooden row boat with two 6.5 hp electric motors. I learned a lot from messing around with motors, controllers and batteries. Best bet is LiFePo4 cells and an etek type motor for a small boat/ski. For a bigger boat or ski like your 750, I would look into a forklift style series motor. I have several that I might try later. I also have a few yahama 550 pumps that are from 32 HP older wave runners. A good series motor should be able to produce 32 HP for burst of speed.

The biggest issue is the batteries. Expect to pay at least $0.50 per WH for the batteries, charger and BMS. For your project, estimate about $4-8k for batteries.

After messing around with industrial UPS Pb batteries, I found out they have great limitations. Weight is one and capacity drops rapidly as current goes up. Sure, you can draw 3C current from the batteries, but expect a maximum of 5-7 minutes of life, not 20 minutes. The LiFePo4 cells usually lose very little capacity at 3C rates. They are currently out of my price range.

The reality of jetpumps is they are too inefficient at the speeds batteries can take you. The first clip shows about the best you could expect from an electric jet ski.

The second clip is a no expense spared effort with a surface prop. Not a practical daily boat at all.

There is an electric outboard mfg in europe called karvin.
Search 'karvin 5500' on you tube. Fast but I don't know if they are in production.

You are not alone in your quest for electric boating. Search the web. About 99% of the application are for speeds less than 8 MPH.

 

I was involved with Mike Bontoft's electric record boat. The design and most of the electrical system was very conventional. The boat was a standard outboard hydroplane design with a 48 volt pump motor geared up to a conventional racing outboard lower unit. The Enerland lithium polymer batteries were the innovation. We used 252 cells packaged into six cell packs. Seven of these batteries were wired in parallel in a compartment. The six compartments were wired in series to give 133 volts nominal. Attached is data log of the record run. The current and voltage are for a single six cell battery. The current at the speed control is seven times higher and the voltage is six times higher. The rpm is propeller rpm. The motor was geared up so its rpm was that rpm divided by 1.75. We used a quick change gear box to match motor and propeller characteristics.

Lohring Miller

 

Excellent Information

This is great information for us geeks that are toying with fast electric powered boats. I can appreciate the spreadsheet with all the parameters. A few years ago, I built an outboard based electric motor with a 36 volt, 10.7 HP forklift pump motor. I never finished the project but now I have some inspiration! I was looking for around 25 MPH. The donor OB is a 20HP Johnson with a 1.75 ratio drive. With the steepest pitch prop available and accounting for slip, 25 mph would be near the motor's 5k redline. With Pb batteries, the weight might prevent reaching that speed anyway.

The LifePo4 batteries availble now from China would help the effort but the cost is to high to justify now for a 'toy'

I see Nissan is using the polymer batteries in the Leaf. The achievable energy density is reported at 200wh/kg. This is at least 5x better than Pb.