Watersnake 24lb on Revo 13

I finally picked up my Watersnake 24lb motor yesterday and spent today rigging the wiring and bracket for it.

Bracket = 40mm plastic pipe with 90mm x 19mm board bolted between, one end overhanging
Battery = 18AH deep cycle AGM
Battery box = plastic storage box from local hardware store
Fuse = 50amp resettable breaker (waterproof)
Wired via Anderson plugs

Although I bought the battery two weeks ago, today I was getting some connectors at a different battery store and was told that the batter I have wouldn't last 25 minutes. I was dubious about this, and rightly so. On slow speed I put in an hour and a quarter, then played around with high speed, and the battery has plenty of life left. Doesn't seem to have made much difference at all. Next time I go out I will attach a volt meter to see how it goes.

On slow speed into the wind and against the tide; 2 KPH
On high speed into the same wind and tide; 5 KPH.

Speeds as per GPS.

I am very happy with my Watersnake. Now I have to try it with fishing.

any pics?

OK... how do I insert an image.

Front view with mounting board in place.



Back view showing battery box (bought at local hardware store) and Anderson plug. I was going to have the plug tethered to me so if I fell overboard it would disconnect as a kill switch but the Anderson plugs are a tight fit and don't pull apart easily. Still thinking on that one, too.



Inside the box. The resettable circuit breaker cost Aus$35 at an auto-electrician.

The battery box is bolted to the board (only two at the moment as I ran out of bolts). I am thinking about a more convenient way to attach the box so it can be easily disassembled to put in the car. With the board attached it's a bit awkward to find a place in the vehicle where it won't fall over on corners. Working on that today.



Although it doesn't seem to need it, I put the strap over the top to help hold it in place. The angle of the holders and pipe and the weight of the battery and motor seem to keep it all in place nicely. I guess one concern would be if the yak tipped over, so I will give that a bit more thought. Also, when running, the force is forward at the propellor, so it also helps hold the assembly in place. The pipe is capped at the top, but an extension piece can be added to turn it into an inexpensive rod holder. I will use a 45deg bend as the joiner so the rod can be angled away from the yak at whatever angle I need; frontward, sideways, backwards...



Finally, the pipe was about Aus$5 at that same hardware store, and the board (90mm x 19mm x 900mm) was about Aus$3. The bolts and wing-nuts were probably the most expensive part.

Watersnake 24lb @ $169 (Getaway Camping Goods)
18AH battery @ $82

One last thing, on slow speed I was doing about 2KPH, but with only a little extra input from the mirage drive I was skipping along at quite a good pace. If trolling, instead of going to high speed to get to the next hole, just peddle a bit.


**** Many thanks for the advice on how to get the photos in here. I have also thought of some modifications to the next version of this. Today I went out again and the basic design is fine. Version II will be to refine it, make it tidier, stronger, and hopefully a bit more professional. Still, I am very pleased in how it has worked.

Second vote for photos, they do say a thousand words.

OK, I have tried various links in this to show images and it just isn't working. Onedrive, Photobucket, different links provided by these services, and still nothing.

Please, if you can help, let me know where I am getting it wrong.

I haven't posted any pictures myself, but Chekika posted the following:

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=7276&p=237495&hilit=posting+pictures#p237495

On the right side of the Photobucket page under shared links copy the direct link and insert were the ****** are.

[img]*******[/img]

On today's run I was trolling next to a fisherman using a Minn Kota 30lb thrust motor. That thing was SO quiet. The Watersnake on mine makes a lot of cavitation noise. I am wondering if there is a preferred depth for the propellor to make it quieter. Any ideas?

I have been wondering the same thing, just how deep you need the prop in the water to keep it from sucking air down with it.

I have a new Minn Kota 30lb thrust motor and a Tom Kirkmans type motor mount, no Battery yet.

re: Cavitation

If you use depth to end cavitation, you may have to go deeper than you would like.

I have two Torqeedos, one cavitates the other does not:



The Ultralight (left) does, the Travel (right) does not. The difference is obvious - the Travel has a foil around the shaft. The eVolve has a foil as well and I don't remember reading about it cavitating.

I found that even a rudimentary foil on the front of the UL shaft stops the cavitation and also gives nearly 1 MPH more speed.

Hmmm... heatgun/vinyl siding=airfoil...

The top of the prop when in the vertical position needs to be at least 4 inches below the surface. Keep in mind that on rolling waters this depth changes as you go, so you might have to put it even lower to maintain that 4 inch depth at all times.

Thanks Tom, with a short stretch of Intracoastal Waterway i cross at times it will be lower.

Your motor mount look like it will work out great. I had to rotate it towards the front of my Outback to get it to lock in tight, but its not going anywhere when locked in.

Thanks for the suggestions. Next one; has anyone tried putting the battery in the rear hatch? I know I would need to run power cable out but I am sure that is doable.

Herbaldew, another difference I can see is the two-blade prop and three-blade one. With the information you have given, though, I will try a few things out. I do need to be careful of the depth though, as most of the places I go can get quite shallow. I ended up with a lot of black sticky mud on the bottom of the yak yesterday as by the time I had finished the tide was on the way out.

There is a great app in Australia for tides, wind, moon & etc called WillyWeather. Keeps you up with the latest information. http://tides.willyweather.com.au Download it for your smartphone.

Another one is FishingLITE (will get the pro version soon).