CR Yacker, I think I will do the same with the silicone.
Herbaldew, interesting about the Torqeedo 1003 - and your peak speed of about 7 mph (with the thrust off angle some). The one time I was somewhat careful measuring my peak speed I was at 4870 ft elevation (I thought this lake was at 4000 but when I checked it was a little higher). This is with the 2.5 hp Suzuki and I was hitting about 7.7 mph peak (6.6 knots) and around 6.6 mph at 1/2 throttle (5.7 knots). At sea level I could expect a little higher speeds but have not measured this. The peak speed you saw of around 7 mph is between my 1/2 and full throttle speeds. The 1000 watts power the 1003 is using is 1.34 hp.
So this
Quote:
static thrust figures: Honda 2.3 - 66, Torqeedo T1003 - 68, Suzuki 2.5 - 83
sort of looks about what we are seeing? The claim of "works like a 3 hp" might have been influenced a little by the Torqeedo marketing department???
FYI, the Suzuki outboard isnt that loud but if you are sitting right next to it (like I have setup) - it is really annoying and maybe dangerously load in the ear next to the outboard. I bought some sound reducing head gear from the hardware store for the next time I go out. Bob sits up front away from the outboards and I would guess can hardly hear them running.
Sort of interesting to compare the capacity of the gas outboard to electric.. I got about 9 miles of motoring at 5.7 knots (6.6 mph) with the Suzuki at 1/2 throttle. If I assume this was about 1.34 hp (or 1000 watts) for the 1/2 throttle and the one quart tank lasted 1.36 hours, the equivalent "Watt * hours" capacity of 1 quart of gas is 1000 watts * 1.36 hours = 1360 watt hours.
The Torqeedo 1003 battery has a capacity of 532 watt hours. This means that the one quart of gas in the Suzuki internal tank has the same capacity as 2.5 of the Torqeedo batteries. It also means that the one gallon tank plus 20 oz tank plus internal 1 quart tank for the gas setup has the same capacity of about 14 of the Torqeedo batteries.