Torqeedo 403 Ultralight Motor / Hobie TI Application Guide

Thanks, I have had a 402 since they came out and it enabled me to Sail and Kayak again after Chemo forced me off the water.

It has worked perfectly ever since I installed it, on Three different Hobie's, Two ball mounts so I can easily switch between the Revolution and Island.

18 months ago Torqeedo contacted me and said they were replacing some issues of their Alpha battery and sent me a brand new model with a 40% higher capacity even though my old one was fine

The only problem, as you say, is getting in touch with anyone who has required info, or represents Torqeedo in Oz.

I agree with you're observations, I too made a foil from plastic but mounting and stability have not been perfected, more on this later.

I don't know how to post photos now that image shack is not free but here is a Link to a short Vid where you can see my positioning.
I used this positioning so that the unit is protected from the buoys, rocks and poles that sometimes contact the Stern, also I can reach it to remove weed or line fouling.

Thanks again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fYWC4kLgAI

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Fair Skies, Max.

Max, try www.photobucket.com.

it is free and has a huge capacity before anything happens (I am only using about 3% but have 15+ pages of images)

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Great video, thanks for sharing.

One of the best Torqeedo dealers and sources for knowledge that I know of is in Oz. The Torqeedo Shop has locations in Sydney, Noosa, Brisbane, Pittwater, Rushcutters Bay, and Sunshine Coast. One of the best sources there, Chris Baker <[email protected]>, knows more about Torqeedos than anyone else I know of. If you ever have a question you should contact him. There is also a lot of good info on their web site.

Torqeedo factory service has also been great. They answer any questions I have within a day or two. I just recently sent in my motor to have them fix the tilt switch issue I mentioned earlier. Even though it's winter here and I have no need for the motor right now, they fixed and returned it very quickly, under warranty at no charge.

I'm still working on a more foolproof design for the foil. I hope to have that ready before the season starts here again in April-May.

Use photobucket.com like Tony says. No charge and works great.

Sorry I forgot to mention Chris Baker who is the only Torqeedo guy I have managed to get on the phone. he was brilliant, knew everything and mailed me my bracket before I had paid for it!

Sorry I missed the tilt-switch issue cos I didn't read every page but my motor sometimes needs a tap and reset to make the switch engage after lowering and getting an error message. Any hints?

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Fair Skies, Max.

Yea, Chris is great and always willing to help.

The only solution for the tilt switch issue is a warranty repair because it's located inside the motor on a circuit board. I debated sending in my motor for repair because the problem wasn't that bad and I could fix it simply by tapping the motor, or more conveniently by rocking it a bit via the up and down tilt lines.

I waited for the off season when it was too cold to sail then finally sent it in to Torqeedo for repair under warranty. I told them I wasn't in a hurry but they still got it back to me within 10 days fully repaired. Not a bad turnaround time.

Fantastic post. Considering a TI at the moment, and posts like this really help.

FWIW, let's say the TI is 18' even at water line (just for simple math), so 6.54 MPH would be hull speed. To push beyond that is possible, but the power required increases exponentially, and stability/maneuverability suffer severely. You're also putting a ton of extra force on the hull mount trying to push too hard.

The conventional theoretical hull speed (THS) model is fairly accurate for a ballasted displacement hull sailboat. I have a 26 foot sailboat and really struggle to get 3% over THS.

But the TI is maybe a factor of 5 times lighter (that is 500%) than a conventional 18 foot sailboat with a lot of bottom flat area. The TI is usually not much heavier than the one pilot.

Its very common to sail these way over that THS of 6.54 mph. Like up to 10 to 12 mph. 10/6.54 = 1.53 That is HUGE 53 percent over THS. You can not do this with a conventional ballasted displacement hull.

I can get up to about 8 mph with a very small 2.5 hp gas outboard. That is over 22 percent over THS and its really not at all putting much strain on anything. The electric outboards getting up near THS probably put very little stress on things. I dont think that conventional THS model does a very good job describing the way these boats actually work.

The mount should of course be strong enough for the application but there isnt a ton of extra force to deal with.

Thanks for the explanation,Walt!! I'm much more conservative than you young thrill seekers but wondered what magic was occurring as I reached warp speed (8 mph).

Thank you for the great write-up. After some consideration I think this is the way I want to go for my tandem island as well.

I tried to order the 915w battery from defender marine (I do offshore saltwater fishing and want to be able to operate at close to maximum speeds for extended periods) and they told me that the battery would not work with the 403. Earlier in the comments somebody mentioned that they may say that and to ignore it. However, what they did tell me is that there is a new 915w battery coming out this spring specifically made for the 403.

http://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/produc ... 17-00.html

I'll be waiting for the release of that getting one.

Does anyone happen to know if it is possible to also use this to power a fish-finder?

The power pack does not have a power out socket and is not 12v (nom) . I recently fitted a Torqueedo 403 to my TI using this guide and I have a separate 12v system for bilge pump, fishfinder etc. This is charged by a flexibile 12v 75W solar panel on the trampoline. From the 12v system you can input into the charging socket for the 403 battery same as the factory supplied charger does for the unit. Notably the factory charger is only 12 volts as well. Voltage input is from 9v to something like 28v so 12 volts is fine to charge the battery (all the conversions etc are done in the battery pack)

So this system provides a power source for all the things that need 12v and a method to charge the Torqueedo battery while out fishing. If you have just a Torqueedo battery you will need another for the fishfinder.

I cant answer how long this extends the useage at the moment I am having too much fun out and about to worry too much about that it doesn't charge as fast as it use power but it does extend the time you can use the standard battery pack for.

Cheers

That's great news that Torqeedo is finally coming out with a high powered spare battery specifically for the 403, it was long overdue. However all indications suggest that the existing Torqeedo Spare 915 Wh Battery for Travel 1003 / 503 works perfectly with the 403. There are already people using them. I believe the only significant difference will be the case which excludes the unnecessary 1003 / 503 mounting brackets. This is nice because it will make the battery smaller and easier to stowe. Most Torqeedo dealers are obligated to say the Travel 1003 / 503 batteries are not for the 403, but some dealers are more straightforward about it. When I mentioned to Torqeedo that I was using the Travel 1003 / 503 530 Watt battery with my 403 they had no problem with it. When the new Spare 915 Wh Battery for the 403 comes out you should get that unless it costs significantly more, but I assume it'll cost the same.

You can power a fish finder off of a Torqeedo battery, it has more than enough power, but you would need a DC to DC Converter. 30 VDC Input, 12-14 VDC Output. And you would also need to tap into the wiring which would be tricky, but not impossible. You'd need to find matching connectors and make a junction box or alternatively you could buy a Torqeedo extension cable and tap into that. Don't just cut the 403's wires however or else you'd probably void your warranty. Conceivably you could also use the USB port using a 5 VDC Input to 12-14 VDC Output DC to DC Converter. However that port may be current limited and you would need to consult your fish finder specs to see what the minimum current requirements are. Most fish finders don't require much current, some people power them off of 8 AA batteries. Hobie even sells a kit to do this.

I didn't go this route and don't recommend using the Torqeedo battery to power a fish finder, it was simple enough just to get a small, separate 12VDC sealed battery to power my fish finder. Hobie sells them along with a bracket in their accessory catalog . You can use a low cost charger to charge it. Hobie also sells that or you could use a third party battery and charger. If your TI is new it should have come with a fish finder grommet kit, if not Hobie sells those too.
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/12544/Hobie-Fishfinder-Battery-Holder.html
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/12683/Hobie-Fish-Finder-12v-Battery.html
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/12609/Hobie-Fishfinder-Installation-Kit-III-Lowrance-Ready.html
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/12509/Hobie-Thru-Hull-Wiring-Kit.html

How did you fasten those cleats to the metal bar there? That's within the section where the aka bar inserts into and it doesn't look like there would be room under there for a fastener.

You have to fasten them the exact same way as Hobie did, tap the holes and use the correct length screws so they don't protrude enough to interfere with the aka inserts. A little tricky, but doable. You can remove one of the original Hobie screws in front to get the correct length.

Also, please be aware that you'll need this part: Hobie - Cleat Support Wedge - 79531111 under the Harken MicroCam cleats and blocks. You can buy the Harken hardware almost anywhere sailboat parts are sold, as they are a common item, but the Cleat Support Wedge is an exclusive Hobie part and matches the Harken cleats to the contour of the aka bar.

You can order all the parts, including the correct length mounting screws, from Hobie.

Thanks for the help. I hadn't previously thought about tapping it myself.

For anyone curious I took the screw out of the existing main-sheet cleat down to my local Fastenal (a commercial dealer of fasteners) and they measured it out for me as a 1 1/4" 8-32 pan-head machine screw.

For when you tap out the hole there are fine-thread taps and coarse-thread taps for the 8-32 size. I found success with the coarse-thread tap. I used a #29 drill bit with a coarse thread 8-32 tap and everything fit in perfectly.

The #8 is the screw size, and the-32 is the number of threads per inch. 32 is coarse and 36 is fine. So you can order with 8-32 or 8 coarse, those mean the same thing. Length is a separate parameter.

... and knowing is half the battle.

Brian