fusioneng wrote:
I agree great review, I've been closely following Torqeedo for several yrs now with great interest, they are light years ahead of the rest of the manufacturers who all seem to be in the same exact rut, all trying to fit their entire product line onto that one elusive 3000 lb. bass boat, thinking the users only want to troll at 2-3mph, at around a 15% duty cycle, and can add as many heavy batteries as they please, and assuming all boats have an alternator for recharging.
All us poor saps with kayaks are stuck with having to adapt that crap to our needs. Case in point, try to find a trolling motor prop not designed to propel a 3000 lb boat at 3mph,,,,, there aren't any, but there are plenty weed free props ( lol).
You only need to glance at other markets such as scooters, electric bikes, wheel chairs, golf carts, robots, toys and see they all have PWM drives and lithium batteries at 1/10the cost. Actually many motors these days have the PWM electronics built in, and very high power controllers can be purchased for $30-50 dollars.
I feel strongly that It's the general trolling motor industry itself that is so far behind the curve and out of touch with reality it's not even funny, trying to push 30 yr old technology on all of us.
Case in point look at a minnkota 30# endura, from 20 yrs ago and a current model, they should be ashamed (IMO).
Case in point does it really cost $200 dollars more to paint the motor white vs black, and dip the motherboard in plastic coating, and add a small piece if zinc.
Why is Torqeedos solar panel so expensive ($900 for a 45w amorphous panel), I wonder if you couldn't just buy a pair of marine 12v mono crystal flexible 40's hook them up in series for half the price, if that's not practical, just add a small 12v lith battery with an inverter to power the 110 charger that comes with the torqeedo system to charge the Torqeedo batteries, this way the 12 volt system could power all the aux things like fish finders (most everyone has them), and lights, radios, etc. actually I have a 400 or 600 amp lithium battery jumper (for jump starting cars), that is the size of a book and only a couple lbs, I bought at I think Lowes for next to nothing, it includes Usb and 12 vdc power adapters. That whole package could go in a dry box on the rear deck with some damp rid crystals sprinkled on a false screen floor, with a couple pin holes drolled in the bottom to drain the water out of the box (those damp rid crystals are a must (amazing stuff). If you need to charge your IPad or Iphone it's safest to plug it in and keep it inside the dry box while charging (I know of no waterproof USB stuff.
It's just not Torqeedos fault that the main body of the industry are a bunch of morons IMO (excuse my french (lol)), and have no competition. Granted recently some nice stuff is coming out from other manufacturers, but they think adding a $20 dollar gps , or a $30 dollar PWM controller to their same old crap increases the cost by a thousand bucks (give me a break).
Yea Torqeedo likely puts 70% profit in their pockets, I don't blame them one bit they offer are very good, really well designed products ( I'm a designer and appreciate that kind of stuff very much), but look what they are up against (no competition).
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to design injection molds and seals, that protect the precious electronics from water intrusion, using $10 bucks worth of plastic (just sayin) Torqeedo does it why can't anyone else. Heck I can even supply them with the indestructable heat conducting plastic that they would need for around a buck a lb.
I was born, but not yesterday.
Signed
Frustrated FE, I want all that stuff but I hate having to invent everything myself, (for my own personal use only)
I understand your frustration. I was shocked at how ancient the trolling motor technology was, even from the supposedly best manufacturers. There's no excuse to base their products solely on lead acid batteries except if, as you say, their market is primarily aimed at people who own 3000 pound bass boats.
Despite the popularity of kayaks these days there are only a few manufacturers that sell kayak motors, and only Torqeedo uses technology specifically designed for a kayak. The others use technology from trolling motors. So Torqeedo can charge what they want because they have no real competition in this niche market. All the Torqeedo components are quality made, but the cost still seems high to me. Fortunately, after you get over the price you're rewarded with an excellent motor. Hobie is the same. Their prices are very high, but at least you get the best quality and designs available for your money.
To answer your question on solar panels, the early Torqeedo batteries were very fussy about the voltage and current ratings of powered or solar chargers. Their newer line of batteries, available now, are far better and will accept almost any DC power source from 9.5 to 50 VDC. They've changed the internal circuitry to accept a very wide range of voltages, and current limiting is now handled internally as well. However, solar panels vary widely in power capabilities so this has to be taken into account. Torqeedo specs a minimum required charging current of 4 amps. Anything less than that may not fully charge the battery or charge it too slowly.