Sailboat Refit

Using Arduino Project Guidance
1

Hello folks .

My names Bob and I am doing a upgrade on a 1956 king fisher sailboat . I am trying to make this boat awesome as far as technology upgrades. I have made many upgrades to the electrical system to make this boat a efficient single handed sailing boat.
To the point I want to use Arduino to control all the Led lighting on my boat from my smart phone via bluetooth. I am also installing a 10 horsepower manta 2 electric drive running on 36 volts. I need forward and reverse and variable speed control. This motor has a high amp load it would be awesome to control this with a slider switch app. There are controllers on the market but in my opinion they are ridiculously priced.

I want to know which board you would recommend for this application with room for expansion. I know I will need a relay array , I plan on getting the 16 relay board for the lighting . However the amp rating on these relays are not high enough for the propulsion motor so suggestions are needed . The lighting will be my first step and the motor control as I become more familiar with the the capabilities of the hardware and codes used.

I know I have to learn all this . I will do my homework , I just want to get the hardware correct to begin with so I can purchase them and get the pdf files .
Any help getting me up and running here is greatly appreciated.

Thanks Bob

2

Controllers for 10 horsepower electric motors need to be professionally designed and manufactured (and I would look for a solid guarantee) so that will be the hard part. There aren't any on the hobby market.

3

10 HP motor is about 7500 watts. At 36v this is over 200A, this is a lot of current to control.

What do you propose to use to handle this?

You have not stated what experience you have with electronics or coding. You should learn to walk before you run. This is not a beginners project.

Read how to control LEDs and read switches. Once you have mastered the basics expand to your main project.

Weedpharma

4

For controlling LEDs, I would use MOSFETs instead of relays. MOSFETs will consume much less current than relays and are probably more reliable in that enviromnent.

5

bscfrnd1:
Hello folks .

I am doing a upgrade on a 1956 king fisher sailboat

Just bring it back to original showroom condition?
Probably never had any electrics.

...R

6

jremington:
Controllers for 10 horsepower electric motors need to be professionally designed and manufactured (and I would look for a solid guarantee) so that will be the hard part. There aren't any on the hobby market.

There are things available commercially with all kinds of bells and whistles. There is also a more low tech solution for motor control. I was thinking perhaps I could use the arduino to control this relay WIND GHOST Wind turbines sustainable 403 energy breez wind Wind Scorpion hornet mills wind mill power wind power airx egeneration Wind turbine 17mm hub centerwind turbine mills wind power wind power generationh.

7

weedpharma:
10 HP motor is about 7500 watts. At 36v this is over 200A, this is a lot of current to control.

What do you propose to use to handle this?

You have not stated what experience you have with electronics or coding. You should learn to walk before you run. This is not a beginners project.

Read how to control LEDs and read switches. Once you have mastered the basics expand to your main project.

Weedpharma

I was hoping to control it with this WIND GHOST Wind turbines sustainable 403 energy breez wind Wind Scorpion hornet mills wind mill power wind power airx egeneration Wind turbine 17mm hub centerwind turbine mills wind power wind power generationh. I wanted to use the board to control two of these high amp units one set up for forward and one wired for reverse. Controlling the prop speed with pulses to these. I dont think they were designed to have pwm inputs even though it states to hold up to millions of on off cycles. I dont think mechanically they can react like that. That is why I am on this forum . It stated the forum was for feasibility and application questions.

8

groundfungus:
For controlling LEDs, I would use MOSFETs instead of relays. MOSFETs will consume much less current than relays and are probably more reliable in that enviromnent.

Thank you good point yes the marine environment is a challenge. I will do that . I may also use them for controlling these propulsion motor relays. WIND GHOST Wind turbines sustainable 403 energy breez wind Wind Scorpion hornet mills wind mill power wind power airx egeneration Wind turbine 17mm hub centerwind turbine mills wind power wind power generationh I know there are current limits on the MOSFETs . I am not certain of the current requirement of the solenoid coils themselves it probably not that high.

9

You can use MOSFETs in parallel to divide the current load among several MOSFETs. Here is an app note explaining how and the limitations.
http://www.irf.com/technical-info/appnotes/an-941.pdf

10

weedpharma:
10 HP motor is about 7500 watts. At 36v this is over 200A, this is a lot of current to control.

What do you propose to use to handle this?

You have not stated what experience you have with electronics or coding. You should learn to walk before you run. This is not a beginners project.

Read how to control LEDs and read switches. Once you have mastered the basics expand to your main project.

Weedpharma

[/quote

Thanks you. I had planned to control the motor with two of these WIND GHOST Wind turbines sustainable 403 energy breez wind Wind Scorpion hornet mills wind mill power wind power airx egeneration Wind turbine 17mm hub centerwind turbine mills wind power wind power generationh , one with the polarity reversed. Planned on using the board to actuate these relays .

11

Those high current relays will be an expensive failure. The contacts will probably fuse due to the startup current of the motor.

The >200 amps estimated above are for the normal load operating conditions of the motor. However, brushed DC motors briefly draw the stall current upon startup, which can be ten times higher than the normal load current. You need a controller than can either handle the startup current or employs "soft start" technology to limit the initial motor current.

12

Hi, how are you planning to power these motors, what power source.
Submarine batteries come to mind, but in a sailboat they might just do that, turn it into a submarine.

Tom.... :slight_smile:

13

jremington:
Those high current relays will be an expensive failure. The contacts will probably fuse due to the startup current of the motor.

The >200 amps estimated above are for the normal load operating conditions of the motor. However, brushed DC motors briefly draw the stall current upon startup, which can be ten times higher than the normal load current. You need a controller than can either handle the startup current or employs "soft start" technology to limit the initial motor current.

Can 3 , 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries deliver up to 10 times the 200 amps? The relay is rated at 450 amp. Perhaps it may fail however these have been used on numerous projects with the manta two motor . Its 10 hp peak and 6 hp nominal. The spec sheet for the motor is on the same page. 10 hp Permanent Magnet Motor

14

Can 3 , 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries deliver up to 10 times the 200 amps?

That will depend on the batteries and the resistance of the battery wiring. Good luck with the project!