Electric how long can they run at Top Speed ?

[RichardB]

Dear Boaters.

I see some amazing speeds on the electrics. How long can they run full speed. Can they last as long as a nitro race.

Nitro racing including mill time to finish ?

Why is the electric course a different size than nitro racing ?

R.

 

[misshydro]

Depends on the motor Battery and Esc/electrionic speed control setups. The brushless motor are very fast and the way to go for a fast elctric boats. Run times could very but it's between 10-15 mins run time.There a electric rigger that set the speed record at 103 mhp! Electric boat are the same size as the nitro for the most part. Just different setups.Like motors running gears struts and rudders setups.

 

[Darin Jordan]

Dear Boaters.
I see some amazing speeds on the electrics. How long can they run full speed. Can they last as long as a nitro race.

Nitro racing including mill time to finish ?

Why is the electric course a different size than nitro racing ?

R.

Richard,

The racer's answer to your question is that YES, they can run as long as a nitro race, and you can set them up to allow for mill time, etc... There is some debate over the exact procedures that FE should take vs. Nitro... You guys mill because you have to.... you run cool-down laps because you have to... We can put the boat in the water and drive to the middle of the course, then sit there and go with 15-seconds or so left on the clock... When the race is over... we can pull into the infield an stop, getting off the course and out of everyone elses way... then drive them back to shore once the race is over...

There is a group of racers back east who regularly race with the Nitro folks and follow the Nitro rules... I'm sure that Paul Pachmayer or maybe Alan Nayman can chime in and give you more details, but it can and is done...

As for the course... You must remember that FE used to be a lot slower... it's only been in the past few years that we had the speed and the runtime to do the longer courses... There are many clubs now that simply use the 1/6th nitro course... Ours would, if we could get some lakes big enough to hold it... We're actually getting too fast for some of the lakes we race on...

Hope this helps...

 

[D. Newland]

Richard-the LiPo batteries have finally given us the "fuel tank" size to be able to run much, much longer at speed.

Before, it was a huge trade off between running very fast (pulling many amps) and having a very short runtime, or running kind-of fast with a bit longer runtime.

At the CAFE' race in Ohio earlier this month, Open Mono, Open Hydro and 1/8 scale had boats with all power classes represented. I bet all agree it was competitive, fun, and in some regard, the future.

With the electronic equipment available today and with a little bit of homework, all classes could be crossover classes at this point IMO. I should also throw in there "open mindness" as well.

 

[Russ Williamson]

I raced in my first FE race this year. The racing was a blast!!!

One very important, fun, exciting part of boat racing is missing in FE racing, the mill time. If this can be more like Nitro, there would not be much difference in FE or Nitro boat racing. But without the mill, there is a huge difference.

The strategy of the mill, set-up of your boat so it will mill well, the positioning, the timing, just like full scale racing, is were a lot of races are won and lost. It adds a entire dimension to the race to play out.

Also, being able to stop on the course and then start back up and go again was odd. If a boat (electric, gas, nitro) stops while on the race course, seems like you should not be able to "re-start". Once a boat is "dead in the water", seems like it should sit there and not re-start.

Adding a complete mill time would be great for FE racing, it is the only part I see missing compared to Nitro/Gas.

Have fun!

Russ

 

[Andrewg]

Richard

How long can they run full speed.

it varies depends on motor efficiency and how heavily you load it - Nitros make X hp at a given rpm - and thats where you want to run. With an electric, the motor makes max power at 50% peak rpm, but its too inefficient to run there, usually your heading out to about 90% of peak rpm. But you can vary prop size and cahracteristics so the motor is healy loaded or let it rev out and be lightly loaded and use very little current . In practice what this means is with a prop change you can setup an electric to run 50 seconds or 5 minutes on a pack

"Can they last as long as a nitro race.

This is a definite yes we run half the capacity the guys in Nth America are running and have no problem keep pace with nitro boats in racing - in Nth America a the electric system efficiencies will be a little less but a 2S setup should be able to run with a .21 and the 4S faster than a .45 -

" Nitro racing including mill time to finish ?

Again yes - but I generally go at the 30 second call rather than a minute or more prior to the mill ending

Why is the electric course a different size than nitro racing?

Its historical in 2000 electrics were reaching the speeds nitro had in the late 70s. The fuel tank was about 1700 mah under load vs the 8800-9000 mah now available in IMPBA/NAMBA racing (battery capacity and voltage are a little elastic they both shrink when you are pulling amps, more amps more shrink).

The course was shorter because the fuel tank was small but also racing the smaller oval increases the perceived speed of racing, just like a short circuit in a 1:1 makes you work harder, the banks seem closer and the ride rougher, the g forces are higher in turn etc.

 

[AlanN]

We at CAFE/Performance Model Boat Club ran just as David previously posted.

I prefer the full mill since the fig 9 start we did for years was a crap shoot for a start. Most hulls would not touch the water until near the 30 sec mark but found out that they better establish their lane PDQ. This meant for much cleaner starts and better lineups. There was plenty left in our batts to have done another 1-2 lap mill but when we use only partial throttle our speed controllers have a tendancy to get warm. Heat is the killer. If a speed controller gets too hot the software may shut down the controller for a few seconds allowing a bit of heat to disapate and then re-starts. So the racer must know his setup well enough to avoid this. That is the racers responsibility.

I agree that once a boat is called dead it is...dead. Even if it can be re-started it should not be allowed to run anymore. The CD has to be educated about FE to make the correct call. Just becouse a boat stops does not necessarliy mean it should be knocked out of competition IMO. EX: A boat stops to avoid hitting a previously called dead boat then re-starts to keep racing. Providing the stopped hull minds the traffic and does not cause a hazard on re-start to another racer then it should be a legitimate go. Again IMO. Another example would be a boat that flies off the water and lands elsewhere on the course should be allowed to re-start with the above conditions. I have seen many gas and nitro guys maintain engine ignition and start back up and again...even from a near dead stop.

Some will argue if the boat is on plane or not but I do not see this as a valid requirement since most mills start with boats plowing the water and not fully on plane. And they are not called for a bad start. But they should be...again IMO.