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Well, here she is.....finally finished....paint job isn't the best, but isn't a tug a working boat? Wish I had some of those little tires to hang over the side as fenders! Thanks to Gayle for her encouragement and Glen for his help early on. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday, 8/22. If she floats, I'll send a pic and notes on her sea trials. I have the batteries in a large plastic chest (Walmart...$19.99) with vents I cut out and a plywood floor I installed with battery straps. I also installed a 60 amp circuit breaker ( I'm using a 24 volt 80 lb thrust MinnKota). The final position of the battery box will be determined by how she sits in the water. Sitting on top of the battery box is a folding seat for a passenger. I figure the weight of the batteries on the port side will balance the pilot (me) on the starboard side. having trouble finding a 24 volt 50 or 75 amp dc ammeter within my price range (I'm way over budget on this thing), so I'll have to depend on the battery status indicator on the MinnKota and my voltmeter......can't see the motor amp draw until I get that ammeter though. I'm also using a folding stool until I decide on a seat for the pilot.......the stool is real nice though....perfect height and comfortable, so I might just keep it if it stays put with the boat movement. I'll put on the registration numbers before the launch so I'll be legal. I haven't cut out the well yet....I can stand by bending my head forward a couple of inches. I'll let you all know how the launch goes.


Brian

That looks really fun.

Try a lawnmower shop and see if they will give you some old tires front tires from a riding lawnmower. Outta be about the right size, or maybe some trailer tires from a small trailer?

Hope you have a great launch day.

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"Nothing screams poor craftsmanship like wrinkles in your duct tape."

Brian,

Great Job!!!! The paint job looks good to me.

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A secret to a good marriage is to have a quick mind and a slow mouth!!!

Nice job!!!!

If you could afford it, this unit does much more than just current.
http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/ammet ... nitor.html
http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/ammet ... meter.html
They are used in the RC modelling world.

Here is a cheap 50A analog meter:

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/56 ... alers.html

Ebay one - good as the external shunt can be put in the main wiring patch with small wires up to the panel meter:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-50A-Ampmeter ... 41687be64e
75A on Eaby:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Analog-AMP-Pane ... 1e6f438dd8

Lots of choice... what's your budget?

_________________
By the time I have built a boat, I'll be ready to build a boat....

Finally, The "E. S. Voltanic"....(E. S. for electric ship) takes to the high seas.....well, the high lake anyway. The launch went great....no problems....no leaks, and she sits right on her waterline.....the battery box is in a perfect location. She's really stable...my friend and I shifted all our weight on the same side as the battery box and she only went down about 6 or 8 inches on that side. Went out for about 1 1/2 hours.....mostly 1/2 to full speed. Had about 60 % battery left according to my battery status meter and 3 out of 4 on the MinnKota console meter. I was a little concerned about how she would turn due to the restricted turning radius of the tiller. Well, no problemo.....she turns in her own length port and starboard! The steering is a little touchy and took a little getting used to......maybe due to the small skeg? I made the skeg a little larger than the plans....about 1 1/2 inch deeper....but maybe it's due to the tiller steering hookup. According to my Tom Tom gps max speed was 4.? mph. The Tom Tom only displays mph in whole digits so it could be a little faster. She maintains 4 mph at between 50% and 75% throttle. She'll do 3.? mph at 25% throttle. I have to say that at full speed she makes a considerable wake which leads me to believe I'm going faster. One last thing, EVERYONE on shore and at the launching ramp was attracted to her and had plenty of questions and waves from shore.

Gayle, is this the first Pug to launch or did others beat me???


Brian

Woohoo!!! What a fantastic achievement! I have visions of a bunch of full sized tugs all giving you a water spray and hoots of their whistles!!

_________________
By the time I have built a boat, I'll be ready to build a boat....

Well Done!!! She is looking very good.
Would love to know how she is in rough water? Now done get crazzy ,just some bigger waves?

Congratulations Brian! You're the first Pug launch that I know of! She looks just great and I'm glad to hear the launch went well. How exciting!

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Gayle Brantuk
Vice President
Glen-L Marine
Visit our Blog & Create Your Own!

Really great! Glad you're happy

Bill

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Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Brian,

My hat is off to you for a job well done and a successfull launch. This is for you.
http://youtu.be/ElruJMYilow

_________________
A secret to a good marriage is to have a quick mind and a slow mouth!!!

Here's a couple of pics of the final installs to my wheelhouse......a thermometer and barometer that I picked up at our local transfer station (dump)....plastic, not brass but I cleaned them up and fixed them and they look cool. Also, here's a pic of my helm with the newly installed ammeter on the right (thanks to Trackhappy for steering me to a cheap one), and a battery status moniter on the left....it can moniter up to 4 batteries. Made a trip up the Connecticut river to Essex on Friday....about 3 miles, messed around the marinas there gawking at the big yachts and returned.....current with me on the way up (tide coming in), and against me for about half the trip back until slack tide......was out for about 2 1/2 hours and status meter read 55% left in each battery (I didn't have my ammeter installed yet so I couldn't moniter my consumption). When I got back and put my voltmeter on the batteries it read 12.43 volts each.....now according to the table in my "electric boats" book, that translates to between 75 and 80% left....I dunno bout that, but with the ammeter I should be able to figure it out better. Another thing, some of the traffic on the river was large boats traveling at a pretty good clip......translation.....BIG wakes, but the Voltanic handled them easily....this Pug is a stout little ship.

Thanks for the update on the performance in waves.
Randy

I have a problem with my ammeter. I know that the MinnKota riptide 80 pulls 56 amps full throttle, but my ammeter (0 - 50 amps) only reads 40 amps full throttle. I installed it in the positive wire before the ETM control with the correct polarity....the neg connection closest to the neg terminal of the battery(s). All my amp readings seem to be very low for all speeds. I've been all over the internet looking for help and I've found much differing advice on installing an ammeter in a dc system. Now the way I see it, electricity is an exact science and someone ( an electrical engineer maybe?) can explain this to me......does the length of the wire run have anything to do with it? Maybe the wire gauge? The 24 volt system? The shunt and the ammeter are a matched pair. Oh, by the way, the battery moniter on the ETM control reads full when I start out, 3/4 after 1/2 hour run time at about 1/2 throttle, and still 3/4 after 2 more hours run time.....I guess these things aren't very accurate.


..............help, Brian

Took the E. S. Voltanic out yesterday for a few hours on the Connecticut river.....I live in Old Saybrook, CT...where the river emptys into Long Island Sound. The lower Connecticut river is considered one of the most beautiful waterways in the country....I believe it! Anyway, here's a couple of pics.....if you go out to the outer lighthouse and hang a left, you're on your way to England. The problem I had with a 40 amp limit with my throttle wide open instead of 56 amps........I redid all connections of 6 gauge wire to 10 gauge using 6 gauge butt connecters ( double over the 10 gauge wire before inserting into connector........no change. I reduced the total run by 10 feet.....no change.....what?? At this point I determined that it wasn't an electrical problem. I figured it must be at the motor......the prop must be sucking air (ventilation) at speeds over 4 mph. Yesterday, while cruising on the river I opened it all the way and went to the stern to add ballast to it....still 40 amps but the stern at the waterline (remember the Pug is a double ender) the water was churning where it came together at the stern. I'm sure it's ventilating (not cavitating....that's a whole different thing). So, the top of my prop is about 4 or 5 inches from the surface....maybe not deep enough ( I didn't place batteries under the stern seat...they're too big to fit, so less ballast at at starn).Also the tube that the motor shaft goes through maybe needs a fairing to smooth out the water flow to the prop??? Lastly, maybe I need an anti ventilation plate over the prop like all the outboard motors have? I attached an older pic of my motor at the stern.


Wadda ya think?????