GoldenMotor.com Forum

Vec500...try turning throttle to 0-position (12 o'clock). Then e-lock off and again on. Then try to reverse. This works in my solution.

I did get this to work on my VEC 500, although power was very low at the time; around 190 W when sailing at 6 knots. Bear in mind that this was with a motor directly mounted on the prop shaft - WITHOUT and reduction gear. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to turn of the cycle of 15-beeps when re-gen is engaged. 

I've now rebuilt the transmission with a reduction gear, and therefore expect higher power, since the motor (generator) will spin faster for the same sailing speed. I would estimate the generated power to be about 500 W, this have to be confirmed with real life tests though.

You can read more about re-gen in this blog post

Hi there,

I have a 28' long keeled, transom hung rudder 9000 pound sloop with a huge diesel engine that I have begun to disconnect before removal along with a two radiator Webasto system, all of which takes way too much space in the boat. The boat has crossed oceans before me and will again, with me. I have a single 200watt 12 v solar panel for my three batteries, and all is running very well, but the diesel must go and I am preparing for a replacement. I will install a monitor windvane too.
I do not have space enough for sufficient solar panels, and I don't want wind generators, but will likely get to maybe 500watt total with panels. Yet all this may be irrelevant once I start learning how and which e motor I would use. Though I am thinking the 10 Kw would be it. Then again, a 5Kw may be more relevant for longer battery pack time... I don't need speed. But I want sufficient muscle to navigate as safely as needed.

I came across a video with a 10 Kw Golden motor on a catamaran (Fantasia). That motor was delivered with the motor controller and connecting cables, as "a kit" (?). The captain referred to it as simple to work with, yet efficient, and pushing their catamaran without issues.
I want my e-motor to be sufficiently powerful to navigate me out of trouble, with sufficient battery power for it in terms of muscle and duration of potential heavy seas or no-wind days drifting away. I'll probably have a small generator to compensate for lack of sun, and potentially turn my current propeller into a regeneration solution, if possible.
I would appreciate being guided to where I can learn, to avoid asking questioned already answered, and make the right purchase from the get go.

Kindly,
Alex
🐋

Here's a short follow up on how this issue has developed.

My European GM reseller Vela Solutions replaced the VEC 500 for a EZ Kontrol - free of charge! They also supplied the, a bit ugly though quite sturdy, GM Throttle.

Initial test show no sign of last year's issue. There's no problem doing quick changes between forward and reverse, even when the motor is still coasting.

More testing is needed though, since I haven't tried to brake att higher speeds yet, like when sailing.

The eLock wire on the VEC controller is typically supplied with full battery voltage to activate the controller - NOT 12V.
The voltage on the throttle +5V wire is typically around 4.5~5V but I'm not sure what voltage is on the reverse wire before it is switched to ground to select reverse.

As the eLock and reverse switches are only switching a very small amount of current, a simple non-illuminated 12V switch should work fine (even with a 48V battery).

The 1.5k Ohm and 2k Ohm resistors indicated in the diagram are required to ensure the throttle signal voltage stays within the expected range:



Without these resistors, the Throttle voltage range protection could be activated at both ends of the potentiometer's travel (i.e. below 0.7V or above 4.0V) causing the motor to cut out and the 12 beep/blink error code to be displayed.

If the resistors are not used, the Throttle voltage range protection enable value would have to be set to 2:Disable to prevent the 12 beep/blink error from being triggered. However, this could prove to be extremely dangerous if the ground wire going to the potentiometer suddenly failed and became disconnected while the controller was powered up, as the motor could continue to run regardless of the potentiometer position! 

Alan