Water cooling a 12HP air cooled motor

[liveaboard]

The controler terminals appear to be tinned; they're fairly thin considering that it's rated for 400A [150 continuous]. So I assume they're copper.
They have 8mm bolt holes.
I'm figuring that by bolting it to a water cooled plate, there will be no problems with overheating even if I go a little over the 150A.

I don't understand why the positive terminal is the same size as the negative ones. it regulates the negative and the positive is teed to the motor / battery so it shouldn't carry much current at all. But I figure the engineers who built it probably know more than me, so I connected it with the same heavy copper bar used in the loaded circuit.
It has another positive input for an on/off switch.
The boat is in fresh water, and there's no spray; this is a 12 ton 100 year old steel vessel. it doesn't make spray...
But it does get VERY damp in the engine compartment, as it's uninsulated steel all around.

[John Hasler]

liveaboard writes:
> The controler terminals appear to be tinned; they're fairly thin considering that it's rated for 400A [150 continuous].
> So I assume they're copper.

In that case you probably don't need to grease them at all. Fully torquing the bolts will mash down the tin and form a gas-tight connection.

[liveaboard]

That's good to know; of course that's just the 3 controler tabs.
The reversing relay and motor connection lugs are copper / brass.
I went to the trouble of getting brass bolts for it, my experience is that they're less likely to cause trouble.
I made the motor connection bolts from brass rod, so I could make solder connections on the inside ends.

[liveaboard]

I forgot to post a few pictures of the old boat.
This thing is 14 meters [46'] long, 12-14 tons, and 100 years old.
I've owned it for 35 years.
It's my smallest boat.
Maybe the newest too [dates are guesswork].

It was once a sailing barge used for small loads in shallow water, like between farms and that sort of thing. It can carry 5 or 10 tons.
I made the deck around 15 or 20 years ago, it had a full length house on it before that.

The prow can be pushed up against a bank, and you can walk on and off. The square block is for battering tourist boats with.
An expensive pasttime, I've decided to give it up.

[NP317]

Awesome old boat!
I would NOT give up bashing tourist boats. Old fashioned defenses are the best.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
And you have other boats?
RN

[liveaboard]

We have a couple of 90 ton 25 meter houseboats; they're of a similar age, riveted steel hulls.
One of them is actually navigable on inland waters, lights, anchor, and all the stuff required. It doesn't ever go anywhere though, it's worth more as a static residence.
And one smaller one, 19 meters that was built in 1888.
The little boat is my work platform for maintenance, and my material + tool locker. It's very handy but it costs a lot to keep.
It also serves as a balcony for the small houseboat, adding a little value and boost on the rent.

Before moving to Portugal, I spent 20 years renovating them all, and a couple of others that we sold.
So I'm sort of an expert in Dutch houseboat barge conversions, but can barely speak a word of Dutch. Language isn't my strong suit.

[SteveHGraham]

No need for lumps of grease. Just wipe a thin layer onto the mating surfaces of each bolted connection. Rust is not the problem: everything but the controller terminals appears to be brass or copper.

I think we all knew not everything in the boat was iron.

Trust me; you don't have to jump through hoops here. The stuff you're working on will not corrode any worse than the metal parts you already have on the boat. Just squirt it with battery terminal protector if you're really worried.

Our boat had a 15kW generator, battery charger, a huge 12-volt panel, various pumps, a water heater, three air conditioning units, and God knows what else. The bilge always had saltwater in it, right under everything I'm talking about. Things didn't have to be greased.

Thirty years of experience speaking.

[Patio]

Interesting project, Liveaboard. I sure hope this works as intended, for the amount of effort you have put into it. I sure do like projects like this. Fabricated from discarded things to make things not on the market. Pretty cool in my book. I will be eagerly waiting to see the outcome.

[liveaboard]

Thanks;
I'm pretty confident that the motor will work, and push the boat along. What I'm less sure about is for how long it will do so, if it will overheat and maybe melt the armature coils.
And the batteries are still an unknown, and the charging / maintenance system. I'll wait and see what turns up.
There's a 100 year old battery specialty shop in Amsterdam I have to talk to. I've dealt with them before, they're good.