June 11, 2010

Competiton 2010: Day 3 - More Qualifiers and Some Surprises

Today we put the sprint mount, and the endurance motor, to a much needed but ill fated test, the slalom event.
We had previously troubleshooted all of the existing problems with the sprint motor mount, but failed to take into account the low tolerances that needed to be maintained in the belt driven system.

With the lower unit properly engaged and the QD bushing set in place, more energy than ever was pushed through the system.  This, combined with the misalignment of the drive shaft and motor flywheels, caused the timing belt to slip off and become shredded.  This rendered the sprint mount inoperable and the boat dead in the water.

Afterwards, we were informed we could redo the qualifier and take the penalty of doubling the recorded time.  This option was selected and instead of using the sprint mount, we decided to use the endurance mount.  We also decided to run the endurance motor at 36 Volts, to try to maintain a somewhat fast pace.  Although the specifications for motor indicated it could run anywhere from 12 to 120 Volts, this mistake proved fatal.  The additional power being driven through the motor at the increased voltage caused the motor to smolder and smoke.  The event was completed successfully, but the motor was no more.

With different parts of  the two mounts malfunctioning, the team attempted to mount an E-tek sprint motor to the endurance lower unit but to no avail.  The e-tek motors drove the sprint mount with a JA bushing, while the endurance motor was coupled with an SK bushing.

This incompatibility left neither mounts functioning, effectively ending the competition early for the team.  As a result, the team was not able to compete in the sprint events today and will not compete in the endurance event tomorrow.

The only pictures I have of today are the disassembly of the endurance motor.


The bolts holding the motor together are being unscrewed.



The bolts have burnt material on them.


The motor windings.

The motor casing.  RIP Magmotor C40-300.

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