Lehr outboards

[Don and Brenda]

Looking at motors for the dinghy, anyone have or hear anything about the Lehr propane outboards? I do like just being able to plug in a propane bottle and not have to carry gasoline.

Don

 

[Pete]

I thought the small Lehr would be an interesting alternative to my Honda 2hp but at the St. Pete boat show the guy exhibiting them was pretty negative. But he was also a dealer for Torqeedo and didn't rate those highly, either.
Pete

 

[Don and Brenda]

Thanks for the reply Pete, those were 2 of my choices, the other is the 2 1/2hp Suzuki.

 

[walldog]

Thanks for the reply Pete, those were 2 of my choices, the other is the 2 1/2hp Suzuki.

We have the 2.5 Suzuki, works great. Some friends have the Torquedos(Mexican spelling), good motors also.

 

[Don and Brenda]

Thanks Herb

I'll probably be going with the Suzuki, especially looking at the price points.

 

[jroyle]

We were hesitant to plunk down the extra $$$ on the Torqeedo but in hindsight I am glad we did. It will run at 3-4 knots for a good 2 hours and run all day puttering around Catalina island etc.. in So. Cal. It is so easy to wash down and stores easily in the mid-berth. It breaks down into 3 fairly small pieces. The beauty is not having to put up with a stubborn gas outboard and no gas on board the tug. There are pluses and minuses but so far its worth the money.

 

[Osprey]

I have used a Suzuki DF2.5 since 2007, but light use, less than 100 hours overall. The motor has been fine, however, my wife complains of the engine noise almost every time we use the motor. My concern with respect to switching to an electric motor is recharging the battery. Recharge works for folks which are marina bound each night but for those of us who prefer to anchor out recharging would be probmatic.

 

[jroyle]

When we are away from the dock, we have a system down where we charge overnite (12hr charge time) using the inverter and the solar panel will charge the tug batteries no problem in the morning. If needed we use the generator to run the battery charger.

 

[HRowland]

We have a Torqeedo Travel 1003S and love it. Very quiet, instant on, and no gas on board. You can make a cable to charge directly from 12V, the manual provides the pinout information. I made a cable and charge it using the 12V jack below the "desk" in our R27. This is more efficient than converting 12VDC to 115VAC with the inverter, then 115VAC back to 12VDC with the included charger.
At typical power settings the battery charge lasts a long time (many hours) so it will not need much charging. The LCD display provides battery level, power usage (watts), GPS speed, and estimated range at current speed.

Howard

 

[jroyle]

You can make a cable to charge directly from 12V, the manual provides the pinout information. I made a cable and charge it using the 12V jack below the "desk" in our R27. This is more efficient than converting 12VDC to 115VAC with the inverter, then 115VAC back to 12VDC with the included charger.

Howard

Thats a great idea. I did not consider the power(loss) factor using the inverter. Did you have to cut the supplier provide cable to the battery?
thanks
JR

 

[HRowland]

JR,

I made a new cable so I could keep the factory supplied charger intact. Take a look at my older post:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2561

Howard

 

[jroyle]

JR,

I made a new cable so I could keep the factory supplied charger intact. Take a look at my older post:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2561

Howard

Perfect ... thanks

 

[knotflying]

I would also think you can just use one of those cigarette lighter inverters with the original charger setup and avoid having to make a special cord. I always carry a couple of the cigarette lighter inverters anyway and very rarely use the boat inverter. Here is a link for several radio shack inverters http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=inverter&origkw=inverter&sr=1 I carry the 400 watt and a 75 watt and a 150 watt. This way you also have use for them for other chargers for computers etc.

 

[Don and Brenda]

I was at the Boat show in Alameda, Calif yesterday. The Torqeedo factory reps were there, they had a 12' dinghy set up with the 1003 model, so 4 of us climbed aboard and I ran it all over the place. Needless to say I was very impressed with it's operation, not the price of course. I have looked at the Lehr but at 37# is a bit heavier than I like, however love the concept.

Looks like the Torqeedo will win out for our use and convienience. The rep handed me a card from a Florida dealer that is making up 12 volt charging cords or $35

 

[Don and Brenda]

Finally pulled the plug and bought the Torqeedo 1003s. It was well packed from Defender Marine. It showed 14% charge, so took 12 hours to get 100%. Next week we will give it a test on the dinghy when we take the boat out of storage.

 

[baz]

If you ever find yourself with no battery charge for the Torqeedo motor you always have the option for using oars and/or the sailing kit (if you have it). The battery can also be charged (slowly) via a fold-out solar panel.

I normally charge my battery up late October/November and find it's still at around 85% charged the following March/April timeframe.

Depending on charge cycles I estimate my battery should be good for 6 to 8 years before needing to replace it.

I've had zero issues with my 1003L Torqeedo over past 4 years.

If you do have issues or have questions then contact the following person... I communicated with Sven in order to get the newly designed C-brackets for my 1003L model. They were sent to me free of charge.

Sven Kirchhoff
Service & Quality Manager

Torqeedo Inc.
171 Erick Street, Unit A-1
Crystal Lake, IL 60014 USA

phone: 1-815-444-8806 ext.303
fax: 1-815-444-8807

 

[HRowland]

Wow, $35 for a 12V charge cord. It is easy to make, I paid less than $2 for the connector to mate with the Torqeedo charge input and used a 12V plug with a built in fuse holder from my junk box. The manual provides the specs for the connector.

You will love the Torqeedo, the battery life is amazing and it is very easy to use. I use ours at very low power setting, upping the power does little to increase speed and just drains the battery faster. Ours is new enough to have been built with the redesigned transom bracket, you should be all set with yours.

Howard