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Kettlewell · 10-03-2012, 09:24

One funny thing I thought of was that it would be pretty easy to immobilize a propane outboard set up by just taking the hose with you if you were in a high theft area. Chain the tank and the outboard together and it would be very awkward to steal either one.

Lagoon4us · 10-03-2012, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

hell my Honda 2HP dies more than it runs!

Had one great outboard but it also died at the worst moments, then a mate whacked in a motor mower breaker less points set in ($6:00), took five minutes to install, now it runs first pull every time... Cheers Frank

sailorboy1 · 10-03-2012, 13:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Had one great outboard but it also died at the worst moments, then a mate whacked in a motor mower breaker less points set in ($6:00), took five minutes to install, now it runs first pull every time... Cheers Frank

I'm going to need more explanation as I would love to be able to depend on my little Honda.

Lagoon4us · 10-03-2012, 14:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

I'm going to need more explanation as I would love to be able to depend on my little Honda.

Check and see if it has ignition points or not, if it does have points replace them with a breakerless ignition from a motor mower. It's a common repair for an Evinrude and a Seagull (bit old!) here in Australia we use an ignition from a Victa mower.

Not saying that's your problem but it's worth exploring as points are crap on little/all engines.

Cheers.

Sailmonkey · 10-03-2012, 20:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Check and see if it has ignition points or not, if it does have points replace them with a breakerless ignition from a motor mower. It's a common repair for an Evinrude and a Seagull (bit old!) here in Australia we use an ignition from a Victa mower.

Not saying that's your problem but it's worth exploring as points are crap on little/all engines.

Cheers.

I'll eat my hat and yours too if a honda bf2 has points

Celestialsailor · 10-03-2012, 20:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I'll eat my hat and yours too if a honda bf2 has points

...Hey...He's a multi owner...anything is possible...

Lagoon4us · 10-03-2012, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

...Hey...He's a multi owner...anything is possible...

I think before you start the multihull crap you should read the post through...
Amazing attitude!

Celestialsailor · 10-03-2012, 21:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

I think before you start the multihull crap you should read the post through...
Amazing attitude!

...easy there gunsmoke...it was tongue and cheek. I have been following the thread...thanx

Nemo55 · 10-03-2012, 21:33

Cant contaminate Propane..

Ironhorse74 · 10-03-2012, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Even though propane doesn't have the BTU content of gas, it is so much cleaner burning. But hey, gas doesn't have the BTU content of diesel. One hour on what equals 1/8 of a gallon of gas is doing pretty good. That 2.5 hp can probably push a dink at least 6 kt so that is almost too good to be true. Do hope that don't cater to the disposable cannisters, but rather refillable ones.

A gallon of propane is 96,000 btu's a gallon of gas 120,000 btu's so about 20% more energy. I disagree with his 2.00 a gallon price on propane. This winter it has hovered around 2.75 a gallon in the Pacific Northwest. Using the 2.75 figure and proportional energy gasoline would be even at 3.43 a gallon. Pretty close to what it is now.

I think it is probably a wash as far as cost savings go for fuel. Unless gasoline goes way up like it is predicted to do and propane stays the same.

I do like the storage options for propane better on a diesel powered boat. I wonder when we will see compressed natural gas?

HopCar · 10-03-2012, 23:22

Ironhorse, I agree that price of fuel probably isn't a major reason to use a propane outboard. The advantages I see for propane are that it is easy to store for long periods of time, it is clean to handle and I think the engines will need less maintenance. Gasoline has the advantage of being very easy to get and it is more energy dense so you need less volume to do the same work.
I don't think we'll see compressed natural gas as an outboard fuel. It's a great fuel for things like power plants or home heating where it can be piped in. The problem with using in for transportation is that it has to be compressed to very high pressures to store any significant volume of it. CNG would need to be stored in scuba type tanks as opposed to the light weight propane tanks. CNG was tried as a cooking fuel for boats but it's getting really hard to find places where you can get the tanks refilled. I think that most folks who bought CNG boat stoves have converted back to propane. The main appeal of the CNG stoves is that they are some what safer than propane as natural gas is lighter than air so it won't pool in the bilge.

Lagoon4us · 10-03-2012, 23:30

Just cannot see anyone spending the bucks developing an outboard solely to run on gas.
More so an aftermarket conversion kit would be more likely.

As i said before, here in Australia we have run our cars on gas using aftermarket kits for 30+ years, not sure any car manufacturer has jigged their assembly lines to cater for the market.

The energy market will always re-price to cover any high use of a "cheaper" fuel, they never miss out on the mighty buck....

Ironhorse74 · 10-03-2012, 23:32

Parks I am in agreement with most of what you said. However CNG has some real advantages over propane. Lighter than air. Not as dependent on additives. I am in the gas appliance business. We have are having some real issues with "Hot" propane. We are clocking some propane at over 120k BTU per gallon. Plays hell with our equipment. Not sure what it would do with an engine.

Right now there are companies marketing Natural Gas compressors for home use. Mostly for refueling vehicles at home. I do believe this is the future. We are the Saudi Arabia of Natural Gas.

NGV Gas Compressor for Home Use - YouTube

Factor · 11-03-2012, 04:06

Gee I'm confused, we have people talking about a gas that is propane in some places LPG in others and of course CNG and LNG get a look in, then people talking about gas which I understand to be a liquid, then getting me really confused with quarts and pounds and stuff.

On a more serious note I am really looking forward to battery technology getting ever more mature - one day I look forward to a electric dinghy motor that weighs (including batteries) the same as my petrol one, gives similar performance and has the same range from the motor with a 10 litre tank. I imagine that it wont be too many years, its just not yet.