peterunwin

Hi Noli & Keith,
I am developing two seperate steering systems, the one in the recent pictures is a heavily modified full hydraulic system with some new features that include a revalved helm for greater sensitivity, and pilot operated check valves which trap pressure both sides of the steering cylinders eliminating free play and load applied steering. The fly-by-wire steering system is being developed in tandem and will be a more expensive option with additional features. The youtube link is testing the hydraulic version.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5sEf...ature=youtu.be


Peter

RBT

I can't help but think the setup is the culprit with your handling issues. There should be little or no torque on the steering for the hydraulics to overcome at a steady state. Small amounts on deceleration. More force is a patch over an underlying problem.

noli

.

I agree with RBT, and additionally

will the full hydraulic system ( as seen in the video ) be self-centering as well?

Young Performance

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think the system was in the boat yet. I thought that's why he pulled the helm out and brought it back to England.
Eddie

peterunwin

Hi Guys,
A little bit of background about myself. I have been playing with powerboats for more than 50 years my late father was a circuit racer in the UK and he made all his own boats and parts which gave me a very good grounding. I own a hydraulic engineering company and design and manufacture specialist hydraulic equipment of all types, having had many boats with traditional hydraulic steering i have always been dissatisfied with the feel and speed of them so i decided to design a fly-by-wire- system which is well on the way to becoming a production system.I also saw a gap in the market for modified full hydraulic systems so this is coming first. As i need a demonstration boat in America as well as the UK i decided to buy the Outerlimits with this in mind, as i didn't want to compromise on the setup i always knew it was going to be a challenge. I am running the drive very high with a 16.8 " diameter prop five blade with a lot of blade area. As we boat 95% of the time in the ocean i need the grip for the rough water, from 20mph onwards i can accelerate wide open throttle without breaking the prop free, also the economy is amazing i am getting 3mpg at 75mph. With the modifications that will be fitted on our return i am pretty confident that this will tame the beast... My aim is to make the boat drive like a big jet ski and i am already not very far away. For absolute top end speed i am probaly going to have to come down on diameter and maybe the number of blades which will be ok for lakes and rivers but not so good in the rough and low speed abilities will suffer drastically. It is also worth noting that the standard hydraulic helms were designed for of highway plant and machinery, fork trucks and tractors with very limited speed capabilities using them on powerboats has always been a bit of a compromise especially in single surfacing applications where there is an un-equal load. i don't really want to divulge too much information on an open forum as i intend to sell my developments but i hope you find the information so far interesting.
P.S. Noli the hydraulic system does not self centre

Peter

modvp

Peter, the Outerlimits SV29 seems like a phenomenal boat. To calculate the fuel usage of 3mpg at 75mph, was that done with imperial (UK) gallon ~4.54 liters/gallon or US gallons ~3.78 liters/gallon?

43sv

You may want to try and lower the drive a little, it can help in all areas. Then you can cut out some diameter and still have great stability. I had raced a single engine (A) class boat for years and had problems in handling and wound up lowering drive 3/4 and went faster, and handled much better.

RBT

A proper running well set hp single should be able to be run without hydraulic assist.
Drive height, prop, skeg and operator all play factors here.
Like I stated above, should be minimal torque while accelerating, ultimately none at steady state ( some in the bottom declining through mid range) and none up top, and the natural unloading on decleration..... But if torque is absent the deceleration unloading shouldn't exist.

Wobble

Man this is an awesome thread, curious about one thing. Years ago when I did some racing in England, the owners car was in Gulf Oil (tribute colors) after a few meetings he got a cease and desist order on account of the color scheme and logo being copyrighted. That was a long time ago, guessing this is not an issue anymore?

peterunwin

Hi modvp,
The fuel consumption is based on UK gallons and it does get better in smoother water.

Peter