Engine technology in my lifetime

[bgreene]

Compare the fuel usages of any older carb'd 225 to Etec, Opti, Yami F.......amazing.

I also saw video of 150 HP electric prototype motor, pushing an approx 19' boat over 50 mph . That my be part of future outboards...........assuming charging can be achieved.

[Destroyer]

Well, if your boat is big enough, electric power has been proven to be a good source of propulsion. Just look at WWII submarines, made by the Electric Boat Corporation. And of course in the present day, pod drives on boats (electric motors getting their power from an on-board engine) are becoming almost everyday occurrences. But if you're talking about running a boat like ours, all day, on batteries, I don't think that battery technology is anywhere near being able to accomplish that. You would still need a tremendous amount of space on-board, and all that extra weight will effect the performance significantly. Still, it's a nice dream.

[spareparts]

I've got an old marine engineers manual(date 1935) that talks about air assisted, direct injected, 2 stroke marine engines(think optimax) built around 1895-1905. Everything old is new again, but this time they've got a computer on it.

BTWE, that manual has some great drawings of old marine engines, some are really odd designs and configurations(H engines, twin I engines, composed cylinder set ups, Y types, ...)

[bigshrimpin]

Originally Posted by bgreene

Compare the fuel usages of any older carb'd 225 to Etec, Opti, Yami F.......amazing.

I also saw video of 150 HP electric prototype motor, pushing an approx 19' boat over 50 mph . That my be part of future outboards...........assuming charging can be achieved.

That technology in a small rec saltwater boats has "shocking" potential. KISS light weight two stroke carb engines rule. Spares I'd would love to see that book.

[kamikaze]

The only engine technology I've seen that has any hope to significantly impact outboard design is the scuderi engine but I won't hold my breath for its introduction anytime soon. Seems like they've been relegated to power generation vice propulsion as I image adoption into the automotive world is not a easy feat.

http://www.scuderigroup.com/engine-development/

[THEFERMANATOR]

It's funny you mention direct injection from yesteryear. I used to have a SANDOW marine engine which was a direct injected 2 stroke marine engine that ran in both directions. The one I had was converted over to a carb, but it origanally used a low pressure direct injection system that used crankcase pressure to inject the fuel directly into the cylinder. The injector assembly was rather complex for it's time, and failure prone(hence why mine had been converted). I believe they were made in the early teens, and made by the detroit motor company(pretty sure they later became known as briggs and stratton). So much of what we have today isn't really new technology, just new ways of utilizing it.

[spareparts]

next time i go to my fathers house in Raleigh, I'm going to pick up his 1904 single cylinder marine engine, I'm going to try and get it back up and running