Pollen is in the air, the ground no longer resembles arctic tundra, and boating season is right around the corner! And if you own an electric outboard, there's no need to pray that it starts up or put to fresh gas in it. But there are a few quick checks worth doing to make sure that that expensive piece of kit is ready to hit the water.Â
Exactly what you need to do varies from motor to motor, but it's all pretty similar. In the future we'll have guides for all of our most popular motors. But for now, if you're a visual learner, take a look at our spring time checks guide for the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus below.Â
The Most Important Pre-Season Checks for Your Portable Electric Outboard
Run a Dry Test
Before we get in to the checks below, the first thing we recommend doing is testing your electric outboard on land. Find a safe place to mount it and be sure that the propeller is clear. Plug in your battery if needed and turn the electric outboard on. If it powers on, put the motor into forward, then reverse, and check to see if the prop spins and that everything is working normally. Don't let it run for more than a few seconds, as there isn't any water around it to cool the motor, and running it dry can damage the motor. A few seconds is all you need.
Battery Health
Your battery is the most expensive single component of your electric outboard and the one that demands the most attention over the winter. If you charged it to around 50-60% in the Fall and checked it once every three months (as most manufacturers recommend), your battery should be in good shape. Take a look at the state of charge (SOC) now and make sure it's still around 50-60%. Leave it at that SOC for now, then charge it up to 100% a day or two before you plan to use it for the first time this season.
If you battery doesn't power on, put it on the charger. If that doesn't work, there's a decent chance your battery is deeply discharged, which means the voltage has dropped too low to charge. And if that's the case, you probably didn't follow the manufacturer's advice above. Unfortunately, this is a pretty expensive lesson to learn, and likely means that you need a new battery. Feel free to give us a call if you need a hand trouble shooting this.Â
Anodes
Just like gas outboards, most small electric outboards have sacrificial anodes, typically made from zinc or aluminum. Without getting into the weeds on the science behind it, the basic idea is that these anodes are sacrificial, and because of their material, they corrode before the rest of your motor. It's important to inspect these every couple of months; if they're about half the size they used to be (or smaller), it's time to change them out.Â
We find most customers get at least three years out of the anodes on their electric outboard before they need to be changed, mostly due to the fact that small outboards don't spend much time in the water. If it's been more than three years, we'd recommend removing and reinstalling them, as some have stainless machine screws that hold them in, and the screws themselves can be difficult to remove after a while.Â
Electrical ContactsÂ
Corroded electrical contacts are one of the more common issues we see with electric outboards. We're talking about where the battery and motor connect to each other; on older electric outboards this was typically a cable coming out of the motor that plugged into the battery. Most newer electric outboards have a cable free connection with a cover. This newer style reduces the risk of corrosion, but it can still happen.Â
First, visually inspect your electrical contacts. Do they look clean and shiny, or can you see corrosion? If you do see corrosion, it's a good idea to carefully clean the contacts. Be careful! The biggest risk here is breaking or bending the small data pins on motors like the Torqeedo Travel and ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus. If these break, you're in for a time consuming or expensive repair.Â
To clean the electrical contacts, use a bottle of electrical contact cleaner and a soft wire brush, or something else that's abrasive. Try to gently work off the corrosion without bending or damaging the pins. Then spray a bit more contact cleaner on there, let it dry, and try a dry test.
Transom Bracket Mounting ScrewsÂ
Just like gas outboards, your transom bracket mounting screws need some attention here and there. These are the screws that you turn to tighten your electric outboard on to your transom or motor bracket (they're blue for ePropulsion motors, orange for Torqeedo motors, and black for Remigo motors). Their threads typically come lubricated from the factory, but this wears off over time.
To lubricate these screws, remove the bracket or motor from the boat and loosen the screws all the way in order to expose as much of the threads as possible. Apply a small amount of marine grease or white lithium grease, then tighten them all the way to run the lubricant through the screw. Do this one more time, starting with the screws tightened all the way. You should be good to go! If your transom screws still don't spin easily, wipe the grease away and use a hard wire brush to try to remove the corrosion. Then repeat the grease application steps again.
PropellerÂ
Almost all electric outboards come stock with plastic propellers (the Momentum M10 and M6 being the notable exceptions). Manufacturers choose plastic over metal so that in the event of a grounding or impact, the propeller breaks before the electric outboard itself is damaged. There's also a shear pin inside of the prop, which should break before the prop does (in theory). It all depends on the impact.
The downside is that plastic props are not as durable as metal ones. Inspect your prop carefully (making sure the motor is off, kill switch is removed, and battery disconnected). If the plastic is chipped or deformed, it's time to replace your prop. You can always keep the only one on hand as a backup.
Need to replace your prop? Check out this video below. The process is similar for other electric outboards (see your user manual for details).
Spare Parts
The Spring is a good time to check and see what spare parts you have on hand for your electric outboard. Some customers like having replacement anodes, but those don't wear out overnight. We highly recommend having three spare parts on hand, especially for cruisers: a spare kill switch, an extra prop, and backup shear pin.
The kill switch is obvious; if you lose it, your motor won't run (the exceptions to this are the ePropulsion eLite and ePropulsion Spirit 2, which have kill switch override functions, which you can turn on if you lose your kill switch).
As we explained above, electric outboard props are plastic and break more easily than metal props. If you have an extra on hand, swapping it out only takes a few minutes. The same goes for the shear pin inside the prop. Shop spare parts here!
Taking a bit of time in the Spring helps ensure that your electric outboard works well all season long! If you have any questions about these checks, please don't hesitate to reach out.Â