Hello all, I finished playing around with my kayak that I strapped a T-500 to. It was a lot of fun!
T-500 Kayak Speed Boating:
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Hi @BatGuy,
Fun watch - thanks for sharing! 
It’s a bit hard to tell expected and actual speed without being there, so your commentary was helpful. It was also interesting to see your electronics and battery setup. Am I correct in thinking the penetrator would normally go through a lid?
By the way, I’ve edited your post so the video is embedded, which means people can view it from within the forum instead of needing to go over to YouTube to watch it
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Good Job and very nice setup. I am thinking I am going to get 2 T500 with 2 speed controllers for my canoe, one for left and one for right. 2 motors are set at the center which allow me to control turn 360 degrees. Like the PAC Motor. For T500 got much power. How do you think? Thanks and Merry Christmas and happy new years.
Hello Raymond,
The T-500s are very capable and I’m actually already planning to use the other one on this project. I ordered a HotRC DS-4A for it. That controller has differential thrust calibration and cruise control so I’m hoping that will make things super easy. At 4s the kayak was really efficient and only used up 4-6ah with a single thruster in 20minutes I think. With dual thrusters it’s probably going to be scary fast, especially if I up it to 6s.
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Hi @Superuser007, welcome to the forum
You might be interested in our Thruster Commander, which allows using two potentiometers to control the speed and turning of this kind of setup
Just note that the rated supply voltage of the Thruster Commander is lower than that of the T500s, so if you’re using a 6S battery and want to also use it to power the commander then you’ll need a step down converter in between.
Thanks for this reply. I am thinking by using the remote control system with trimester 2 channels for left and right. Did you have a chance to look at the PAC Motor system? Anyway, thanks.
The PAC motor system looks really similar to some AliExpress motors attached to a pole. I wouldn’t rely I on them. Especially because of the bearings the cheaper thrusters use. But for motoring around they wouldn’t work too bad.
My main suggestion about this sort of project is around battery safety. When building a system, regardless of what battery system you go with, is that it has a BMS for the battery. If your using an off the shelf lifepo4 battery they mostly have all that stuff built in. But the blue robotics battery or any off the shelf lipo has no short circuit or over discharge protection. I have seen dead shorts inside ROVs blow up blue robotics batteries and it ain’t pretty.
If you put a DALY BMS (battery management system), ordered from China with proper specs, that should never be an issue.
Thanks for this reply. I have two Batteries are FPV-Power, each of them is 12V 50AH. What I am going to order two T5000 Thruster and two Basic ESC500. Series connect 2 12V 50Ah to make it one 24V 50Ah battery. And get the normal R/C remote System for setup a Kayak left side and right side to be control for 360 degree turn. I do not need high speed for my Kayak or Canoe. I got the Torqeedo Travel 1103 CS version for my Kayak too.
Raymond
If you’re running 24volts you have to use the 50amp escs. At 24 volts the t500s suck down 47amps.
So on the other hand, if I going to use 2 T5000 with 2 Basic ECS(Not the Basic ESC5000) with 12V 50Ah FPV-Power battery, I should be OK?
If I go your way, what parts should I get from the HotRC DS-4A? Like the Receiver? Can I still use the (2) Blue Rob’s BASIC ESC? Does this HotRC can control (2) T5000 independent ? Please help.
Or should I also added the Thruster Commander with HotRC only? Many thanks.
Please let me know what parts should I order for (2) T5000 independent control? Many thanks.
Ok, so here’s what I’m running and what I would suggest based on your setup.
My in progress setup: 2x t500s with ESC-500 at 14.4 volts. With a DS-4A.
Full Throttle Current (Power) @ 16 V 25.1 Amps (402 Watts)
I could use a standard 30amp esc but I already have the ESC500 from the T-500 contest.
12volt system: 2x t500 Basic ESC
Full Throttle Current (Power) @ 12 V 16.9 Amps (202 Watts) 2x thrusters 38.8amps
12volt 50AH Lithium Polymer
24volt system: 2x t500 ESC 500
Full Throttle Current (Power) @ 24 V 43.5 Amps (1044 Watts) 2x thrusters 87amps
24volt 50ah Lithium polymer
Here’s my rationale behind the DS-4A, for me the DS-4A is the best option because I wanted something cheap and off the shelf. Its important to note that it is not waterproof and will have to be inside a plastic bag. The Thruster Commander is a great option if you want to integrate the system permanently, but for me I’m doing this as more of a proof of concept to mess around with. There are purpose built solutions with waterproof controllers but I don’t know know of any personally. One thing that I would highly suggest is for you to understand the power draw of your system. My battery is limited to 60amps of output so I can only run two t500s at 16 volts.
It really depends on what your requirements are in the end @Superuser007 . I’m just starting this project and I cant rightfully say what the best option is for you. In my case I’m looking to really put the T500s through their paces and zoom around Lake Whatcom in Sudden Valley Washington. It may be helpful to define what you want to do before you start ordering parts. If you’re going for long run time the t500s at 12-16 volts cant be beat. If you’re like me and want to go fast 24volts might be better. If you’re on a budget and don’t care about the longevity you can get AliExpress motors. Its all about tradeoffs.
Thanks for this. I do not need high speed. One more question which is does Hotrd DS-4A control left and right motor independently? Thanks, Raymond
Where I can locate for Blue Robotics Tutorial: Using the Thruster Commander for 2 T500thruster and 2 Base 500 ESC.?
I am thinking the system setup as follows: (recommended by BatGuy)
12volt system: 2x t500 Basic ESC
Full Throttle Current (Power) @ 12 V 16.9 Amps (202 Watts) 2x thrusters 38.8amps
12volt 50AH Lithium Polymer
24volt system: 2x t500 ESC 500
Full Throttle Current (Power) @ 24 V 43.5 Amps (1044 Watts) 2x thrusters 87amps
24volt 50ah Lithium polymer
Hi Eliot, I need help for the setup with Thruster Commander Extension Box for External Switch, Speed and Steering Switches. Pls help.
Hi @Superuser007,
As noted in the banner on both this forum and our website (bluerobotics.com) we have been away on break, and have just returned. I have removed your duplicate comment to reduce spam.
We don’t have a specific tutorial for using the Thruster Commander with T500s, although the Technical Details and Guides sections of our Thruster Commander product page should provide the information you need.
This should work fine, and since the maximum current for a T500 at that voltage is below 30A it could even be done with our standard Basic ESCs instead of the higher-power Basic ESC 500 variant.
This should also work, although as noted on the T500 product page:
There’s some additional discussion on that here if you’re interested.
Do you have questions beyond what is covered in our Guide to the Thruster Commander?
Good Afternoon Again,
Finally, I need help for my setup for my kayak or Canoe.
Below is my configuration:
Option (1)
(2) x Bixpy K-1 Motor: Voltage: 25.6 Volts; Motor output: 450 watts - 38 lb of thrust
(1) x Thruster Commander $60
(2) x Basic ESC $38 x 2
(1) x Switch $25
(1) x 25.6V 50Ah Lithium LiFePO4 Battery
Option (2)
(2) x24.56V system: 2x t200 with Basic ESC
(1) x Switch $25
(1) x 25.6V 50Ah Lithium LiFePO4 Battery
Can I do both of them?
Welcome back @Superuser007
I’m not familiar with this motor, but from some brief searching online it’s not obvious to me what kind of control signal it accepts. If it is a three-wire brushless DC motor (like our motors and thrusters) then our Basic ESC can likely be used with it, with a Thruster Commander to send speed commands to the ESC.
Our Basic ESC can rotate our thrusters and motors, but it requires a servo-style PWM signal to specify the ‘throttle’ amount. You can provide such a signal using any of:
- a Thruster Commander,
- a flight controller board (e.g. Navigator) running an autopilot firmware,
- a custom microcontroller board (e.g. an Arduino), or
- a GPIO-compatible computer (e.g. Raspberry Pi )
EDIT: I’ve just seen your more recent post, and Tony’s note about the battery voltage is also relevant.