Bow Thruster


C

castines

Administrator
Left a fuel dock today. Hit the thruster 3 to 2 to 3 times for about 3 to 5 seconds each. on the last thrust is seemed to run at half speed or sounded like it sucked in debris. Drove 1.5 hours to Atlantic City for Lunch. Tried the thruster again and it still was at half speed or less. Stbd seems to run faster than port, but both are running slow like it has debris in it or somthing.

Drove back 2 hours to my slip and tried it again and has the same problem. 30 minutes later after shore power hooked up I was on the phone with TM telling them about what happened. while on the phone I hit the thruster and it worked fine in both direcections. I got about 3 to stb and 3 to port then it acted up again. I checked all the connections and none were loose. They are coming out this week to take a look.

By the way I took a dip in the very cold 60* water to make sure nothing was caught in the thruster and it was clear.

Any ideas ???
 
STEVE,
LOW BATTERY VOLTAGE IS THE CAUSE.
I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH THE MOFFSET INTELLIGENT SWITCH THAT SEPARATES THE THRUSTER BATTERY FROM THE HOUSE BATTERIES. I HAVE FOUND SEVERE VOLTAGE DROPS ACROSS THIS SWITCH. FORMULA REPLACES THEM, BUT THE DESIGN IS WRONG. IT DOES NOT WORK THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED.
ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM. I RAN A #2 COPPER WIRE FROM THE THIRD EMPTY PORT ON THE CHARLES CHARGER TO A 100 AMP BREAKER. FROM BREAKER, I RAN WIRE TO THRUSTER CONTROL AREA UNDER THE FLOOR. I FINALLY TIED THIS CHARGING LEAD TO THE LOAD SIDE OF THE FUSE THAT PROTECTS THE WINDLASS/THRUSTER BATTERY. ALL WORKS FINE NOW.
ALTERNATORS CAN CHARGE THE BATTERIES WHEN ENGINES ARE RUNNING, AND CHARGER TAKES OVER WHILE PLUGGED IN.
THIS WAS APPROVED BY FORMULA ENGINEERS.
NOT SURE IF THE 34 IS WIRED AND DESIGNED THE SAME AS THE 37, BUT HOPE IT HELPS. GARY
 
I have been having problems with my anchor because of this switch and they are replacing today for the third time.
 
My windlass and thruster both run on the same battery.  This battery is charged by a small seperate battery charger.  I think its a guest charger.  The windlass works fine, I tried it when I thought it might be a battery problem.  What does this mosfet switch do?  Dont the alternators charge the Thruster battery?  Or is that the issue with the mosfet?

I guess I will try it tomorrow and see if it works since it should have charged overnight!

Sounds like I need to start the generator when in need of the thruster to keep the battery up!!
 
LBI4fun said:
btw, Castines, how was the inlet going out at Little Egg Harbor inlet?
Click to expand...

Went out AC inlet, went to Long Port turned around and back in AC to sweetwater. The ocean was glass!
 
This switch as it was explained to me protects against going back to the charger/boat batteries, hope you can make sense of that. I talked to Steve at Formula, maybe you can give him a call and he can explain it.
 
TM (Bob) came down to the boat today to finish up some warranty work and look at the Bow Thruster. Had 13.9 volts at the motor when charger on. Also load tested the battery at the motor (charger off) No issue with the switch.

TM is ordering a new motor. These guys have been great with service.
 
No voltage drop when motor running.  Battery was getting charge of 13.9 volts.  Battery load tested OK. 

Also runs better in one direction more than the other. He had one before like this and it was the brushes not making good contact per Lewmar.

Am I missing something?
 
STEVE,
THE ONLY THING YOU ARE MISSING IS THE ANNAPOLIS BOAT SHOW. NO, I THINK THEY HAVE ALL BASES COVERED. I HOPE THEY CAN CHANGE THE MOTOR WITHOUT PULLING THE BOAT.
 
They can change with out pulling the boat. The system is designed that way. For future reference, the shaft has a shear pin that you can get too with out pulling the boat. Sounds like if you get debris in the tunnel and it is enough to stop the prop, the shear pin will give way. If this happens, you clear the jam, remove the motor, install new shear pin and you are on your way.

;D
 
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