Bow thruster power

[furball]

I have a Vetus bow thruster (55kg) that runs strong for about 5 seconds then the power drops off rapidly. The interesting thing is the volt meter climbs back toward 13V as the power drops of at the thruster.
All the connections look good at the new battery bank, fuse, battery switches and at the thruster. I need to chase the ground side connections this weekend but I’m fairly confident they’re good as well.
Seems like the fact that the voltage climbs as the motor loses power should tell me something about what’s going on, I just don’t know what that is???
Any ideas where to look next, brushes, solenoid?
Boat is a 2005 and I have no idea if the thruster has been serviced or how hard it’s been used.

Thanks,

[MerryKate]

Hi Chief - sounds like the brushes are the next place to look.

[Jack]

Could it be a blockage of growth or something? Sounds like it's straining. Growth can get in there.

[catalina_mike]

Ground wire corrosion. IMO Especially with the voltage going up. Sounds like a open neutral found in residential. So I'm guessing a bit without knowing where you are reading the voltage and what ground you are using.

[Tom Un]

The guys over at Imtra sent me a very thorough check list (testing with jumper wires etc..) to do before I broke down and bought a new one - Im sure Vetus would do the same. I would call them.


Tom U

[dgetswet]

I have a Vetus bow thruster (55kg) that runs strong for about 5 seconds then the power drops off rapidly. The interesting thing is the volt meter climbs back toward 13V as the power drops of at the thruster.
All the connections look good at the new battery bank, fuse, battery switches and at the thruster. I need to chase the ground side connections this weekend but I’m fairly confident they’re good as well.
Seems like the fact that the voltage climbs as the motor loses power should tell me something about what’s going on, I just don’t know what that is???
Any ideas where to look next, brushes, solenoid?
Boat is a 2005 and I have no idea if the thruster has been serviced or how hard it’s been used.

Thanks,

I have the same bow thruster and the same problem. Does exactly the same thing. Then after using it in short bursts to dock it just stops when I need it the most. Ian at Vetus suggested a 31 AMG series battery 1000-1100 CCA. So I tried it with the same exact results. I then took a rubber mallet and hit it as my wife hit the switch to the left and right. It sounds a little stronger and moved in the slip left and right a little faster but the volts still did the same thing. At the end of the burst going to the right I saw some sparks shoot out. This is leading me to believe the brushes may be dirty and or need to be replaced.
According to the videos it does not appear to be hard to replace the brushes and clean out the unit.

Good luck and let me know how you make out. Mine or your solution might help both of us.

[furball]

Don,
Cleaning and brush replacement and mine is running like new. I had a starter shop do the work. If you follow the vetus video I’d expect you will get similar results.
Good luck

John

[dgetswet]

Well I ordered new brushes from Vetus. I took the unit out of the boat which was very surprisingly easy. Just 4 bolts on the bottom. Now I did not take the complete housing off because the top screws go from the top and are anchored in the bottom. They were not moving at all and I did not feel like snapping them and wasting more time. 3 out of the 4 brushes came out on the easy side. One brush was hard to get out and then the wires broke off. I have a good feeling this brush could have been holding up and not making the correct connection. So far the only time I got a chance to use it was Sunday with no wind when I docked. But it did work 100% better.
So thanks for all the conversations. I'll be posting my next problem soon. As my boat is the Constant Struggle