Bow truster intermittent problem

T

trailertrawlerkismet

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
2,519
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Vessel Name
(2022) Kismet
During the last two times when we've had our boat out and had to use the bow truster it has worked intermittently. I'm not laying on it for any great length of time, maybe 10 seconds tops and then the next time after a short rest it doesn't work...no engagement, no noise, no nothing. The rear thruster works fine. Has anyone else experienced this? and or have advice?

Jim F
 
Thanks Mike. I'll take that apart and clean things up and put a dab of dielectric grease on the connections.

Jim F
 
Jim I would also check the power cable to the thruster, It is a long run from the battery to the thruster, If run for extended periods it will heat up because of the resistance due to the long cable run. This heating and cooling can cause the nuts securing the cable at the battery or the thruster motor to get loose. I would check, clean and tighten them as well if not the switch. If you can move the cable at all on the post it is loose.
 
i may have a similar issue when I use the thruster , there is a 2 second delay in one direction , and a 4 second delay in the other direction , just happened last weekend. I have been back and forth through the forum looking at all the different troubleshooting steps .

I have done the following and still no fix.

checked connections at switch
swapped the bow for the stern on the controller
verified no water in the area where the thruster is .
made sure the batteries were full

I'm going to look for the fuse next check that.
 
Jim, I am not sure if the 150amp ANL fuses our thrusters use can get a hairline fracture but the automotive spade type certainly can which leads to frustration when troubleshooting. Work fine until the fracture opens a little then not so good, let it sit for a moment and back to normal operation.
 
Thanks for the tips, here is an update from all of your advice. I tightened all battery cables in the battery locker and I replaced the 150 amp ANL fuse. Before I did this I also unscrewed the dash control panel and all seems good there. Here's what I found. The bow thruster works to the port but when applying the toggle switch to starboard all I get is a click sound from the thruster. I get the click noise when I move the toggle to engage and when I let it go, but nothing else. This was how it was before I did any of the above. It works fine to port. I did tighten the battery cables at the bow thruster as well. I'm perplexed!

Jim F
 
Jim, the Side-Power troubleshooting guide (located in the factory technical bulletin section) has an excellent step-by-step process for thruster operation in only one direction. Might be worth a look as you work through trying to locate the gremlin causing the issue. Keep us posted on what you find.
 
Jim
Can you swap wires on the switch to eliminate the switch as a problem . is it easy to remove motor and see if thruster can move in both directions ? Sounds like power is getting to solenoid and it is trying to make motor go in other direction ( click ) but can't ... This could be in the thruster , the motor. Or the solenoid . Or maybe an internal wire issue in the motor not allowing a connection of the high voltage to the motor to make it go the other direction after the solenoid tells it to..
I am no mechanic but that's my two cents.. Hope it turns out to be easy..and not expensive .. We are all pretty spoiled with our thrusters ..
Good luck
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone. When we get settled for a few days, I'll dig into the bow thruster compartment and check everything out. I've had it out before to change a shear pin so I'm familiar with the drill...seems like a reasonable project while at anchor and besides it will give me time to practice docking without the bow thruster and test my skills.

Jim F
 
Update and question....I finally got around to running thru all of the trouble shooting tests and have determined that the solenoid needs to be replaced on the bow thruster. I know just enough electrically to replace the solenoid if its a plug and play situation. My question is this.....has anyone replaced a solenoid on there bow thruster? Is it fairly straight forward?

Jim F
 
Jim,

From what I can see it looks like the solenoid is pretty much plug and play. It has push on wire connectors and large bolts for the main power wires.
 
Replacing solenoid is very easy as said plug and play. If that does not fix problem, as it didn't on my boat next check the internal thermal breaker for continuity. LB
 
Thanks Mike and LB. LB that was the only test I did not perform as our volt meter died, so maybe someone will have one at Gorge at the Desolation Sound event this weekend so I can rule the thermal breaker in or out.

Jim F
 
Thanks Mike. Lisa and I look forward to seeing you in a few days.

Jim F
 
Jim if thermal breaker is the problem, it can be hot wired if you are using boat. Mine was for some time since parts had to come from Europe, to Florida, to me. Some risk of course but no damage to my unit. LB
 
Sometimes an old battery can cause strange issues. When my last thruster battery went the bow thruster started acting up first. I attributed it to the much longer wire runs. Dropped in a new battery and everything went back to normal.
 
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