How to access stern thruster for R-29?

P

PuffinStuff

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Messages
76
Fluid Motion Model
C-288 C
Vessel Name
Puffin
Learned to change shear pin for bow thruster, but now must do the same for stern. Question: how do I get access? Does reserve fuel cell need removing or through bottom of propane locker? I'm 6'2" and this looks like it'll be more challenging than the bow.

Any help is appreciated as looking to get this done today.

Thanks,

Paul
 
Paul,

I can get to ours through the port side locker but removing the fuel tank might make it easier. The tank can be emptied by the transfer pump (I am assuming you have the same basics as our 2009 R-29) and isn't that difficult to move a little to make room. Our aft thruster is sealed in a case with a lot of bolts but I don't have a clue where the shear pin is. I would have to take out six batteries to get at it through the locker. Good luck! I think you will be standing on your head in a position any contortionist would admire. Have plenty of booze on hand.

Pat
Ladybug, Too
 
I have a 2012 R29 and had to change the where pin. You get to it through the main hatch, not the port one so you do not have to remove the batteries. Forget about removing the aux fuel tank. It is glued in place as well as being bolted.

Before you begin cut a block of wood or plastic or something that will just slip under the thruster motor. This will keep the motor from dropping when you remove the bolts and will be needed to support the motor for alignment when you reinstall it. Only two bolts hold the unit in place. You need the special ratchet/allen bit that came with the boat to get them out. It is a pain but make sure you take them both out fairly evenly. if you try to remove one all the way you will find out it jams under the lip of the motor and their is no way to reverse the ratchet to screw it back in so you will have to go find a second wrench. The bolts can be located by feel in the 3 and 9 o'clock position on the mounting flange of the motor. Good luck.
 
Got the thruster removed by removing clamps holding aux fuel cell down. Pain in the rear. Squeezed in and removed two bolts and supported motor as instructed. Shear pin was intact, but motor coupling was rusted and corroded. Clearly some water has made its way into where the two sides meet.
The motor will turn to port, but not starboard, however I can manually turn the motor both ways so it isn't seized.
What to do now? It apears, even though there is some minor corrosion I can clean this up. The bigger issue seems to be electrical. Fuse is intact.
How do I chase this down? Pretty new to this when game, but up for a challenge if it isn't to tricky. Possible loose wire at helm? Solenoid?

Thanks,

Paul
 
Take a look at the troubleshooting guide, there is a procedure to troubleshoot one direction operation. Imtra (USA distributer for Side Power) has them in their downloads page:

http://www.imtra.com/product-downloads.htm

Select Side Power category and Troubleshooting type.

Howard
 
Thanks for all of the good suggestions - it is a real B@#$% to get that thruster motor free in that space. I can see why newer models have one larger central fuel tank. That 30 gallon reserve really limits space to that location, but I did get it out and opened the side powertrouble shooting guide. Thanks for that, Howard. What I did was jump the wires at the helm control for the stern thurster, but did not get any action. Tried the same on the bow thruster and could activate port and starboard.

Measured voltage at bow and got over 13V (on shore power), but around 6V on stern. Again, motor will spin to port, but no action when activating thruster to starboard.

Going to call around tomorrow for some help on this as don't have the time to ge to it this week and heading to Canada this weekend. Can anyone recommend a good specialist in marine electronics and perhaps Sidepower thrusters? Even better if in Everett/Seattle area.



Thanks,

Paul
 
Found a good Ranger tech at Everett Yacht Repair (Phil Nichols) and when he disconected the stern thruster and opened it, it was half full of brown water! Not sure how the factory seal was broken, but the relay needs to be replaced and the motor rebuilt. We made the call to order a new stern thruster and will install it when it arrives, but a drag a 3 year old boat with only 235 hours needs that type of replacement already.
 
Just an update to changing shear pin on rear thruster R29.. I know I have done this more then anyone here and after lots of hard changes this last time I removed the wash down pump and spun the fuel tank for the generator.. Didn't add a lot of time but made access way easier. And no bleeding from scrapes this time 🙂 .. It. Is not fun no matter what but sure is nice when it's working 🙂
 
Mine to was half full of water with not too many running hours. For the life of me, I never can figure out why things like this that will need maintenance (shear pin) get put in places that can't be easily accessed. It really takes the enjoyment out of owning such a nice boat. Mines out (not to difficult) but getting it back in - I've been on it for 4 hours now. There's not enough room to get a helping hand and it's too confined to hold the motor and get the bolts to go in. Another improvement would be to have a drain out of that compartment so that any water that made its way in could escape instead of seeping into the thruster.
 
The thought occurs to me that maybe I should view the stern thruster as optional. Most boats only have bow thrusters (or no thrusters) and people seem to do well with them. The way the davit on my boat, and the swim-step door, is set up I need a starboard tie. If the prop walk was to starboard, it would be pretty easy only using a bow thruster to dock. As it is I will have to continue developing my R29 docking skills. My rambling point being that if/when my stern thruster goes out I won't have to be in a big hurry to repair it per the preceding posts and what a pain it is.

I have to confess there was a docking "incident" on Saturday. My contention (to my wife) was that scratch happened up north but she is skeptical. It was very windy out :roll:

Jeff
 
Just curious as to why all these shear pins have broken..I probably should knock on wood when I say I haven't had a problem on either thruster in over 3 years.. Is it stuff getting sucked into the prop?
thanks
 
My stern went out at the beginning of last season due to standing water so we went all of 2013 and most of our 2014 season (we pull the boat at the end of Sept) without it. Yes, as Andrew told me, the thruster is not necessary and you can still enjoy the boat without it. It was too expensive for me to replace. This year I got brave and pulled it out. It is tight to get to and took me a couple hours to get out. I took it home and took it apart. The motor was frozen and everything was wet. I ran the tests in the troubleshooting guide Andrew posted. Nothing worked. In fact it smoked a bit. I tapped on the motor with a hammer a few times. Some rust dust came out but the motor now spun. Again using the troubleshooting guide narrowed the problem down to the Control Box - Ref # 6 1232i. Got one for $130 and it fixed the problem. Don't know how long the motor will work, but it's back in. It took 4 hours of colorful expletives and two more hours of calm attitude but it's in.

So, yes you can do without it, challenging in the wind, but it's sure nice to have it back.
 
Think there is any chance the factory will switch to another brand of stern thruster? Maybe one with a slip clutch and no shear pin, or at least one with a shear pin in the propeller hub???
 
At least you don't have to pull boat out of the water to chane it. If it were in the prop hub you would and that could be a problem and additional cost.
 
I suppose pulling is an expense for some R-25 owners. But 5 labor minutes plus a pull beats taking the back panels off and paying a tall, thin, younger mechanic $250 and losing the thruster while you find someone who will do the job.

How about no shear pin and a slip clutch on the prop?
 
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