My Thrusters stopped working

[tyronetpt]

On a particularly windy day I had a difficult time returning to my slip. After several attempts to dock, my port side bow thruster would not respond and sounded odd. Eventually I lost ability to engage all thrusters, as they would not light up and come on. I have a 2016 27' Ranger tug.

 

[scross]

If air got into the tunnel during the wind and waves (with the thrusters on) the air would cause the blades to spin fast. Then when the water hit the blades again the increased resistance could slow the blades down really fast. This is one of the scenarios for how to break the thruster shear pin. The other common scenario is getting a foreign object jammed in the blades.
I believe that accessing the bow thruster on a R-27 Classic is not too difficult Recommend you use a stainless shear pin if that turns out to be the problem. They originally used brass or bronze shear pins which are not quite as durable as the stainless shear pins.
Had this have been what happened to the stern thruster as well, then the access to do that repair is much more challenging and involves cussing and bloody knuckles.

 

[Wee Venture]

Did you check your thruster battery voltage? The fact that both thrusters failed would suggest something common to both of them. The thrusters will pull amps out of the battery much faster than the alternator can replace them, drawing down your battery, especially if it is already a few years old or marginal. If you were making heavy use of both thrusters due to windy conditions it could have led to an under-voltage situation.

John

 

[Brian B]

I would also check the fuses. Each thruster has an individual fuse. On my boat they are below the battery switches.

 

[knotflying]

There is also an internal thermal breaker. If you overuse the thruster it cuts the circuit. They could have kicked in and should reset automatically. They have been known to need replacement though.

 

[tyronetpt]

I'd like to thank everyone, for the valuable reposes