Proper usage of thrusters

[mac07733]

A couple of times I noticed my sternn thruster winding down. I try to use it in an intermittent fashion. Are there any suggestions on how to get the max use of the thrusters?

 

[knotflying]

Usually short bursts work best. Not sure what you mean by the thruster winding down.

 

[Bruce Moore]

Also not sure what you mean by "winding down".

Here are a few things we've learned. The bow is more responsive to the thruster - the stern is much heavier. The thrusters are less and less effective the faster you are moving, especially when you're moving ahead - the boat wants to track. Probably the most important thing we've learned about the thrusters - feathering the engine with hard port or starboard rudder is a much more effective way to kick the stern.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[Pete]

Best advice I can give is try not to use them. By that I mean never at at high speed and practice doing as much of your slow speed maneuvering with throttle and rudder, learning to use wind and current to your advantage (and spring lines if need be). With practice you can turn, back and dock a Ranger in confined quarters without using the thrusters or at least get 95% of the job done and use a few short bursts of thrust for "fine tuning". Many boaters dock with all thruster and no throttle/rudder or spring lines. That's bad because you'll lose thruster power with excess use and also with too much reliance on thrusters you'll never gain the experience you will need on the occasion they fail.
Pete

 

[Wilkie]

Assuming your unit is SidePower, I found the US Distributor (Imtra) very helpful.. It turned out I had a bad controller which was way out of Warranty but they sols me a new one at a very nice cost!

They also have a very good web site with Q & A..

Good luck..

Wilkie