Replacing Thruster 150 amp fuses

[baz]

If one of the fuses blows I would hesitate to simply replace it with another as it may blow again immediately. What items should be checked to reduce the risk of the fuse(s) immediately blowing again ?

I ask because if some object were to be stalling the thruster impellers surely replacing a fuse is simply foolhardy and throwing away a $15 ANL 150 amp fuse.

If there is not an obstruction to the thrusters impellers what else should/could be checked to further understand why the fuse blew.

 

[baz]

As a follow on... Has anyone Ranger owner reported a thruster fuse blowing and

1. it blowing again immediately after being replaced and finding what the root cause was
2. it not blowing immediately after being replaced and wondering what caused it to blow in the first place

Also, has any customer ever reported to Ranger a thruster fuse blowing ?

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not overly concerned about this issue -- it's just my enquiring mind as your advice during the sea trial was to have some spare fuses; one of which was the thruster ANL 150 amp fuse. 🙂

BTW -- when I purchased my stock of spare fuses the young salesman at West Marine looked at me weirdly and at first wasn't sure what I meant by "ANL". I thought I had it all wrong or that my accent was confusing him. A quick look along the fuse rack sorted this out quickly enough though. 😉

 

[sparky]

We took delivery of our Tug last year with the Stern Thruster Fuse already blown, apparenly between the dealer dropping her in the water and motoring over to a slip. 🙁 We took her home that way (50 miles underway) and purchased a supply of spare fuses (4) when we got home (none available near the commissioning dealership... :x ).

In 11 months have not blown another fuse.

But as Andrew knows, I am acquiring enough spare parts to build my own tug someday.

Sparky

 

[Andrew Custis]

Typically a fuse is going to blow by the electrical unit being over heated or overworked. I have seen some of these blow due to seaweed or an obrstuction to the motor. Always a good idea to learn how to operate the boat without depending on the bow and stern thrusters.