Thrusters not working

[Paul and Tanya]

Today, as I was pulling away from the dock, I hit the bow thruster with a short burst and worked fine. I then hit both thrusters simultaneously and neither worked. The light comes on at the control panel, and when I try the thruster (either one), nothing happens and the light flashes a couple times. I pulled the boat out on the trailer and tested the thrusters without the engine running so I could hear. When I hit the bow thruster, I could hear a rattling noise from the bow, but the prop doesn't turn. When I hit the stern thruster, same noise from the stern, but once again, prop doesn't turn. It reminds me of a car starter when you don't have enough juice in the battery. You hear the selenoid, but the starter doesn't engage. The only two things I can think of common to both thrusters, is the switch and the battery. Strange that they both have the same symptoms. Could a low battery cause this? I appreciate any help or ideas.

 

[Dale777]

Paul and Tanya,

Perhaps, the problem is electrical - low battery voltage or a faulty control panel at the helm or a bad/corroded connection on the wiring harness from the control panel to the thrusters. However, it could also be a broken shear pin on both thrusters, although it seems unlikely that both shear pins would break at the same time. If you want to investigate a shear pin issue, see this link for how to access and repair a broken shear pin for both bow and stern thrusters:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2013&p=18509#p18509

 

[ronnieg]

Paul and Tanya,
If you are hearing noicse at the thrusters ans the props are not turning the first thing, I will ask is what is your voltage for your thruster battery??? Next I would check the shear pins. If it worked the firsrt time and then it quit it could very well be the shear pins. I have never seen both go out at the same time but it could happen.
Call me if you have more questions

Ronnie Gonzales
Ranger/ Cutwater Customer Service
ronniegonzales@cutwaterboats.com
425-220-3932

 

[Paul and Tanya]

I don't think it is the shear pins because when you manually turn the propeller, it takes a fair amount of force to make it happen. This is the case on both thrusters. I would imagine that if the shear pin sheared, the propeller would spin freely. I will check the voltage on the batteries as soon as I can. Thanks for the input.

 

[Jmangiameli]

On my R-25 2009, there is a 150 amp fuse for the thrusters. When my blew you would here a fast clicking sound. The fuse on by boat is located in the battery compartment. Might want to check it out.

 

[Andrew Custis]

I agree, go fuse first. Check the 150A fuse located by the battery switches. If that doesn't work, call me when you get to the boat.

Thanks Paul!

 

[Paul and Tanya]

I had my wife go into the boat and turn the house, engine, and thruster batteries on. She then went to the electrical panel and switched the 3 way switch between the three batteries and noted the voltage. 1= 12.8v, 2 = 12.8v, 3 = 10.8v . Is this enough of a voltage drop to cause this problem? Both fuses in the battery compartment are intact.

Thanks.

 

[Jmangiameli]

Battery 3 is the thruster. at least on my boat (2009 R-25) 10.8 volts means that is one dead battery

 

[Dog Islander]

#3 is also my thruster battery. Jump the thruster battery with one of the others (see the battery schematic). As soon as it gets above 11 volts, I believe, the charging relay should kick in (don't ask how I Know). Charge the batteries and see if that works. It did for me. Next you will have to figure out what drained that battery (bilge pump?). Hope this helps as I've never had a similar problem since. Didn't see you out there yesterday!

Ray

 

[Osprey]

I seem to recall from the manual that you should not test run the thrusters "dry". Without a water load present the thrusters will run too fast and be damaged by the excessive RPM.

 

[SGIDAVE]

I seem to recall from the manual that you should not test run the thrusters "dry". Without a water load present the thrusters will run too fast and be damaged by the excessive RPM.

Affirmative on NOT running thrusters dry; over-rev is sighted as reason.

It sounds like the thruster battery was low as the cause of "thrusters not working"? Fortunately nothing too serious.

Fair Winds,

/david

 

[steveandtina]

TESTING YOUR THRUSTERS OUT OF THE WATER IS PERFECTLY OK--- THE KEY WORD --TESTING -- HAVING REPLACED EVERY MOVING PART ON MY [FORMALLY OWNED R 25 ] STERN THRUSTER I SUSPECT IT IS A VOLTAGE PROBLEM. LOAD TEST YOUR THRUSTER BATTERY,, NOW AND LET US KNOW WHAT IT READS GOOD LUCK STEVEANDTINA 😀 😀

 

[SGIDAVE]

TESTING YOUR THRUSTERS OUT OF THE WATER IS PERFECTLY OK--- THE KEY WORD --TESTING -- HAVING REPLACED EVERY MOVING PART ON MY [FORMALLY OWNED R 25 ] STERN THRUSTER I SUSPECT IT IS A VOLTAGE PROBLEM. LOAD TEST YOUR THRUSTER BATTERY,, NOW AND LET US KNOW WHAT IT READS GOOD LUCK STEVEANDTINA 😀 😀

Hello Steveandtina,

I stand corrected. I'm a newbie and was going by the manufacturer's tag on the joystick which warned against operating the thruster with the boat out of water. Reading the manual tonight states: "With the boat on land, only run the thruster for a fraction of a second, as without resistance it will accelerate very fast to a damaging RPM." Page 19, 7th bullet-ed item under "Important User Precautions." Manufacturer's recommendations in an owners manual are nice but real-world experience like yours is often better.

Your emphasis on testing versus 'running' small but crucial.

.david

 

[Paul and Tanya]

As a follow up, I charged the battery this weekend and briefly tested the thruster on the trailer. Battery looked like it was holding a charge. Put the boat in the water, hit the thruster as I was pulling away from the dock and after a couple seconds, no more thruster. Battery voltage dropped down to 10.2v. Looks like I have a bad battery. Whenever I'm at the dock, I plug into shore power and have the charger on. I think I need to look into my battery charging routine. Hopefully not doing anything to shorten the life span of the AGM batteries. Oh well, another topic for a new thread. On a positive note, I was able to turn on the parallel battery switch and get my thrusters back.

 

[Dog Islander]

That's great you have a handle on it. Does your windlass and bildge pumps work? I thought they all ran off the thruster battery (on mine). Also, I was thinking my paralell switch connects the house and start battery. If you have your wiring diagram it will say which battery "should" be connected with the parallel switch on your 25.

 

[Kenny Marrs]

Hello Paul,

When you get a chance give me a call. I want to go over a few items regarding your thruster.

Thanks,
-Kenny

 

[knotflying]

To really make sure you have a battery issue you should charge it up and do a load test. Quite frankly, when the engine is running the alternator should really be supplying enough power to run the thrusters. That alternator throws out quite a few amps.

 

[doke01]

Definitely the battery. We had this issue. Even with the engine running the thrusters relays would click if run individually or not at all if run together. The volt meter would drop significantly when hitting the thruster and not return to its original level.

Check your battery charger too. If the batteries discharge too far they are gone for good. One of our batteries was killed by a faulty charger. Replaced the battery and the charger and life was good.

We have a 2007 R25 and have had to replace batteries every 3-4 years. After some research, this is pretty normal battery life for the type of batteries being used.