|
|
Post by Stella Maris on Jan 3, 2015 12:58:55 GMT
After months of flawless operation, my retractable bow thruster won't come back up. It went down normally, worked perfectly to get me into my berth but when I pressed the up button to put it away, it came up 2 inches and then stopped.
It's working normally as if this is the new fully up position and I can switch it on and move it to fully down, operate the left and right OK but it just will not come all the way back up.
I took a swim to make sure something was not wedged in there to stop it coming up but there was nothing blocking it.
Checked the small proximity switches that tell the brain it is fully up or fully down and these checked out OK.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with one of these Maxpower VIP150 retractable models?
I saw on another forum that there are screws on the up / down worm gear that can get out of sync, so I'm going to try those next.
Any other ideas would be great.
|
|
|
|
Post by sailbleu on Jan 13, 2015 5:16:52 GMT
After months of flawless operation, my retractable bow thruster won't come back up. It went down normally, worked perfectly to get me into my berth but when I pressed the up button to put it away, it came up 2 inches and then stopped. It's working normally as if this is the new fully up position and I can switch it on and move it to fully down, operate the left and right OK but it just will not come all the way back up. I took a swim to make sure something was not wedged in there to stop it coming up but there was nothing blocking it. Checked the small proximity switches that tell the brain it is fully up or fully down and these checked out OK. Has anyone else had a similar problem with one of these Maxpower VIP150 retractable models? I saw on another forum that there are screws on the up / down worm gear that can get out of sync, so I'm going to try those next. Any other ideas would be great. Hi Stella Maris , counting the number of responses on your topîc I guess you must be the only sailor in town having such a thruster. Not sure if our/my comments would add to the solution Nevertheless , a fancy gadget , but as usual , the more complicated , the higher the risk on malfunctions. Have you tried helping it a bit ? I mean , have someone to operate the switch and try pushing it in from the outside using some flippers . Have you measured the amps whilst trying to retract the thruster Is the retracting mechanisme hydraulic or engine/gear driven ? Regards |
|
|
|
Post by dbostrom on Jan 13, 2015 7:24:46 GMT
But being super-careful; this is pretty much the same situation as swimming around a prop connected to a running propulsion motor in neutral. Who is at the controls and do they understand not to hit the thrust switch? Danger of entrapment/drowning is pretty high.
Is the "UP" limit switch actually mechanically actuated in the manner of a full retraction when the thruster fails to retract fully? Is there a cam driving that switch or what?
[EDIT: If there's a current limit on the retraction motor as well as a limit switch (and limit switch mechanical operation appears correct), maybe check supply current on retraction and see if it spikes just before it stops. Presumably there's a leadscrew or other self-braking extension mechanism involved in this arrangement somewhere; if that binds up to any degree it'll be capable of stalling a motor and triggering a current limit (if there is a soft limit). ]
|
|
|
|
Post by sailbleu on Jan 13, 2015 8:45:11 GMT
But being super-careful; this is pretty much the same situation as swimming around a prop connected to a running propulsion motor in neutral. Who is at the controls and do they understand not to hit the thrust switch? Danger of entrapment/drowning is pretty high.
Is the "UP" limit switch actually mechanically actuated in the manner of a full retraction when the thruster fails to retract fully? Is there a cam driving that switch or what? [EDIT: If there's a current limit on the retraction motor as well as a limit switch (and limit switch mechanical operation appears correct), maybe check supply current on retraction and see if it spikes just before it stops. Presumably there's a leadscrew or other self-braking extension mechanism involved in this arrangement somewhere; if that binds up to any degree it'll be capable of stalling a motor and triggering a current limit (if there is a soft limit). ] Please believe me when I say I was aware of the danger you 're illustrating and my first intention was to add the same words of caution to my posting but then I thought , bwawww no one will make a remark on that How wrong could I be Anyway , of course you are right , and if it was me putting on the flippers I would most certainly first disconnect the powersupply of the actual propellor. Regards Ps: dbostrom , sorry for interfering in your last post , pressed the wrong button again. |
|
|
|
Post by Stella Maris on Jan 13, 2015 12:02:39 GMT
Thanks guys for your ideas and cautions.
Believe me I know how dangerous it is swimming next to a deployed "live" thruster. The plastic props are razor sharp. I had a plastic bag stuck in it some months ago and made sure that after it was deployed that I switched it off by removing the BIG fuse that powers the big motor. It still felt a little creepy pushing my fingers into the tunnel to get the pieces of plastic bag out !
Anyway to be able to "help" it I can do from inside the bow sail locker where it is installed, no need to swim. I must admit I actually did not try this but if it sticks again I will try this.
I think it may have gone into some sort of freeze mode as when I went back after a couple days and switched on the breaker all the lights started flashing and the bridge controller was beeping. I had seen it do this when commissioning so I knew what to do. I powered it on while holding down the up proximity switch to fool it into thinking that it was full retracted. This worked and I then moved it down to the bottom position switch and then brought it right back up to the full retract position.
After a couple up and down cycles to confirm it was OK, I used it this weekend and all seems OK.
I'm not sure why it happened and would love an explanation but thanks for the suggestions. I realize that there are not many of these on the forum so your collective advice is very welcome.
|
|
|
|
Post by dbostrom on Jan 13, 2015 17:19:45 GMT
No problem, Sailbleu. "Blurt" is my middle name.  Good deal you got it working again, Stella Maris. |
|
