Help: Bow thruster malfunctioning

[bccoast]

Hey y’all. Well been a wild christmas. Came down dec 23 to get the keys on my first sailboat SO49. Basically just handed the keys and other than a few manuals am in the dark. Waiting for the winter storm to pass and snow to stop. -9° tonight and got 6” of snow today.

Anyway, when we had survey a couple weeks ago, bow thrusters worked. When i got the boat a few days ago they didnt. Trying to trouble shoot. There was this switch box in forward cabin beside bow thruster and batteries, rubber gasket and a spring and cap. It was on the floor. I mucked around with switch and got it to work once but cant get it to work any more. A green light is flashing on the control panel buttons at helm. When it worked, i believe it was solid green.

Leaving tomorrow, any help would be appreciated.

[bccoast]

  

[jlasail]

On my boat I have a similar control panel at the helm and in order to activate the bow thruster the engine must be running and you need to push both buttons for a few seconds in order to get the green LED to switch from blinking green to solid green. Then it stays on for about 30 minutes or so.

[Trevor]

Just to agree with jlasail the engine should be running and push both buttons for a few seconds to make it operational. You may hear a alarm sound when it turns on and as mentioned, after a long period you will hear a couple of alarms sounds as it turns off.

Just push both buttons in together and see if that fixes the problem.

Regards

Trevor

[Mistroma]

I have a Max-Power unit and the instructions are the same as others have mentioned. Pretty certain that Quick will operate in the same manner.

My unit has 2 different delays.
It will beep and turn off after 30 minutes inactivity.
It delays when switching from port to starboard to prevent damage to gears. No delay when pulsing in one direction.


You mentioned that this was your first sailing boat. I'm not certain if your boat is still afloat but it sounds as if it is still in the water. DO NOT test run your thruster when out of the water.

My manual says:
Activiating the thruster when the boat is out of the water, is not advised under any circumstances.
Tests must be carried out with the boat in the water, the battery(ies) charged at 100% and in charge, and the engines running.

I always remove the large fuse when removing or replacing the props. (image of minced hand if I don't ) I missed the maintenance instruction in the manual initially but now remove them annually to clean the shaft and apply some silicone grease.


TIP:
One thing you may find worthwhile is to remove the battery terminals for a good clean. My thruster became weaker and I discovered that the battery wasn't charging. The boat was about 18 months old with limited thruster usage.

The dealer had simply tightened the clamps on dirty battery posts. I discovered pitting inside the clamps due to arcing and a very poor connection.

I would suggest removing the clamps to clean both posts and interior of clamps. I also smeared them with Contra-Lube 770. I'm assuming that your bow battery has posts rather than tags. My battery is a spiral wound red-top with posts and delivers very high current.

[bccoast]

Well, thank you for the tips to hold both buttons down for a couple seconds. Newb mistake and that got them working, well at least or the last week or so. 

Here is a new problem. 

Pulling into the marina yesterday, I held the 2 buttons down to turn on the bow thruster, the light on buttons went solid green, 15 seconds later or so, the motor turned on pushing the bow port side. It took me a second or two to figure out what was going on as the bow started to turn. I pressed the left button again and it stopped. however, it now wouldn't start again. the light now flashed green. 

I tried again today, started engine, could not get the lights on controller at helm to stay solid green and thruster would not work. I checked voltage on the battery and was at 14.4v

what kind of things can I do to troubleshoot this? I spoke with a guy at the marine shop next door and he said sounded like a solenoid. Need to figure out how to get the unit to switch on?

[NZL50505]

I had a v similar problem last year and it was the switch unit itself. Intermittent and random function. I had a sparky check the solenoid and that was fine. The answer was to order a replacement switch unit. The giveaway was the sun-perished switches which looked tired and obviously were. The Maxpower switches don’t come with a sun cover so I had a friend print me one with his new 3D printer.

[NZL50505]

Old and new switch unit. I suspect it was a water ingress problem.

The new one solved the problem for me.

What does yours look like?

[bccoast]

It is a Quick THC 1022

[bccoast]

Well the Quick Bow Thruster saga continues. Been on the phone multiple times with the head tech for Quick USA and he is stumped. 

Cleaned all the contacts I had access to supplying power, they were in ok shape but did it anyway. Fired up the boat, pressed the 2 direction buttons for 3 seconds and light continued to flash. Went down and checked the TCX box that is the brain for Jeanneau models, there is a green flashing led there too. A few minutes later, the battery isolator clunked and power flowed from battery to thruster, the TCX box light went solid green and I went to helm and now the controller light was solid green indicating power on. 

I pressed the left button for a second and the left thruster turned on but stayed on, I had to press right button to stop it. The light on controller stayed solid green but neither left or right thruster buttons worked. 

I went back to the forward cabin to see what was happening there, light was solid on TCX box, my multimeter shows there was power from battery isolator powering the thruster. a few minutes later, the battery isolator clunked and TCX and helm controller lights changed to flashing green. I went to helm to turn on thrusters again but nothing happened, light stayed flashing. 

I went back to the cabin and a few minutes later the battery isolator clunked and green lights were solid again. Went back to helm, was able to do very short bursts with both left and right but as soon as I held button a little longer it would stay on until I pressed the opposite button to stop it. 

I was able to repeat this multiple times with pretty much same results. both left and right would work in short bursts but a longer press on either button and the thruster would continue to operate until I cancelled it with the opposite direction. After that, no buttons would do anything, I would have to wait until the battery isolator cycled off and back on again. Then could repeat the process. 

I dont think it is the battery isolator as it seems to work fine, for some reason though, it is getting sent triggers to open and close it. 

The Quick tech originally thought it was the controller but now is wondering if it is the TCX box. I pulled the box out and dismantled it and took pics of the circuit board as well as dismantled the controller. There appeared to be some possible corrosion on one of the buttons but not sure if it was just something else from manufacturing. 

Anyone ever come across something like this? Other suggestions?

[bccoast]

Here are a few more photos if anyone notices something.








 
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[bccoast]

UPDATE: Was given some advice on troubleshooting and put everything back together. Wouldn't you know it, works perfectly now. I am assuming that there was a moisture problem and after drying out is working. My first suspicion is the 2 push buttons on the controller as they are the most exposed. it is also possible that some moisture leaked through onto the circuit board below. The whole panel was siliconed in but not sure if that had deteriorated and led to it. I found comparable (hopefully) buttons and will install those and see how it goes. for now, just unplugged the controller and only used it on sunny days. 

Will follow up once I get the new buttons in. 

[NZL50505]

And get a cover for it.

Like I said I had a friend 3D print me one because Maxpower don’t provide one 🙄. But maybe Quick do have one you can buy?

[NZL50505]

Cover I made…

[bccoast]

that is awesome... I have a friend with the printer, will see if he can make me one. may even consider buying a 3d printer, have so many times wish I had one. 

[Spritz]

Feb 15, 2022 23:40:04 GMT NZL50505 said:

Cover I made…

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this cover is great could you please send me the file to "print" it?
thank yiou

[petros42]

NZL50505 - if you are willing to post the 3D files for the Quick Control Cover, I would very much appreciate this (probably many others too).

BCCOAST - One more thing I've noticed with my bow thruster is there is a forced delay between port thrust and stbd thrust.  Before I leave the dock, I test the thruster on both sides.  If I give a blast on one side, I have to wait a couple of seconds before the other side will active.  So my test sequence is port thrust for 1 second, wait 2 seconds, stbd thrust for 1 second.

[NZL50505]

Ok it was a friend who did it for me so I’ll ask him if he can send me the file - keep you posted.

[NZL50505]

Ok so that was quick. My friend said yes he can send me the file and yes it should be editable to remove the name of my boat (Fogg). If you know what you’re doing maybe you can add your own boat name!

Anyone who’s interested send me a PM with their email and I’ll pass it on when I receive it.

[NZL50505]

I’ve now got the 3D print file (with my boat name removed so it’s a blank cover). I’ve already sent it to a couple of people but anyone else who wants a copy send me a PM with your email?
Cheers

[NZL50505]

Just to confirm that somebody who requested the print file has successfully created a new cover.
They uploaded it to a 3D print service local to them
(In the US) and received the new cover a few days later and report that it fits perfectly.
So the process works if anyone else wants one (PM me)!
Cheers