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Re: A question to the hive mind re Amel 54 (Sleipner side power) Bow thruster capacitor please.

Porter McRoberts
 

We stored the boat. For longer than intended  BT down so as to allow access to change the zincs etc. covid... delays. Boat returns to water. BT working.  Delivery skippers sail boat to delivery ship. Local captain helps put ibis on ship can’t get BT back up. We get IBIs off ship in Tahiti. BT stored in partially up/down position. The thruster wasn’t working. Up down or side to side. Replace fuse and up down good. Get into motor and commuter with baked on graphite and dust. Brushes swollen from heat. I think the loading captain worked the hell out of the motor with heavy winds. Polished commuter, trimmed up brushes. Corrosion Xed.  Then broke mystery wire... at last step. BT works like a champ. (Without mystery wire) No spark, after reseating brushes minimal dust. 

My suspicion is mystery wire is a heat sensor, with an additional connection (long disconnected) from the relays as wires are a jumble entering and exiting an Audi brand additional relay used really as a junction box. 

It’s a simple machine made heartily complex. 
I’ll see what the locals say and continue to gently test it. Thanks for your and everyone’s input. 

Porter



Porter McRoberts 
S/V IBIS 
WhatsApp:+1 754 265 2206
Www.fouribis.net

On Aug 23, 2020, at 8:57 AM, Scott SV Tengah <Scott.nguyen@...> wrote:


Porter, I replaced my Sidepower after the commutator cracked and it started eating brushes ($$$$$$).

Note that the Sleipner that Amel installed in my A54 (#69) has been superceded by another model. The solenoids are moved to the forward facing, referenced to your A54, side of the bowthruster. I am not sure if they updated the thermal sensor too. As an aside, if you ever need to replace your motor, you'll have to cut out a bit of the bow locker floor and also use some wood "shims" to push the bowthruster cover / stairs towards the front of the boat to accommodate the new solenoid location.

I've had a few outfits look at our NEW bowthruster because it was having intermittent issues. They cost me a lot of money and couldn't figure it out. Brad at IMTRA is generally quite helpful and their techs will give you step by step instructions. If you want to test yourself, try this: https://seatronic.no/productattachments/index/download?id=1080

You can bypass a lot of the sensors, including the thermal switch. That way, you at least isolate exactly what is wrong. FYI in our case, for the intermittently functioning NEW Sleipner, it turned out to be the tiniest bit of corrosion on the connectors between the big/long relay box and the solenoids. I'd suggest corrosion-x or silicone grease on those contacts.

On Sun, Aug 23, 2020 at 8:32 AM Porter McRoberts via groups.io <portermcroberts=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Mark. Thank you. 
Interestingly. The US contingent got back to me. They suggested the part was a heat sensor and sent a photo. The photo they sent was similar to what I have, but suffered in that it had an additional wire connection that then fed back to a relay. The part they showed me we do not have. 

I like safety features, however this scenario like engines, I’d rather ruin an engine saving the ship than ruin the ship saving an engine. 

I use the thruster when I can’t maneuver with the rudder and as sparingly as possible. 

There evidently is a sidepower outfit here in Tahiti. I’m going to ask them to have a look, if covid doesn’t stop us!  

Thanks again

Porter
A54-152



Porter McRoberts 
S/V IBIS 
WhatsApp:+1 754 265 2206

On Aug 23, 2020, at 5:08 AM, Mark & Debbie Mueller <brass.ring@...> wrote:

Very recently I had an opportunity to get familiar with our Sleipner bow thruster.  No such part was in the unit.
--
Mark Mueller
Brass Ring  A54


--
Scott 
2007 A54 #69
SV Tengah
http://www.svtengah.com

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