Dear All.

As you remember I had over-used the bowthruster and I wish to

you of my experience with that.

After the incident the bowthruster continued to work. I used it

times without problem 3hours after the incident the next day of

incident and 3days after the incident with an electrician while we
were trying to evaluate the extend of the damage. I left from the
marina for the Eastern vacation without any problem using the
thruster cautiously. When we arrived in Poros 30 nm away and with
strong side wind I lowered the thruster and it didn't work at all
without any warning. I was surprised ofcource and we left
immediatelly for the next harbor Porto-Heli 25 nm away where I

able by coincidence to moor the boat without the thruster. I
immediattely ordered the new motor in La Rochelle and they shipped
it same day by UPS to my adress in Athens. When we arrived back it
was practically impossible to moor the boot as the cross wind was
over 18 Knots and I put with great difficulty the boot with the

in its moorafter 3 attempts. The boot is completly unmanouvarble
without the thruster, the combination of the folding propeller

the great distance between the prop wash and the rudder make it
impossible to steer back wards but also straight forward to put

boot in the moor.

I was extremeely happy to install the new motor in place exactly

same day of our arrival in Kalamaki. It took 3hours to remove the
old motor and put the new one in place. It can be done with the

of another sailor. I put immediattely the boat correctly in its

I want to express my regards to the excellent after sales service

La Rochelle and to warn everybody that if the thruster has a

it is better not to approach a harbor that you know that is tight
and cross wind is expected.

Regards

Dimitris Krassopoulos
SM Alma Libre

FYI,

Roy

FYI,

Roy

--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, "jfolino901"

<jfolino901@y...> wrote:

I HAVE SM #347. THE HOUSE BATTERIES ARE QUICKLY

COMING TO THERE
END!

MY BOAT IS 2-1/2 YEARS OLD. SHE IS LOCATED IN THE

CARIBBEAN. I
NEVER

LET THE BATTERIES DISCHARGE BELOW 70% OF CAPACITY.
WHAT HAVE OTHERS EXPERIENCED FOR BATTERY LIFE? THE

9 BATTERIES ARE

AMEL STANDARD SEALED DELTAS AND ARE 105 AMPS EACH.
JOHN FOLINO

I wish to comment our experience with battery life
as follows:

Simpatico, our 1981 Maramu #94 has no diesel
generator. We do have
two small solar panels trickling charge (2.5 amps/h
each) to both
house and engine battery banks. The house batteries
we've had are as
follows:
- Rolls Surrette, 4x6v cells providing about
750amp/hours lasted 6
years and replaced with;
- Copy of Rolls manufactured in Venezuela by
Duncan(local
manufacturer, deep cycle), since 1999. Work
perfectly. Surprised of
their good quality. About the same cost.

All are flooded acid-lead batteries.

Simpatico spends lots of time at dock, only charging
when using power
onboard. Once every 90-120 days we equalize the
house batteries.We
never leave the charger connected when away to avoid
boiling and
overcharging. Our charger is Amel's original
charger. Works very
well. We cool it properly with an external fan.

When cruising in the Caribbean we also use an
Airmarine-X wind
generator installed on the mizzen mast, and one hour
a day, while
operating the compressor for refrigeration, the
alternator
complements the charge at a rate of about 25-30
amps. Never had a
problem except if wind dies for for more than 48
hours, which
requires us to run the engine a little longer.

Of course, most of the consumption onboard comes
from a 12V frigoboat
freezer, lighting, radios and CD player which is not
a heck of a lot
compared with the stuff on the newer SM's.
Underway we used the wind generator and the prop
shaft mounted
alternator which at good speeds (6-7 K) gives us an
additional 5-10
amp charge.

Alex Paquin
Simpatico
Maramu #94, 1981
La Guaira, Venezuela

Dear Ian
very interesting what you mentioned.
Question? How will you messure 160 Amps on the bowhruster cabels?

Best regards and good winds
Hanspeter
SM #16

----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Shepherd
To: amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 5:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Bowthruster Problem


Hi Dimitris,

it sounds like you have overcooked the bow thruster through

If you have the 10 HP motor, it will draw around 160 amps, and

forced cooling in a confined space, it will get very hot after a

operation. It is not designed for other than short bursts of

The smoke will have come from the insulative lacquer on the motor

It may be OK after a cool down period, but it's now possible

insulation will break down sometime sooner, rather than later.

say, smoke comes from the motor as soon as you use it now, even

Is this correct? If so, you may need to get the motor rewound by

repair company. I would check the current on the Link 10 when the

thruster is operated. If it's much more than 160 amps, you

damaged the windings on the motor.

The oil should not be affected, but if I were you, I would drop

thruster tube down a few inches and check to see if the shaft

It may just be that you have a mechanical problem which is

more than normal. Whilst you are doing this, check for wear

bolt holes and make sure that the countersunk screw that holds

ring inside the tube is secure. What is the hull number of your

design has changed recently.

I would doubt that your insurance company would pay for a repair,

maybe wrong. If you say that you had to over use the thruster to

boat, they may be sympathetic! Good luck.

Ian Shepherd

SM 414 Crusader



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