Bow Thruster 53 ED

[Ted Smith]

Having a final meeting with my boatyard this week re a new bow thruster on my 1988 53 ED. They've given me 3 suggestions. First and least expensive is a 12 inch Side Power 32 volt tied to my start batteries. Second is Lewmar 10 inch, 24 volt. Third and most expensive is a Wesmar 10 inch 24 volt. I know some owners have installed a 24 volt thruster and tied it into 32 volt batteries with no problem. The other alternative is another bank of batteries which I'd like to avoid. Any advice and expertise is much appreciated.
Thanks
Ted

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I may not be a good reference as I don't have a thruster on my 53ED and see no real need for one. That said, I think I'd go with a 32v version if it were available.

 

[captddis]

The Wesmar is the most durable. You really need a dedicated battery bank for the thruster.

 

[OBXTucker]

I'm partial to Vetus, but will echo the dedicated bank recommendation.
Go as big as you can afford....when you need it, you'll appreciate the power.

 

[GJH]

One thing you do not want to do is tie a 24 volt thruster to a 32 volt bank. You will kill the "odd man out" battery with over charging. Thrusters really do require a separate bank, they draw a lot of amps, if you are going to all that expense, why not do it right? A couple of good capacity 4D's will run you about 400 bucks, charger say another 400 and you can get them much closer to the thruster. So an extra grand say to do it right. I also second Vetus, you should contact Florida Bow Thruster, their distributor and see if they install in your area or who they recommend (they cover the eastern half of the country to my knowledge). Great service after the sale... way,way after the sale in my case. Wesmar is up your way and have a good reputation, but I have no experience with them.

 

[Boatnut]

It will all boil down to, you get what you pay for. 24v thruster, even though the manufacturer says it will work on 32, will only get you shorter thruster life. I agree, a dedicated bank is the way to go. You're spending quite of few bucks on this upgrade, why not do it right the first time, and avoid future headaches.

 

[wsdemmer]

I second the Vetus with a dedicated bank and charger.

 

[Boatnut]

We seem to think voting is the way to determine what is best. No problem with that, but one question I ask is, what are the votes based on, experience with more than one brand, price, quality, knowledge of use or servicing or just hearsay.

I have a friend that went through 3 Vetus thrusters before they got one that worked. The last one lasted 5 months, so he went with another brand, and life has been grand in his thruster world for 4 years. I know this because I found the wiring error, that burned up the first one.

 

[OBXTucker]

I think most of the products out there are pretty good, it all boils down to how well it's installed and how well it can be serviced after installation. Make sure the product you choose can be serviced locally.

 

[Scottbee]

When I was at FLIBS I talked to a couple of captains who just raved about their PTO-driven hydraulic thrusters.

When/how/why would one consider going hydraulic in lieu of electric?

Just curious.

 

[OBXTucker]

Hydraulic is hands down a better solution, but normally cost prohibitive as a retro-fit.

 

[GJH]

We seem to think voting is the way to determine what is best. No problem with that, but one question I ask is, what are the votes based on, experience with more than one brand, price, quality, knowledge of use or servicing or just hearsay.

I have a friend that went through 3 Vetus thrusters before they got one that worked. The last one lasted 5 months, so he went with another brand, and life has been grand in his thruster world for 4 years. I know this because I found the wiring error, that burned up the first one.

Point well taken. I can only speak of direct experience with Vetus. You found a wiring problem, what else could be involved, undersizing, mis matched batteries? But I know Wesmar has a good rep, and I believe Side Power does too, but no direct experience. The only valuable "vote" you can cast is based on direct experience, or strong second hand. My thruster was there when I bought the boat, so no pride of authorship. I was just very impressed by the service I got in trouble shooting and fixing (for no $) an old unit... the root cause having turned out to be in a battery disconnect solenoid and not the thruster or it's solenoids.

 

[wsdemmer]

My "vote" was based on my assessment of Side Power, Wesmar and Vetus and the companies that sold them. Vetus and Florida Bow Thruster came out on top (FBT could sell anyone of the mentioned units and they chose Vetus to recommend). If money were not a factor I would have gone hydraulic but it was an issue so I went with the largest Vetus and FBT did a great job and were quick as well. One and a half years later and no problems.

 

[GJH]

My "vote" was based on my assessment of Side Power, Wesmar and Vetus and the companies that sold them. Vetus and Florida Bow Thruster came out on top (FBT could sell anyone of the mentioned units and they chose Vetus to recommend). If money were not a factor I would have gone hydraulic but it was an issue so I went with the largest Vetus and FBT did a great job and were quick as well. One and a half years later and no problems.

As fond as I am of FBT, they do have a dog in that hunt. They are the Vetus distributor for the US, and not just thrusters.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I don't have one of these, but I am curious: does anyone make an AC driven thruster? Because AC is readily available from the generator set, and the wiring would be far easier.

 

[rwappleton]

I am watching close also just because I want one!

 

[LBDboater]

I don't have one of these, but I am curious: does anyone make an AC driven thruster? Because AC is readily available from the generator set, and the wiring would be far easier.

I know they make them, but I would be curious if anyone has installed them myself. My thought would be that AC is available from the generator when it is running, as well as from an inverter for short time periods when not (the inverter would have a slight charge coming from the engines, but at idle speeds for close-maneuvering, I realize not an incredible amount of power, depending on the size of your alternators). The advantage would be in wiring (120VAC vs 24VDC), and I would feel like weight from lack of having to double up on battery banks and chargers as well.

 

[Scottbee]

Look at the HP of most of these thrusters.. and convert that to KW. I think you'll see that the requirements would probably consume most of the power available from your generator, and certainly exceed the capabilities of your inverter.

 

[Boatnut]

What happens to the thruster if the genny is out of service? Using DC, a switch installed to one of the start batteries would suffice to run the thruster if their batteries were low of a bad battery. AC doesn't seem like the best way to go, fire up the genny so you can use the thruster.

 

[OBXTucker]

I looked into the AC units. They are mainly made for larger ships and cost prohibitive.
Also, as mentioned, they are huge power hogs. I converted on model over to kw's and it required almost all of the power from one of my 20kw gensets.