Bow thruster electrical question

[2003380]

Question for the electrcal gurus.

I have a vetus 75 12volt with a 200 amp hr 4D AGM Deka battery on a smart charger.

I have 12.8 volts before and after using the thruster. My question is when the thruster is in operation what voltage should I get at the motor. Under load should the voltage drop at start up and then recover back to 12.8 while the motor is running or should the load reduce the voltage throughout the running of the motor.

Thanks for any info
2003 380

 

[bluebelly]

Question for the electrcal gurus.

I have a vetus 75 12volt with a 200 amp hr 4D AGM Deka battery on a smart charger.

I have 12.8 volts before and after using the thruster. My question is when the thruster is in operation what voltage should I get at the motor. Under load should the voltage drop at start up and then recover back to 12.8 while the motor is running or should the load reduce the voltage throughout the running of the motor.

Thanks for any info
2003 380

On a 12 volt system you should see a substantial drop in voltage the instant the motor engages. Then, while still engaging the bowthruster, you should see the voltage quickly recover to the 11 to 12 range range if the battery is healthy and the cable runs supplying the power to the bowthruster are not too long or too light weight for your installation. If you are seeing a constant drop in voltage at the motor while the motor is engaged, then your battery may be getting tired. The time that would be reasonable for your thruster to operate without any voltage drop from your battery would be about 10 seconds. After that amount of time even a healthy battery will start to show some drop in voltage since the amp draw of your bowthruster is huge. One real concern is weather or not the cables are sized appropriately for your installation. Most manufacturers are now installing 24 volt bowthrusters in order to make long cable runs that wont starve the electric motor of voltage.

Was your bowthruster installed by the factory?

 

[2003380]

Thanks for the reply

Installed by Florida Bow Thruster not by Factory. 2 foot cable run.