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Old 16-09-2024, 00:19   #16
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

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Originally Posted by GordMay View Post
Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, James.

You should, probably, be using a starting/cranking battery, rated in Cranking Amps [CCA], rather than a deep cycle battery, rated in Amp-Hours [A/h].
Many manufacturers limit [at least, on paper] the maximum current of their deep-cycle batteries, emphasizing the fact that they are not designed for such use.

Of course, this doesn't explain coupling breakage.

The SLEIPNER SRV100 retract bow/stern thruster 12V specifies:
https://www.sleipnergroup.com/thrust...n-thruster-12v
Current Draw 740A
Min. Battery CCA (DIN) 750
Min. Battery CCA (SAE) 1425
Min. Battery CCA (EN) 1320

A single deep cycle battery, or a pair of them, would be a problem as you note, but a whole 570AH deep cycle bank of batteries will give more than enough CCA for this purpose.
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Old 16-09-2024, 00:22   #17
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

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Originally Posted by silvercreek View Post
I have heard rumors about this being the case (the Sleipner motors being wound for low voltages), so it is not a surprising outcome. I have my bow thruster connected to my LiFePO4 house bank, with a relatively high voltage of ~13.2V. So I have been watching this and other similar situations with bated breath. Luckily for me, I have not yet encountered a failure. But I did notice a lot of graphite “dusting” my bow thruster compartment. I think it’s material from the motor brushes. See this thread for photos. Have you noticed anything similar?

I intend to install a dedicated AGM bank at the bow for the thruster/windlass this winter as a preventative step against failure. It should lower the voltage a bit, and simultaneously fix the annoying dim of the lights when thrusting.

Wouldn't a different thruster motor be cheaper than installing a whole new battery bank?


On the other hand, if your lights are dimming then your bank is definitely not maintaining 13.2V during thrusting, so maybe you don't have any problem at all. LiFePo4 does have voltage sag under load, just much less than lead of comparable size.
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Old 16-09-2024, 07:51   #18
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

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Originally Posted by Dockhead View Post
On the other hand, if your lights are dimming then your bank is definitely not maintaining 13.2V during thrusting, so maybe you don't have any problem at all. LiFePo4 does have voltage sag under load, just much less than lead of comparable size.
This is actually a good observation. There is also a ~20ft run to the bow which drops it further. So it’s not a dire situation, but still higher voltage than the Sleipnirs like, I suspect.

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Wouldn't a different thruster motor be cheaper than installing a whole new battery bank?
I also expect a side benefit to separating banks is protecting the other instruments from dips and surges produced by the thruster/windlass. Plus a little extra battery capacity on board.
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Old 16-09-2024, 22:54   #19
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

I haven't seen any graphite dusting, but will take a closer look next time I'm there. The new stern thruster battery bank has a DC to DC converter on it for charging and to prevent the surge hitting the house bank. I'm also going to put a DC to DC converter on the instruments circuit so the bow thruster related surges on the house bank won't affect it ( had 2 Airmar transducers and an autopilot controller fail in 6 months).
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Old 17-09-2024, 07:24   #20
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

I'm grateful to the OP and contributors for bringing this issue up.


I have a Sleipner Sidepower 10hp thruster and will be converting to LiFePo4 fairly soon. I would not have imagined that the voltage would be an issue.


I've written to Sleipner to see if they have a solution. Surely this is a common problem by now. I'll post what they answer.
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Old 08-10-2024, 23:10   #21
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

Update: Stern thruster sheared again today. This was after a separate battery bank was installed for the stern thruster, proving that the advice given by the Sleipner support agent ( i.e. voltage to high) was irrelevant. Count is now 4 stern thruster couplings sheared and one bow thruster coupling sheared. Now seeking legal advice.
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Old 09-10-2024, 01:07   #22
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

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Originally Posted by James E View Post
Update: Stern thruster sheared again today. This was after a separate battery bank was installed for the stern thruster, proving that the advice given by the Sleipner support agent ( i.e. voltage to high) was irrelevant. Count is now 4 stern thruster couplings sheared and one bow thruster coupling sheared. Now seeking legal advice.
Sorry to hear this. It definitely seems that something is wrong with your setup somewhere, as mine still has not had any failures and I’m still running it from my LiFePO4 setup.

I remember reading in the Sleipner manual that there is a way to program max thrust. I know it’s not ideal, but at this point it might be worth setting your max to 70 or 80% and see if that works.

Your system is using S-Link right?

PS for anyone curious what this coupling is, this video is helpful: https://youtu.be/e0S6dgtiKAI?si=ndEiu7eklgjdwsFdi
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Old 09-10-2024, 15:00   #23
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Re: Sleipner/Side Power Failures in new units

Thanks for the info - I did try to restrict the power, but it seems that option is not available on the set up menu for my particular model.
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