Maneuvering a Single Screw with a Bow Thruster

slowandsteady said:

............. I will be putting some grease on the battery terminals ..............

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What do you expect greasing the battery terminals to accomplish?

Ski in NC said:

Regardless of what the manufacturer states it should do, I'd like to know what it actually will do. Especially after it reportedly failed in use. A one minute run is not a torture test.

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You need to know what the manufacturer states it should do before you can determine if it's operating as expected or there's a problem.

I don't know about anyone else but I've been using white lithium grease for years on all my old truck and car battery terminals...never any corrosion or build up. Works like a champ.

I use a product called Kopr-Kote. It's a copper-impregnated anti-seize compound that doubles as a very fine dielectric grease for any and all 12v electrical connections. It is near impossible to find in brick and mortar stores but you will find it on EBay. Coat the battery terminals and all connectors and it will be highly unlikely that corrosion will occur. It is also a terrific anti-seize compound. Another use - 12v light sockets.

The manufacturer is a company called Jet Lube (jetlube.com). It is a mil-spec product.

I have on my for sale 34 Mainship Mk1 a Vetus bow thruster the larger specified..truly a gift from god. I feed it with an 8D AGM right next to it (overkill, again) shodda used a group 31 starter battery. Smartest thing I did was make the only charging was using a 35 watt solar panel. Tied in the same battery to the wench...or is that winch...either way..she likes it. Never had a problem.
Now what this does for you is short wire run from battery to thruster, no long high amp wire runs with all the negatives that go with that, including safety. The only long wire run is from the panel to the battery, a MUCH SMALLER wire.
I have a heavy hand on the thruster, small rudder, too far forward so I do not use it at all. Just forward and reverse and thruster.
Now on my new boat, hydraulic stern thruster..time to start learning again.

catalinajack said:

I use a product called Kopr-Kote. It's a copper-impregnated anti-seize compound that doubles as a very fine dielectric grease for any and all 12v electrical connections. It is near impossible to find in brick and mortar stores but you will find it on EBay. Coat the battery terminals and all connectors and it will be highly unlikely that corrosion will occur. It is also a terrific anti-seize compound. Another use - 12v light sockets.

The manufacturer is a company called Jet Lube (jetlube.com). It is a mil-spec product.

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You should probably research to make sure you are using the proper type of "Kopr-Kote" or whatever brand grease you use. You want a conductive grease on the actual metal connections of an electrical system, Not a dielectric grease. The dielectric would be good for sealing rubber caps/sleeves to prevent moisture/salt from getting to an electrical connection.

roguewave said:

I don't know about anyone else but I've been using white lithium grease for years on all my old truck and car battery terminals...never any corrosion or build up. Works like a champ.

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Slathering grease on battery terminals that are already corroded does nothing but make them greasy.

catalinajack said:

I use a product called Kopr-Kote. It's a copper-impregnated anti-seize compound that doubles as a very fine dielectric grease for any and all 12v electrical connections. It is near impossible to find in brick and mortar stores but you will find it on EBay. Coat the battery terminals and all connectors and it will be highly unlikely that corrosion will occur. It is also a terrific anti-seize compound. Another use - 12v light sockets.

The manufacturer is a company called Jet Lube (jetlube.com). It is a mil-spec product.

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"dielectric" means "does not conduct electricity". I don't think a copper-impregnated anti-seize compound would qualify as "dielectric".

rwidman said:

Slathering grease on battery terminals that are already corroded does nothing but make them greasy.

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One must clean them first...

Rwidman - thanks for the correction on the "dielectric". Just know that Kopr-Kote is a very useful product for the purpose I described.

Dielectric grease does is a great spooge to cover vulnerable terminals before connecting them. When you make the connection, you are making a metal-to-metal connection that pushes the grease away except where the metal doesn't touch, where the grease will prevent corrosion, water ingress etc. I put it on my dock connector plug for one, and so far no problems. It doesn't prevent a connection nor degrade one, the same amount of metal will still be touching.

LarryM said:

Hands down, the best description I have ever heard - "two slip wind" and "three slip wind" - adding that to my nautical vocabulary immediately.

Larry
M/V Boomarang

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Perfect! Thinking of it like that is going to help me set up my approach better next time.

Xsbank said:

Dielectric grease does is a great spooge to cover vulnerable terminals before connecting them. When you make the connection, you are making a metal-to-metal connection that pushes the grease away except where the metal doesn't touch, where the grease will prevent corrosion, water ingress etc. ......

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This is correct and it's best used on plugs with multiple conductors because it won't create a conductive path from one conductor to another.

rwidman said:

This is correct and it's best used on plugs with multiple conductors because it won't create a conductive path from one conductor to another.

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+1 right on Ron.
Bill

What's a spooge?

Dear Archie,

"any displeasing or unidentifiable - but generally sticky or slimy - substance.
I got spooge all over my hands.
What is that spooge on your shoe?"

You just learned something new!

I do NOT believe you should 'mix' anything with the starting batteries. Starting is separate from house batteries for a reason. If you completely drain the starting battery then you don't go home. By mixing the thruster battery in with the starting system you ARE going to be calling seatow at some point.

The 'house battery'(s) are a luxury. So is the thruster. But the engine is a necessity (thus the separate starting battery). Don't mix up the usage of the system.

cappy208 said:

I do NOT believe you should 'mix' anything with the starting batteries. Starting is separate from house batteries for a reason. If you completely drain the starting battery then you don't go home. By mixing the thruster battery in with the starting system you ARE going to be calling seatow at some point.

The 'house battery'(s) are a luxury. So is the thruster. But the engine is a necessity (thus the separate starting battery). Don't mix up the usage of the system.

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The other side of that argument is that the engine will be running when you are using the thruster and providing charging and operating current. Same for the windlass.

For what it's worth, my thruster and windlass are connected to the house battery. That's the factory setup.

Xsbank said:

Dear Archie,

"any displeasing or unidentifiable - but generally sticky or slimy - substance.
I got spooge all over my hands.
What is that spooge on your shoe?"

You just learned something new!

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When I looked it up I found it was a Breaking Bad character! That fits!

Now I learned something new too, I had no idea there was a Breaking Bad character. At east I know what that is!