Vetus Joystick Sticking

I am having a problem with my vetus joystick on the upper helm. It isn't covered so it is subjected to the elements. I like to always activate the bow thruster whenever I go to the boat during the winter layup. Several times now the joystick has stuck in the on position. When this happens I begin to panic and wiggle it vigorously until it frees itself and stops. Obviously this is a dangerous issue. Has anyone had this problem and been able to resolve it without buying a new controller? If so how? Thanks!!

Does it look like this? I had the same problem on the upper helm. I unscrewed the outer ring, slid up the rubber boot and used CRC contact cleaner. With it off, after spraying into the base of the stick, I exercised it back and forth, then sprayed it again and let it dry. So far so good. Careful when you unscrew the base ring. The stick can drop down.

Larry M it is a newer version - I'm guessing about 8-9 years old.

Larry M said:

Does it look like this? I had the same problem on the upper helm. I unscrewed the outer ring, slid up the rubber boot and used CRC contact cleaner. With it off, after spraying into the base of the stick, I exercised it back and forth, then sprayed it again and let it dry. So far so good. Careful when you unscrew the base ring. The stick can drop down.

Click to expand...

Hi Larry, my vetus panel looks the same as the one in your photo. The toggle activates the thruster when pushed to starboard but not to when pushed to port. I plugged in a bran new controller today thinking that it was the toggle. The new controller activates the starboard thrust when I push it to port but does nothing when I push it to starboard. Do you have any ideas or contacts that I can try to get this working? Thanks, Mike

I don’t know about Vetus thrusters, but with Sidepower they caution against running it out of the water because the motor can overspeed. With the joystick sticking on it might overspeed.

SeaBreeze said:

I am having a problem with my vetus joystick on the upper helm. It isn't covered so it is subjected to the elements. I like to always activate the bow thruster whenever I go to the boat during the winter layup. Several times now the joystick has stuck in the on position. When this happens I begin to panic and wiggle it vigorously until it frees itself and stops. Obviously this is a dangerous issue. Has anyone had this problem and been able to resolve it without buying a new controller? If so how? Thanks!!

Click to expand...

On my Vetus thrusters, there are actually two switches, one for port and another for starboard. My thruster eventually wouldn’t run in one direction. I took the control apart and took out each switch and tested them. I then replaced the one bad switch.

It may be that you have one of the switches that has lost its spring. Have you opened it up to see what is inside? This what the inside of my switch looks like. It is a double controller since i have both bow and stern thrusters, so with just a single controller you would only have 2 switches.

FWIW, that picture is the bottom of the thruster controller after it has been removed.

Call Florida Bow Thrusters, the Vetus distributor. 321-453-7070

In mu experience their trouble shooting and technical support was superb, even for an old thruster.

You should install a master cut-off switch also...

Thanks everyone, sounds like it is the solenoid on the motor. Part is back ordered. Mike

In the meantime, you could try taking the solenoid to a starter shop or even a place like NAPA and see if they have an equivalent. Sometimes they just jam. On mine you could manually exercise it to free it up. The FBT guy walked me through it over the phone.