Damage to Lewmar bow thruster

[grahamdouglass]

I had a Lewmar 185TT 6.0 24volt 8hp Bow Thruster installed in June of 2018.

In March of 2020 I went to test the thruster, I heard a high whining sound and there was no thrust. The shear pins were still good and a diver told me there was no propeller. The prop was a long time coming so I put off installing the prop till this years haul out.

2021 haul out

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=117842&stc=1&d=1621374603

Instead of a spindle sticking out, the complete hub assembly was missing. Only the shell was left. I had hardly used this thruster because I usually forgot I had it. I only really used it in tight spots.


https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=117843&stc=1&d=1621375159

How could the insides of the hub assembly disappear. Has any one experienced this?

 

[DrissZougari]

Someone is rebuilding their Thruster and needed parts!

 

[Comodave]

Have you asked Lewmar yet?

 

[grahamdouglass]

Before contacting Lewmar it would be nice to have a similar story out there.

 

[C lectric]

Someone is rebuilding their Thruster and needed parts!

Could be.

The two screws that hold the cover plate also hold the interior. If they needed to be loctited and were not they could have worked loose from vibration. Then the rest of the guts would disappear.

Or if the screws were overtightened and stripped the housing threads they could back out that way too.

I'm guessing.

 

[grahamdouglass]

I've tried contacting Lewmar at their tecksupport email address. They are a large corporation with a lot of different layers. They are headquartered in the UK but I am in Canada. Has any one out there had a successful communication experience with Lewmar after a failure of one of their products? If so was it a good experience?

What email address has worked for communicating with Lewmar?

I think having a product fail after less than 22 months is pretty bad.

Installation of the bow thruster does not require the hub assembly to be taken apart. It is installed as a unit.

I would like to correct the first post, it is a 12V thruster. That's what the label says on the motor. It's just that I have two 12V batteries and I wasn't too sure if it was wired as 24 volts.

 

[twistedtree]

My guess would be that the spindle was removed to gain clearance to install the thruster, and the bolts were not properly secured when reassembled. but I see you say that disassembly was not necessary, so that casts doubt on that theory.


I assume the bolts are missing as opposed to broken off?


Re support from Lewmar, in my limited experience it is non-existant. All the over head Lewmar hatches on my new boat leaked around the seals. Three of four attempts were made to reseal them, all of which failed. The hatches were replaced with new ones, and they leaked took. The service yard here says every Lewmar hatch that has come in on a new boat in the past few years has leaked. The bone pile of replaced hatches fills a couple of pallets.


I finally figured out how to stop the leaks. Replace with Manship matches. Problem solved.

 

[grahamdouglass]

Suing to collect costs in British Columbia

At present I am trying to work with the shipwright to repair the damage. After every thing is done and paid for, suing Lewmar seems like a fools errand. But taking Paynes marine supply who supplied the part could be more lucrative.

In British Columbia there is the Sale of Goods Act, 1996. Which states in part, in Section 18. c: there is an implied condition that the goods will be durable for a reasonable period of time having regard to the use to which they would normally be put and to all the surrounding circumstances of the sale or lease;

It could be reasonably argued that a bowthruster failing after 22 months is unreasonable, especially if the remaining shell of the hub is in good condition.

Firstly, would a supplier of boat parts have a blanket immunity against lawsuits if the supplier recieved the money for the boat part and then sold the boat part to the vender.

I'd rather work with the installer of the bowthruster in getting this repaired. Getting him on board with a hope of recovery from Paynes marine supply seems like the least onerous path. Going through small debts court is reasonably inexpensive.

All you legal begals out there, any thoughts? You can message me if you wish.