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Bow thruster guides
Sizing, installation, maintenance and troubleshooting, written by installers.
What we tell customers at the dock, written down.
What a professional bow thruster install involves, day by day
A day-by-day look at a typical 2-3 day tunnel bow thruster install: survey, cutting and glassing the tunnel, battery and wiring, then testing.
Bow thruster maintenance checklist
A practical bow thruster maintenance checklist: what to check every trip, during the season and at haul-out, based on Sleipner and Vetus manuals.
Bow thruster troubleshooting
Fix common bow thruster faults: clicking with no run, motor spinning with no thrust, broken drive pins, thermal cut-out, solenoids and weak thrust.
How to size a bow thruster
Size a bow thruster the way manufacturers do: windage area, design wind speed, thruster position and real voltage at the motor. Includes Vetus's method.
Ready to stop dreading the fuel dock?
Send us the boat, the length and where she lives. We will size the right thruster and tell you what it costs, straight.