Replacement thruster for old Seabotix LBV

I use a generation 1.5 Seabotix LBV and have lost 2 thrusters in the past couple of years. I am looking for a reasonable alternative to buying the updated Teledyne thrusters at $1800/unit. Tough to spend that kind of money on an ROV that is no longer supported except with technical advice. Do you have an idea if it is possible to integrate either the T100 or T200 thrusters into a Seabotix ROV? If so, can I use the on board esc, control boards and existing cables or will I need to install additional esc’s, etc…for the motors? Just exploring options to keep this unit running. I’m down to 3 thrusters out of 4, so finding a solution is a priority. Thanks.

The original Seabotix LBV used brushed motors while later models used brushless motors in their ROV thrusters. Which do you have in your ROV?

When you say you “lost” a thruster, what exactly do you mean? It may be possible to rebuild a thruster if you can isolate what the issue is and then locate replacement parts (motor, components, etc.).

If your LBV is designed to run 3 wire brushless motors, it might be possible to use a Blue Robotics thruster (or motor) as a replacement as long as the power and voltage requirements are the same. But if it uses brushed motors or if you need to replace the Seabotix ESC with a Blue Robotics ESC, that would probably be a much more difficult project.

I think this guy had one of the old red LBV’s with some board problem, maybe he has some thrusters left over…

http://www.fcrov-piloting.com/

These are the oil bath, brushed motors.

Sorry for the euphemism. By “lost” I meant the thrusters stopped working. In one instance I could not connect with the ROV until I eliminated the thruster from the ROV.

Everything operates with 3 thrusters, though the ROV was designed for 4. I eliminated the lateral thruster as the the least required for operation.

I like your suggestion to attempt to repair the motors. I suppose I really don’t have anything to lose by taking one apart. My only concern is the oil bath if the thruster is emptied. According to the literature, they are filled in a vacuum and topped off as needed by a rather lengthy process. I’ve done this twice now, replacing the oil compensation tubes.

I agree mixing brushed & unbrushed will not work when the thrusters are paired, but individually they should be okay. The ESC is my primary concern.

Thanks!

Thanks! I’ll look into it. Salvaging and scrounging may be my next best option…

I know this is an old thread. I’m in the same situation. I have a lbv150 with the brushless thrusters. I’m down to 2 working thrusters (I never had a lateral thruster). The driver board is inside the thruster. I pulled a failed one apart and found the driver board was corroded. Uses i2c2 communication protocol between thrusters and cpu. Did you find a solution or maybe your willing to sell the thrusters you have left. I pulled my 2 good thrusters apart and found that the oil inside both was contaminated. A Seabotix technician told me that the boards were not very reliable. They want $1k to replace the board if they can source one from teledyne. Cheers

Hi, also question regarding the trusters of our LBV 150. On the outside of each truster there is an oilfilled bellow. All bellows are becomming bad and are leaking oil. Anyone an idea where we can find these? Thanks!!

Frank

Hi @Frank504, welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

Not sure how likely you are to find replacement Seabotix thrusters/components in a 4 year old thread on the Blue Robotics forum, but who knows, maybe someone will stumble upon it at just the right time :slight_smile:

If you’re hoping to replace whole thrusters then it may be worth considering @paul-unterweiser’s comment above:

If you’re specifically wanting to replace the oil-filled bellows on your existing thrusters then I’d imagine your best bet is contacting Teledyne, although I’m not sure if they do that kind of replacement work.

Hi Eliot,

Thanks for your response and welcome. Just found this thread and thought I would give it a try. Hard to find any info regarding LBV150 parts. Might be the solution to follow up on Paul’s sugestion thanks for pointing that out.

Frank

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Hi Frank & sorry to Robert for not replying sooner.

As I mentioned in the thread, you can get air bubbles in the motors when the compensation tubes leak, which causes issues as well. The tubes age and fail. Even the new ones that I purchased back when I could, leaked too. I looked at retro-fitting our LBV with new BR thrusters, but was advised for the effort and $$ to do so, just replace the LBV with a new BlueROV2 that is infinitely easier to work on. I followed that advice and am glad I did. If you are able to get new compensation tubes, be sure to build yourself a vacuum chamber to get the bubbles out. Before you ask, I am not able to provide you with any of the parts from the LBV, sorry.

Chris

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Chris thanks! Ours are all fragile and leak oil. Think we will end up buying something new… Thanks again for your reply.

Frank