I bought two T200 two months ago, I have been using them for <10 hours running time, mostly for testing. Most time underwater (just couple of seconds outside water here and there for testing).
One of the two T200 is jammed and can not be rotated by hand, even applying significant pressure. The other is totally fine. I followed the official guide disassembled but couldn’t find any noticeable issue. What should I do? Ideas?
Sorry to hear you’re having issues with a thruster.
From your third image, it looks like there’s some rust or perhaps some solidified mud or something in the gap between the rotor and the stator, which I expect is what’s preventing it from moving:
I would suggest trying to scrape that away if possible, and seeing if that helps. It may also be helpful to let the thruster soak, to hopefully soften up the material that’s stuck in it.
Our disassembly guide shows how to remove the shaft collar set screw (which is required in order to pull the rotor off and clean underneath it), but that requires rotating it to face the correct direction, so you’ll likely need to loosen it a bit first.
I soaked the motor in hot water with detergent for 12 hours and looks like a lot of debris was cleared.
Unfortunately the motor doesn’t turn yet, I am applying significant force (almost breaking the plastic from the blue propeller)
I also noticed that the motor and the stator don’t look completely in axis? I am not sure if I am biased.
What do you think the cause of the issue is? I am happy to buy another propeller, but I would like to make sure this doesn’t happen again and take precautions.
Definitely sounds like it’s clogged up with something then.
You shouldn’t need to apply much force to turn it. If you want you can try removing the shaft collar and pulling the rotor off (as discussed above), but that may not work if it’s still clogged.
I can’t really tell from your images - it’s at least not a super obvious bend.
If you’re keen to investigate further it may be best to contact support@bluerobotics.com and link them to this thread. They may have some additional ideas for what to check
Given you mentioned having tested in muddy waters with algae and grass that got caught in the propeller, that seems the most likely cause. I expect the thruster got clogged, and when that material dried out afterwards it solidified and is now stopping the thruster from turning.
To avoid similar issues in future, consider:
avoiding operating in muddy/grassy water, or around other tangling hazards like fishing lines
if point 1 isn’t possible, consider adding some kind of mesh in front of/around the thrusters to prevent material from getting caught in them
if point 1 has already occurred, try to rinse out the thrusters and confirm smooth turning as soon as possible afterwards (ideally as soon as the vehicle is at the surface, while any caught material is still wet)
