As part of our maintenance schedule we were calibrating, checking our Blue ROV.
one of the motors (forward port) was totally stucked. It did not move at all.
I opened it up and found the Rotor very rusted and stucked to the outter part in few points of the motor, I cannot take them apart, it is very clear that the issue was caused by water ingress, similar to the case below.
I had the exact same issue when we were doing some maintenance on our BlueROV2 a couple weeks ago.
During a function test, we discovered one of the T100 thrusters was completely seized up. We partially disassembled it, broke it free with vice grips, flooded it with lubricant and spun it with a drill, but we could not get it to spin freely again.
The other 7 thrusters are functioning normally.
We’ve only used this ROV a handful of times and we bought it less than a year ago. We were also curious if there was any kind of warranty on these components.
It is a known issue with thrusters that if not washed out with fresh water every dive,it can start to rust. This was mainly caused by coating breaking down. Replace parts from br are available. Bearings will deteriorate everytime you run them in air as they are designed to be lubricated by water so running it on a drill probably overheated the bearings causing deformation and seizure.
Could you send us an email to support@bluerobotics.com with your order number and a reference to this topic and we can get started on a replacement for you.
The thrusters are value for money n r very reliable. If good maintenance is done then they will last for years subject to the work load. I have thrusters 3yrs old n still serviceable. Anything running in water environment needs constant care,just the nature of the beast.
The BR team are willing to give good advice n stand behind their products.
