What happens if the propeller is blocked?

Hello,

I have a T100 with a basic ESC. I’m wondering what would happen something goes through the T100 and blocks the propeller. Will the T100 burn? Will the basic ESC burn? Will the T100 draw a big amount of current? Will the basic detect something wrong and cut the power?
Something else?

Thanks,

Hi @lebel-jerome I’ve had this happen to me a few times before I installed 3D printed thruster guards over my forward end. I’ve sucked up seashells that got lodged in my T100 with basic ESC and basically what happens is the thruster will continue to try to move, but neither the T100 or ESC will burn out. I’ve also entangled my larger T200s in seagrass with basic ESCs and nothing bad has happened to them and I know I continued to apply power to them after they became entangled.

You’re pretty safe operating these thrusters and they won’t burn out on you. If you do have a blockage, take your vehicle out of the water, power everything down and then remove the blockage. You may have to disassemble the thruster if seagrass gets wrapped around the inside of the motor, which can happen. The worst damage I have done to my thrusters has been from the shells I picked up, they made some nicks and cuts on the leading edge of the propellers. Not a huge deal, and they are easily replaced.

So this could be detected by using an ampere meter I guess? I guess the the motor should start to draw more current than usual?

I wasn’t looking at my current draw when my surface vehicle got fouled, but it would be a good experiment to try out.