RMC Bow Thurtser

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   I also found a solution. As Granny wrote, the switch it's quite easy to understand. I've ordered a Lewmar panel (the 589223 on this catalog https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default/files/Thruster%20Controller%20Systems_0.pdf) and, with the help of a multimeter, I found the Lewmar connector mappings without opening it (roughly wrote on the attached picture). Everything is working well for me, now.
New panel mappings:

Old panel mappings:

Just a note regarding the light and the buzzer. The buzzer I bought and connected separately (out of the lewmar panel) as I think this panel has no buzzer. Regarding the light, I'm using only the green (this panel is prepared to get errors from blackbox on red/amber led while our RMC blackbox flash the green led - speed flash for overheating, for instance).

Lewmar panel manual: https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default/files/559232%20Thruster%20Controls%20Iss%201%20%28GB%29.pdf
RMC manual: https://www.comstedt.se/files/manual/59914001.pdf

Edited by psousa - 05 April 2022 at 12:10

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psousa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Commander Joined: 23 January 2021 Status: Offline Points: 50	Post Options Post Reply Quote psousa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 April 2022 at 11:55
	I also found a solution. As Granny wrote, the switch it's quite easy to understand. I've ordered a Lewmar panel (the 589223 on this catalog https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default/files/Thruster%20Controller%20Systems_0.pdf) and, with the help of a multimeter, I found the Lewmar connector mappings without opening it (roughly wrote on the attached picture). Everything is working well for me, now. New panel mappings: Old panel mappings: Just a note regarding the light and the buzzer. The buzzer I bought and connected separately (out of the lewmar panel) as I think this panel has no buzzer. Regarding the light, I'm using only the green (this panel is prepared to get errors from blackbox on red/amber led while our RMC blackbox flash the green led - speed flash for overheating, for instance). Lewmar panel manual: https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default/files/559232%20Thruster%20Controls%20Iss%201%20%28GB%29.pdf RMC manual: https://www.comstedt.se/files/manual/59914001.pdf Edited by psousa - 05 April 2022 at 12:10

kevindr Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Sub Lieutenant Joined: 30 May 2023 Location: massachusetts Status: Offline Points: 1	Post Options Post Reply Quote kevindr Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 May 2023 at 16:11
	I have a 2011 Moody 41, with the swing thruster. The black control box says RMC, not lewmar. Looking at your posting, am I correct in assuming your diagram of the plug, 1-4 on top, and 5-8 on bottom, correspond to the numbers/colors on the original unit ?

psousa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Commander Joined: 23 January 2021 Status: Offline Points: 50	Post Options Post Reply Quote psousa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 June 2023 at 15:44
	no. the numbers on the top diagram are pin numbers on new control. 1+7 port 8+7 sb means: pin 1 on new control will have green wire from RMC black box pin 7 on new control will have red wire from RMC BB pin 8 on new control will have brown wire from RMC BB

psousa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Commander Joined: 23 January 2021 Status: Offline Points: 50	Post Options Post Reply Quote psousa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 October 2023 at 17:12
	For those asking on private message, BTN == button (which is the on/of button) I think I never took a picture of the new version Lewmar thruster's switch working with my old and discontinued RMC 185 after the proper wire mapping (described on my previous posts). Here are some rainy pictures: By the way, low season next project will be to replace those cheap/ugly/dirty winch switches by these brand new Lewmar ones:

Tnm Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Sub Lieutenant Joined: 21 May 2024 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tnm Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 21 May 2024 at 21:20
	I could not have succeeded without this thread. Thank you. We have a Moody 45 AC. Our thruster control switches at the helm became waterlogged and despite many attempts to dry it out - it had failed. We tried to source a new one trying various avenues but they were all dead ends (including the ones in this thread that worked for others). The unit was clearly making a connection where it shouldn't and the bow thruster went on randomly which is less than ideal when in close quarters. It had to go. I was daunted by the wiring requirements described here but invested in trying to understand it and figured even the fancy new Lewmar controller was just a bunch of switches and an LED in reality. I have attached a whole bunch of pictures of this install including my final wiring diagram mapping from/to the old to the new unit. The Glarks were straight forward following a couple of YouTube videos. I am thrilled with the result and it works perfectly. The new Lewmar unit is so much better than the old controller with the added bonus of the LED indicating it is "on" being super bright and no needless noisy beeper making a racket when it was down (I did not bother wiring in something separate). Perhaps this may help someone with similar issues.

Feeling 36 DI Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Sub Lieutenant Joined: 14 September 2024 Location: Sarasota, FL Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote Feeling 36 DI Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 September 2024 at 17:06
	Hallo: My RMC swing bow thruster is no longer synchronized. The piston rod sends the propeller down and back up, however the control box is not allowing current to flow and operate the propeller in the down position. We will follow your procedures to cure the issue. Look for my next post, after we do the work.

Feeling 36 DI Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Sub Lieutenant Joined: 14 September 2024 Location: Sarasota, FL Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote Feeling 36 DI Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 September 2024 at 17:20
	Thank you for your post. I am going to follow your procedures to get my RMC Swing bow thruster to operate. Perhaps the new stronger 12V battery tripped something, so will replace the control box with a higher circuit rating. I will advise.

chrisn Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Sub Lieutenant Joined: 24 July 2017 Location: seattle Status: Offline Points: 16	Post Options Post Reply Quote chrisn Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 August 2025 at 16:37
	It's been a few years since I've updated this post, so I'm going add what I've learned over the past few years in case the information is helpful to someone else. Back in 2020 my thruster control box cracked for the third time and stopped working. I think this is a common issue. I acquired a new control box from Mikel @ RMC Marine in Sweden and the thruster worked for a couple years until the control box broke again. At that point, RMC was out of the old style control box and offered me a new style control with a conversion kit. The conversion kit requires rewiring the power to the box as well as the wiring to the control panel. In a perfect world, the conversion should have been done in a few hours but the instructions were incomplete, so it took a lot of trial and error to get it working. I ended up working on it for several weeks - on and off. I eventually got the thruster to work in the sense I could deploy and retract it and thrust to both sides but it goes into some kind of protection mode after the second pulse and stops working. You can reset the thruster by retracting it and redeploying it, and it will again work for a pulse or two but goes back into protection mode. Mikel @ RMC helped me through the conversion and install of the new box but he is very slow responding and has now gone dark on me. The result is I spent a couple thousand dollars trying to salvage my thruster but ended up with a non-working thruster. As of 08-2025 my thruster is no longer working. My choices at this point are to glass over the hole and go without a thruster or replace it with a newer unit. I did contact my local boat yard about installing a new thruster and they gave me a bid of around $30,000USD, which is a tough pill to swallow. When I bough the boat, I was warned the RMC thrusters were problematic but I didn't anticipate it would be such a headache. I guess the silver lining is my docking skills are polished because I've been docking the boat without a thruster for most of the time I've owned it. PM me if you have any questions.



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