What is the life span of the thrusters?
The thrusters have an MTBF of 20,000 hours. However, it is very important to remember that the propeller bearings are lubricated by the sea water. If the sea water is clean, the bearings will last for 2,000 hours. If the sea water is sandy (when operating on the bottom) the bearing life is severely reduced. It is easy to check for propeller bearing wear, just by rocking the propeller back and forth. And replacing the bearings takes only several minutes and the bearings are really inexpensive.
