Manual
Manual CT100-IP & CT125-IP                 April 2009 
www.max-power.com  7 
10. ELECTRONIC CONTROL BOX 
WARNING: The electronic controller must be positioned outside of the zone at risk in which 
there may be potentially flammable gases. 
Install a fused circuit breaker / switch in the boat's main DC distribution panel  marked 
BOW THRUSTER. 
This circuit breaker / switch should ideally be supplied from a different battery bank to the 
one used for powering the thruster. 
The installer must protect the positive supply cable of the thruster’s control box by means 
of a 8A fuse. The size of the power cables (red & black) depends on the length of the 
cable run, the voltage drop in these cables should not exceed 5% of the nominal battery 
voltage. 
For  safety  reasons,  and  in  order  to  obtain  all  the  functions  provided  by  the  thruster 
controller, an electric battery isolator needs to be installed in the thruster motor positive 
supply cable. 
Max  Power  advises  the  use  of  an  electric  battery  isolator  ref.  OPTI3160/3  (12V) 
OPTI3170/3 (24V). 
If an electric battery isolator is not used then simply seal-off the two grey wires coming 
out of the control box. It is important to isolate the thruster motor power circuit by means 
of a manual battery isolator after having used the thruster. 
Please refer  to the drawing “Relay and control box  connections” p.  12 for  more 
detail on the wiring of the control box to the thruster. 
11. CONTROL PANEL AND THRUSTER CONTROL BOX FUNCTIONS 
To switch the thruster ON or OFF follow the instructions given in the diagrams on the 
following page. 
When switched ON the control panel will beep once and the green LED in the red push-
button will light up. 
When switched OFF the control panel will beep twice and the green LED in the red push-
button will go out. 
The thruster controller provides a time delay between left and right thrust in order to avoid 
rapid direction changes. There is no delay when thrusting to same side. 
If the thruster motor overheats the control panel will start beeping and the green LED will 
flash until the thruster motor has cooled down. 
As soon as the overheating alarm sounds, there are 10 seconds of actual thruster use 
before the unit automatically shuts down. It will then not be possible to switch the thruster 
on until the motor has cooled down. 
If the thruster has not been used for a period of thirty minutes it will automatically 
switch itself off.  
Before switching off automatically the control panel will beep once followed by a second 
beep a few seconds later, after which the thruster switches itself off. 
In  order  to  isolate  the  thruster  motor  power  circuit,  as  described  in  the  previous  two 
paragraphs,  it  is  necessary  to install  an  electric  battery  isolator, as  advised  by  Max 
Power. 
Please consult the "Electrical installation" diagram p. 11 for more information 










