sleipner/side power remote control systems - generally reliable?

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julians

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Do any of you on here have the sleipner/side power remote control systems for controlling bow thrusters, windlasses etc?

Remote Control Kits - Side-Power United Kingdom

Do you find them reliable?

I have one on my boat (Rc-21 - that controls bow thruster and windlass) - but its proving quite problematic -just wondering whether its an isolated case, or whether they are generally a bit crap?

I think its the remote control that is playing up in my case .
 
I had an RC 21E on my last boat from new. The unit failed on commissioning but its replacement worked perfectly for the 6 years I had the boat. Have just ordered another one for the new thruster installation on my current boat - will also do the windlass as I dislike foot buttons.
 
julians said:
Do any of you on here have the sleipner/side power remote control systems for controlling bow thrusters, windlasses etc?

Remote Control Kits - Side-Power United Kingdom

Do you find them reliable?

I have one on my boat (Rc-21 - that controls bow thruster and windlass) - but its proving quite problematic -just wondering whether its an isolated case, or whether they are generally a bit crap?

I think its the remote control that is playing up in my case .
Click to expand...
Ours has worked intermittently since fitted, installed a new battery this year, worked fine when testing. When came to use as single handed, it refused to work, I was thinking is it me not operating correctly. But interesting that others are having problems, I only use it maybe couple of times a year when being lifted out or dropping back in
 
Hmm 2 out of 4 of us with issues (3 out of 4 if you include tranonas dead on arrival instance) then, might give up on mine....

Not an enormous sample size though
 
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My Saxdor came with the remote as above, only used it for the bow thruster 3 or 4 times but so far has worked each time ?
 
Flyingspanner said:
My Saxdor came with the remote as above, only used it for the bow thruster 3 or 4 times but so far has worked each time ?
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My axopar came fitted with it, and it worked fine for the first week or so then the remote started started doing weird things, flashing lights and beeping (but not recognised fault codes as described in the manual) , wouldnt switch off etc, drained the battery in less than 24 hours etc. I took the back off the handset to fit a new battery and found it had a small amount of moisture inside - no idea how that got there as it never got wet in my ownership (brand new boat) , I dried it out, and it started working again, its been ok for 9 months, but now its started playing up again. This time its flashing lights and beeping an error message that according to the manual means it cant talk to the receiver, however the buttons do still operate the thruster and windlass, except that when you hold a button down it should operate the thruster or windlass continuously whilst the button is held down, but it doesnt do that, it pulses the thruster/windlass. I suspect the remote is shot from the moisture last year, but I'm loath to spend ~£200 on a new one.
 
LittleSister said:
More PBO than Motor Boat Forum, perhaps, but you can buy a generic remote control off eBay for about £10-£15. They do have a slight delay, I am told, which is probably OK for a windlass, but maybe not for bow thruster?
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oo, interesting, do you have any more info on the generic remotes - I'll have a google around.

There is a slight delay on the genuine remote anyway, so that sounds good to me.
 
LittleSister said:
Here's one. (Random choice and nothing to do with me.)
Ebay 12v 'winch' remote

I bought something v. similar to that for my boat's windlass, after reading a post on IIRC the PBO forum a while back - several forumites had used such things, and said they were useful and you get used to the delay- but haven't installed it yet.
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ah thanks, I thought it might be just a replacement remote to work with the sidepower reciever, but looks like its a full replacement system - I'm not quite ready to go down that route just yet.

I'm going to contact sidepower and see if they will easily replace the remote under warranty.
 
+1 on the el cheapo CN remotes/controllers.
When I heard that Quick wanted 250euro PER REMOTE for my passerelle (and I wanted at least 4!) I went the cheap 4way (in/out/up/down) remote and controller. I think 6yrs ago I paid 30euro for 6remotes and controller ?
Leaving aside dearest son who had one swimming (and dead) the other 5 are fine - just need a new battery every year or so.
V.short delay which I think is a good thing and not annoying.
Mine are like the blue one on previous post, fits in my pocket nicely with boat keys and office keys.

V.
 
Extensively used over about 3 years without issues. Only gripe is that they use stupid torx screws for the case so changing the battery can be a Hassle. The battery lasts about a year with me and the range decreases as it fades so make sure that isn’t the issue. Assuming you have a fixed set of controls as well you can check it is the remote not the thruster.
 
stuartwineberg said:
Extensively used over about 3 years without issues. Only gripe is that they use stupid torx screws for the case so changing the battery can be a Hassle. The battery lasts about a year with me and the range decreases as it fades so make sure that isn’t the issue. Assuming you have a fixed set of controls as well you can check it is the remote not the thruster.
Click to expand...

Yeah the torx screws are a pain. I replaced the battery yesterday thinking it might be the cause of the latest issues,but no joy.

I have fixed controls and they control the relevent device (thruster,or winch) no problem.
 
Old thread but now experiencing same weird flashing, won’t turn off etc. pcb contacts a bit tarnished but playing around suggests problem is distortion of the one piece soft plastic contact pad causing in effect random multiple button presses. I’ve taken the retaining screw for the pcb out and this has slightly increased the clearance between pcb and contacts. A temporary fix I think. Osmotech my local agent don’t seem to have a simple way of replacing these units and couldn’t give me a price. All they sell is a complete new package including receiver at vast cost. I have put in an enquiry to sleipner head office.. there are new old stock units of a different style but no idea if they are compatible. Have also asked sleipner this and will report back if/when I get a reply. If anyone has experience of a generic unit talking to the side power receiver I would be very interested.
 
stuartwineberg said:
Old thread but now experiencing same weird flashing, won’t turn off etc. pcb contacts a bit tarnished but playing around suggests problem is distortion of the one piece soft plastic contact pad causing in effect random multiple button presses. I’ve taken the retaining screw for the pcb out and this has slightly increased the clearance between pcb and contacts. A temporary fix I think. Osmotech my local agent don’t seem to have a simple way of replacing these units and couldn’t give me a price. All they sell is a complete new package including receiver at vast cost. I have put in an enquiry to sleipner head office.. there are new old stock units of a different style but no idea if they are compatible. Have also asked sleipner this and will report back if/when I get a reply. If anyone has experience of a generic unit talking to the side power receiver I would be very interested.
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I ended up buying a new remote control ( can't remember where from ) for about £200 . I didn't need to buy the receiver as well, I could just get the remote on its own

The new remote has been fine.
 
I have the old remote here still,if you want I can send it you free of charge and you could see if you can make one good working remote out of it, I think my button plastic part is fine
 
Tranona said:
I had an RC 21E on my last boat from new. The unit failed on commissioning but its replacement worked perfectly for the 6 years I had the boat. Have just ordered another one for the new thruster installation on my current boat - will also do the windlass as I dislike foot buttons.
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Me too on current boat.

First one worked for a couple of weeks then intermittently lost connection base <-> remote. Replaced under warranty and the new works flawlessly.

Really useful when singlehanded.
 
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