Torqeedo 1003 sheer pin failures

[Aeolus]

Yesterday, heading back to the shore in the dinghy from my Itchenor mooring, my torqeedo lost drive and we started to drift with the tide. Fortunately a kind person passing by gave me a tow (I didn't get your name but, if you're reading this, many many thanks).

The sheer pin connecting the drive shaft to the propellor had snapped and I'm 99% certain that I hadn't hit anything with the prop - I had just increased revs however. This is the second time it's happened in less than a year. Do other torqeedo owners suffer from this or am I the only unlucky one?

 

[Fender!]

We had exactly the same in newtown creek a couple of weeks ago - hit nothing ( prop's in perfect condition ) and the pin failed - supplier has said weed can cause this. Nightmare is with the shear pin gone theres no way of locking the motor to undo the nyloc prop nut to get to the pin, so we had to row the rest of the day ,once home ended up using a impact gun just to start the m10 nyloc undoing, not a great design...................

 

[Aeolus]

I agree about the poor design but it wouldn't matter so much if the d..m pin didn't break so easily. I've managed to undo the nut both times by fitting the spanner and giving it a sharp tap with a hammer.

If that doesn't work, I did find guidance on the web somewhere that if you run the motor for a bit and then halt it, there's an internal brake that holds the drive shaft for a couple of seconds. So if you're quick with the spanner, you can undo it then.

 

[nickd]

better that way than on my suzy outboard - where sheer pin bent so gear box broke instead - similar problem that I had to row home but then purchase £90 bits

 

[DownWest]

Friend asked me to pull the heavily damaged prop on a Torqueedo after wacking some rocks. The 'shear pin' was steel and rusty and did not break, hence the problem getting the prop off. It was bought new and I was not impressed with what I found.