Damage Report

We took a look at how our 3D-printed thruster coupling failed.

You can see in this picture that the coupling lost a big chunk on the side opposite from the direction of thrust. Basically, it cracked under the force of the thruster alone.

The amount of empty space in this printed part is clear now, and it's an open question whether the failure was related to salt or rust buildup inside these spaces.

There is mild corrosion on other parts of the thruster, about what you'd expect for 2 weeks underwater

Finished the New Thruster Arm

The 2 machined pieces.

Fitting and comparing to the existing arm... our version looks as good as the one that was machined professionally!

Seth prepares to weld it up

ZAP, CRACKLE

Roughly filed down, this part is complete! Now we just need to have it annodized.

Thruster Arm Progress

The thruster arm's end is nearly complete.

Plan B: A New Thruster

Since we have had no luck finding our lost thruster, we are moving ahead with "Plan B", machining a new thruster arm to hold our spare thruster. We will continue the search for the original, but at least now we can plan to be back in the water and testing by a specific date.

Since this is fairly simple fabrication, it is far faster and cheaper for us to do the machining ourselves at a local shop.