Kamome CPP and Side Thruster
Spare Parts Supplier
Controllable pitch propellers and side thrusters from Kamome Propeller of Yokohama, read from the type designation on the plate or drawing — CPC, CPR, TCB, TFA — so blade, hub, seal and pitch hydraulic lines are quoted against the right build.
Kamome propellers and thrusters behind engine-room enquiries
Kamome Propeller Co., Ltd. traces its business to the Itazawa Foundry, set up in Tokyo in 1924 to make ship propellers; the company took its present name in 1963, when a new plant was built at its present site in Totsuka-ku, Yokohama. Kamome's history records the CPH manual hydraulic controllable pitch propeller in 1961, the 5,000th CPP in 2012 and the 4,000th side thruster in 2014. The propellers are installed in merchant ships, fishing vessels, ferries and research ships, and the maker's range also takes in side thrusters, the K-7 flap rudder and the GATE RUDDER System. On a propeller the designation tells you which hub is fitted; on a thruster, whether the pitch moves at all.
CPC-AF · CPR-AV · CPR-AH · CPC-AR
Kamome's controllable pitch propeller for small and medium-sized ships. The hub is split into fore and aft sections and the blades sit between them, a layout the maker describes as easy to overhaul and reassemble. CPR-AV and CPR-AH carry a built-in reduction gear on a different axis, CPC-AR on the same axis.
CPC-BF · CPR-BV · CPR-BH · CPC-BR
The series for medium and large-sized ships, built on a solid hub with each blade assembled individually. Kamome's customer service states that on a CPP it can replace a single blade, so a damaged blade is an enquiry in its own right rather than a reason to price a whole propeller. Reduction-gear builds follow the A-type pattern: CPR-BV and CPR-BH on a different axis, CPC-BR on the same axis.
Feathering Propellers
A controllable pitch build whose pitch can be carried to the point where the blade face lies almost parallel to the flow, so the idle propeller drags as little as possible. Kamome gives sailing ships and double-ender ferries as the applications. If the propeller documents mention feathering, say so in the enquiry.
TCB-35 — TCB-270
A tunnel thruster with a controllable pitch propeller, released in 2004: thrust direction is changed by pitch alone, with no reversing mechanism, and the drive can be an engine, an electric motor or a hydraulic motor. The catalogue section names the parts a buyer meets: blade, propeller hub, piston, guide block, oil distribution, cylinder, compact seal, spherical roller thrust bearing, gear case, propeller shaft and driving shaft.
TFA-06 — TFA-110
A fixed pitch thruster of simple construction; Kamome states that only the seal in the rotating part needs regular replacement. Drive by engine, electric motor or hydraulic motor. With no pitch mechanism, enquiries centre on that seal, the gear set, the bearings and the drive.
CPH · CPA · CPE · CPCM · TC
Kamome's company history records the CPH manual hydraulic and CPA power-driven hydraulic controllable pitch propellers announced in 1961, the CPE electric remote-controlled CPP of 1964, the TC side thruster with a controllable pitch propeller of 1974 and the small CPCM developed in 1979. None of these names appears in the current product tables, so a plate carrying one of them is identified through the serial and the part-list page of the ship's manual.
PRO-CON CX-300 · MACS-KM · KTC100
PRO-CON CX-300 remotely controls propeller pitch and main-engine speed through the governor; MACS-KM brings the CPP, the bow thruster and a high-performance rudder onto one joystick and steering dial; KTC100 is the control system supplied as standard with the TCB, run from a single control panel from start-up onwards. Control items are quoted against the system name, not against the propeller.
Where a Kamome CPP or thruster starts asking for parts
Most Kamome enquiries trace back to oil and to the seals that keep the sea out of it. Settling which system is involved — the shaft-line CPP, the thruster, or the control around them — fixes the list before a single item is priced.
Water in the hub oil
Seawater reaching the hub past worn blade seals, or hub oil weeping out the same way, is the classic CPP complaint, and an oil sample usually shows it first. Kamome builds the A-type with the blades held between the fore and aft sections of a split hub, and the B-type with each blade assembled individually to a solid hub, so the hub type is stated first; blade seals are then listed by blade position, and seal renewal is normally planned around a docking.
Pitch slow to follow the lever
Kamome's CPP tables list, under 'Particular of Mover', a main pump and a stand-by pump, a cooler and a sub-tank: the hydraulic unit that supplies the pitch oil. Sluggish or uneven pitch change, oil running hotter than usual or the stand-by pump cutting in more often point first to pump wear, a fouled cooler or dirty oil, and only after that to the hub. State which pump was running and attach the latest oil report.
Pitch and engine speed out of step
On ships with PRO-CON CX-300, pitch and main-engine speed are commanded together through the governor, and Kamome's control modes include Automatic Load Control, Automatic Speed Control and Program Control. Hunting load, pitch that settles away from the order or alarms on the panel are control or feedback questions before they are hub questions, and are quoted against the system name on the panel.
Seal at the rotating part
Kamome built the TCB so that its sealing can be inspected without dismantling the shaft, and for the TFA the seal at the rotating part is the one item the maker names for regular replacement. Water in the gear case oil, an oil film in the tunnel or a gravity tank level that will not hold are the usual signs. The TCB catalogue specifies gear oil for lubrication and for hydraulics alike; send the latest analysis with the seal enquiry.
Noise and vibration from the tunnel
Inside the duct a TCB carries a gear case, a propeller shaft and a driving shaft, with a spherical roller thrust bearing taking the propeller's thrust. Rising noise, vibration at a familiar load or metal in the oil point to the gear set or to that bearing. State the drive — engine, electric motor or hydraulic motor — and send the driver's own plate with the request.
Bent, cracked or eroded blades
Kamome's after-sales service states that on a controllable pitch propeller it can replace a single blade, and that its engineers mend bends and weld-repair defects on fixed pitch propellers. A blade enquiry therefore starts from the propeller serial, the blade position and photographs of the damage, not from a complete propeller. Kamome machines its CPP blades, and the hubs, on a simultaneous-axes NC processor it developed itself.
Kamome components that appear on RFQ lines
Grouped by system: a shaft-line CPP and a side thruster from the same works do not share a parts list, and each line should name the unit it belongs to.
- CPP blades for A-type and B-type hubs, single blades where the hub allows
- Blade seals and hub O-ring sets
- Hub internals, by item number from the part list for the specific hub
- Oil distribution parts and the seals where pitch oil enters the shaft
- Pitch hydraulic unit: main and stand-by pump elements, couplings, cooler, tank fittings, filter elements
- Pitch feedback and control items for PRO-CON CX-300, MACS-KM and KTC100
- Built-in reduction gear bearings and seals on CPR, CPC-AR and CPC-BR builds
- TCB parts: blade, propeller hub, piston, guide block, cylinder, oil distribution
- Compact seals and shaft seal kits for TCB and TFA thrusters
- Spherical roller thrust bearings, gear case bearings and gear sets
- Gravity tank and hydraulic unit items on TCB installations
- Kamome type shafting: intermediate shafts and stern tube bearings
Reading a Kamome plate and manual
Kamome does not publish what the numbers in its designations stand for, so the designation is sent exactly as it reads rather than interpreted. These items make a propeller or thruster request quotable:
- Which unit: shaft-line CPP, bow or stern side thruster, fixed pitch propeller or rudder
- Type designation exactly as it reads, for example CPC-120BF, CPR-AV, TCB-90 or TFA-35
- Serial or manufacturing number and the year of build
- Hub type — split A-type or solid B-type — and whether the propeller feathers
- Reduction gear: built in (CPR, CPC-AR, CPC-BR) or a separate gearbox with its own plate
- Control system named on the panel: PRO-CON CX-300, PRO-CON21, MACS-KM, MACS, KTC100 or another make
- For a thruster: engine, electric motor or hydraulic motor drive, with the driver's plate
- Part-list page and item number from the instruction manual, or the drawing number
- Photographs of the plate and of the removed part beside it
- Latest oil analysis for the hub or gear case oil, and the port or docking window
Tools for this equipment: the lubricant code reader for the gear and hydraulic oils, the oil cleanliness code reader for an oil analysis report and the hose assembly builder for the hydraulic hoses. Where the ship makes less speed than the pitch and shaft speed suggest, the propeller slip calculator gives the apparent slip from the log or GPS speed.
How a Kamome request is worked
Each line is first tied to its unit and serial; the route — maker reference or a verified equivalent — is then chosen item by item, not ship by ship.
Blades and hub parts follow the maker's record
Kamome machines CPP blades and hubs itself, so they are reviewed on the maker route against the propeller serial. An equivalent source cannot rebuild blade geometry from a photograph, and a blade quoted without the serial is a guess.
Standard items can be checked on an alternative path
O-rings, standard rolling bearings, filter elements and some seal elements may be catalogue items behind a Kamome part number. Where the owner accepts equivalents, these can be matched on an equivalent-source path once the dimensions or the bearing marking are confirmed from the removed part.
Two hydraulic systems, two lists
The pitch hydraulic unit of the main CPP and the hydraulic unit and gravity tank of a TCB thruster are separate systems with separate part lists, even when both sit in the same engine room. Lines are kept apart so a pump element or a filter is quoted against the right unit.
Docking scope in one review
Renewing CPP blade seals means opening the hub, which normally waits for a dry-docking. Blade seals, hub O-rings, oil distribution seals and the shaft seal items are read as one scope, so the hub is not closed up one ring short.
Older plates and Japanese manuals
Plates carrying CPH, CPA, CPE, CPCM or TC names do not match the current product tables. The serial and the part-list page from the ship's manual carry more weight than the designation; if the manual is in Japanese, send the pages as they are — item numbers and designations read the same.
Kamome propeller and thruster parts — questions from the engine room
Which Kamome propeller and thruster lines can be reviewed at RFQ stage?
Kamome's shaft-line controllable pitch propellers in the A-type Series (CPC-AF, with the CPR-AV, CPR-AH and CPC-AR reduction-gear builds) and the B-type Series (CPC-BF, with CPR-BV, CPR-BH and CPC-BR), feathering propellers, and the TCB-type and TFA-type side thrusters. Plates with names from Kamome's history, such as CPH, CPA, CPE, CPCM or TC, are reviewed from the serial and the manual. Send the designation exactly as it reads, with the serial number.
How do I tell an A-type hub from a B-type hub?
The A-type hub is split into fore and aft sections with the blades held between them; the B-type has a solid hub to which each blade is assembled individually. Kamome's tables place each designation in a series — CPC-53AF is listed in the A-type table and CPC-120BF in the B-type table — so the designation and serial from the plate or manual settle it without opening anything.
Can a single CPP blade be supplied instead of a complete propeller?
Kamome states that it can replace a single blade on its controllable pitch propellers. A single-blade enquiry needs the propeller serial, the designation, the blade position and photographs of the damage; it is reviewed on the maker route, because Kamome machines its CPP blades itself.
What should a side thruster seal RFQ contain?
The TCB or TFA designation, the serial number, the drive type, photographs of the seal area and of the plate, and the latest oil analysis for the gear case. Say whether water has been found in the oil or the gravity tank level has been falling, and whether the unit was inspected afloat or in dock.
Are control system parts quoted with the propeller?
No — they are quoted against the control system. PRO-CON CX-300 (pitch and main-engine governor), the MACS-KM joystick system and the KTC100 thruster panel each carry their own panel plate, and older ships may have PRO-CON21 or MACS. Send the system name and a photograph of the panel plate with the line.
Is Vessel Core connected to Kamome?
No, and there is no agreement of any kind. Vessel Core holds no distribution, representation or partnership agreement with Kamome, and quoting a component against one of its designations implies no approval by the maker and no claim of interchangeability.
Start with the propeller or thruster plate.
Send the type designation as it reads (for example CPC-120BF or TCB-90), the serial number, which unit it is, and the port or docking window. Each line is matched to the hub type and the hydraulic system it belongs to before a part reference is fixed against it.
