Thruster motor question

[Tormlake]

Im a beginner ROV builder and I'm planning to build my own thrusters but Im unsure as to what motors and gauge of wire I should use. I'm building a housing for the thrusters out of PVC and plan to make it waterproof as well as have a 50ft tether. What kind of motors are best for this application and what gauge wire should I use?

[sthone]

Bilge pump cartridges are probably the easiest way to go for thrusters when starting out but if you want to make your own thrusters brushless motors are pretty cheap these days but do require special controllers to run. I'm just getting into them myself so I can't recommend anything specific yet. As for what gauge wire... that is going to depend on tether length and how many amps everything will be using. Thicker is better but will weight more and cause more drag to so it's always a trade off, 16 gauge is usually as good starting point.

-Steve