Need Help! Minn Kota Problem!

[bd]

I am about to tear my hair out with my trolling motor.  I'm hoping this is something simple and someone knows how to fix it.  It's a Minn Kota PowerDrive V2, 40 lb. thrust.

Background:  The motor is about a year and a half old.  When I originally got it, I used it with a foot pedal.  However, just a hair past the one-year mark, the foot pedal stopped working properly.  It had gotten wet when I got stuck out in an extremely heavy rainstorm, and after that, it would occasionally come on by itself, or refuse to work at all when I needed it.

I talked to the service center and they said I shouldn't have gotten it wet.  They said the foot pedal is "water resistant but not water proof."  They said I should just buy a new pedal because it would only cost $15 less to repair it.

Side note:  WTF???  What kind of stupid effing idiots make a control for a trolling motor, on a BOAT, that you can't get wet???  

I decided I'd just get a remote instead of a new foot pedal.  I would have preferred the foot pedal for hands-free use, but I do fish in the rain from time to time, and stuff on casting decks like a foot pedal can get knocked overboard, so I wasn't willing to go that route again.  I can't afford to be buying a new foot pedal every year at $100.00 a pop.

SO I bought the remote, which is "plug and play," and mounted it on my boat, following the instructions in the manual meticulously.  It worked for less than two hours.

It worked absolutely fine at the lower settings.  Everything was great.  But I went to move from one place to another, so I bumped the power up to the maximum setting and started heading toward where I wanted to go.

The motor ran continuously in the highest setting for about 30 seconds, and then it abruptly stopped.  It was like everything reset - it still worked, but it reset to the lowest power setting.  So I bumped it back up to maximum power, turned it on again, and started moving down the lake.  After thirty seconds, it abruptly stopped and reset again.

A bit frustrated, I decided I'd just back it off a notch or two and head to where I was going a little more slowly.  So I turned the motor on, bumped it to maximum, and I was about to back it off - but within a second or two, it shut off again.

This time it was shut off completely, like it had blown a fuse or something.  The motor is completely dead and doesn't respond to the remote at all.  Even the little light-up button on the motor which checks the amount of remaining battery power doesn't work.  

Any ideas?  Is there some sort of internal circuit breaker on the motor that has been tripped?

Why the hell did this happen and how do I get it to not happen again?

Seriously, what I'd really like to do is say, "Go to hell, Minn Kota, I will buy a MotorGuide trolling motor and never, ever use one of your unreliable products again."  I've got a MotorGuide trolling motor on my bass boat and it is practically bulletproof and has never caused me a single problem in years of use.

However, I don't have it in the budget to buy a new trolling motor right now.  I need to fix this one.

Any ideas?

bd

[gaspergou]

Easy.

pour sizeable quantity of bourbon in glass.

remove motor from boat.

saw motor shaft into small chunks, stack.

put thermite on motor.

ignite, carefully.

stand back and enjoy bourbon. Toast marshmallows if you have 'em.

buy pushpole.

you're welcome.

[bd]

A pushpole is kind of like oars on a drift boat.  It is a fantastic way of moving a boat around if you can make someone else to do it while you fish.

If you're fishing alone and have to do it yourself, not so much.

bd

[gaspergou]

If it's that new the guy outside of Lenoir City would probably fix it under warranty... might even be able to fix the foot pedal, too.

[bd]

Lenoir City is 3 hours from me.

There is a Minn Kota Authorized Service Center in Hendersonville about 10 minutes from my house.  I took the foot pedal there - that's where I was told that the pedal is "water resistant but not water proof." 

He offered to fix it, but it was going to cost $85.00 plus tax, and a new one costs $100.00.  Also, he said that he'd just be replacing a switch inside, and if I got it wet again, it would do the same thing.

He said he sees that problem with the Minn Kota foot control fairly frequently, and he tells people to just buy the remote because sooner or later the switch in the foot control will get corroded and stop working properly.

bd

[gaspergou]

sorry, thought you were up that way (was I thinking of bfish?). I've used the guy in LC before and had good service. Regardless, it should still have ~6 mos of full warranty on the motor, go in and read him the riot act. It shouldn't cost anything.

[Bfish]

Doesn't really help BD out, but Gaspergou file away John Swallows, 251 Morgan Road Nw,Charleston, TN 423-336-5438

He seldom answers his phone, but does good work at very fair prices on motorguide, minnekota, and johnson (and probably others).  Generally pretty quick too (except spring time).

[MikeA]

Bring it over BD I've rebuilt these motors numerous times. There are several things it could be but it sounds like your trolling motor wiring could be corroded and heating up. There is likely a corroded connection somewhere. I've had several issues with these motors but 90% of them were caused by corrosion the other 10% from hard use. I've completely disassembled them many times so I feel confident I can fix any problem there might be. They are stupid easy to work on. 


BTW, I've had the foot pedal for at least 4 years (never use it) and I know for a fact it's sit in water for periods longer then a week. It still works....

[Glenn Hawkins]

BD did you add a Co-pilot w/ a wireless remote or just a wired remote?  

If you have the wireless remote I would first replace the waffer remote battey. You will then need to reprogarm/relearn the remote to your trolling motor.  This is done by pushing a small button w/ an ink pin or nail on the Co-pilot receiver.  I would also unplug/disconnect the Co-pilot from the trolling motor.  Clean and dry the connection.  Spray a little WD40 and reconnect. Do Not use dielectric grease(per Minnkota).

Hope this helps!    

[jladdsmith]

BD,

First things first, replace the coin cell battery on the control fob as Glenn suggested.  If that doesn't fix it, then there is likely corrosion as a result of arcing the contact points inside the switch.  Provided you can get to the internals of the switch, this can be an easy fix by making a paste of baking soda and water and brushing it on the contacts, then rinsing off and drying with a hairdryer.  A proper contact cleaner such as Deoxit would be a great follow up, but it's relatively expensive stuff.   

Nevermind!  Just realized that this is a Pulse Width Modulated control.  It has a Hall-effect sensor that has likely been damaged by corrosion.  If Mike breaks it down for you, this is where he'll need to start.  Here's a primer on the inner workings of such a switch.  http://www.wellsve.com/sft503/Counterpoint3_1.pdf 

It's frustrating as hell, I know. Good luck! 

-Jonathan

[MikeA]

This time it was shut off completely, like it had blown a fuse or something.  The motor is completely dead and doesn't respond to the remote at all.  Even the little light-up button on the motor which checks the amount of remaining battery power doesn't work.

What he describing where the whole motor is losing power can usually be tracked to one of two things.

One, the motherboard is going out. That's $175 fix and unlikely the cause.

More then likely he is using a connector of some sort to plug the motor in somewhere between the motor and battery. That is most likely where the problem is. As you ramp up the speed the amps increase, then due to the bad connection the resistance increases, the temps increase, then, meltdown. The remote has nothing to do with power to the motor, though replacing the battery is always a good idea before spring. Could be as simple as corrosion on the terminal on the battery end.

[Glenn Hawkins]

I have to agree with what Mike just said.  Sounds like a power issue between your battery and the trolling motor.  Check all the connnections.  Clean, repair or replace as needed.  I bet this will fix the problem.

[bd]

Mike, that's a very generous offer.  I just might show up on your doorstep with my boat Sunday if you will be around.

I don't think the problem is the battery in the remote, because (a) the power is completely dead to the motor, including the little button on the motor that checks battery life; and (b) the remote is brand new and has barely a few minutes of use time so far.  It's possible the battery went dead in the package but those batteries tend to last a long time.

To answer Glenn's question, it's a Copilot with wireless remote.

Mike may be correct that it's a connector somewhere.  If so, god help me, because the wiring snakes through the innards of the boat and it may be a bitch to find it.

bd

[MikeA]

Yea even if I'm not there you can drop it off. call me this week and we can discuss. Might even have to plan a Musky trip while your here.

[bd]

Hey, Mike.  Sorry I didn't make it up there Sunday.  My weekend went to hell in a handbasket some time early Saturday afternoon.

Maybe some time soon?  I'll try to be more dependable next time.  Thanks again for your offer to help.

bd