Trolling Motor Troubleshooting – Help Appreciated
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated Mar 25, 2016 at 9:12 am by
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Guys I am having an issue with my Minn Kota 30 lb. thrust transom-mounted trolling motor. This motor hasn’t seen much use, but I found it almost new on the bottom of a river so it definitely got flooded at least once. I have used it dozens of times since it was flooded, fwiw.
My issue is that the motor only works some of the time. I’ve popped the head off and cleaned all the terminals on the speed selector switch. That definitely helped restore top end speed when the motor *does* run. However some of the time when I set it into either forward or reverse it just sits there, until I nudge the prop. Sometimes nudging the prop kicks it into gear and sometimes nothing happens. Seems to be random.
This definitely feels like an electrical short situation. But is it in a wire? It seems to get power just fine when it is running and no matter how I twist the wires around I can’t short it out. Could it be the speed selector switch? I actually popped the positive and negative wires off the speed selector switch and ran them directly to the battery, with the same random failure rate, so I kind of thing the switch is fine. Perhaps the brushes in the motor head? (Again, this motor has seen pretty light use, so I don’t think those are worn down, but maybe they’ve corroded?).
Any help appreciated!
Zach
Finally decided there was nothing wrong with the upper unit, and took apart the lower end instead. Bingo: seals failed, whole thing was corroded up. I soaked everything in WD-40 and cleaned it with cotton and light sandpaper where needed, and it seems to be working properly again. Likely won’t work forever, but it ought to go for a season or so. I may pack it with marine grease (a la a trailer hub) in order to keep the electrical parts dry until I can get all the interior parts ordered and rebuild it properly.
Zach
just saw this, hope you didn’t pack it with grease. Most grease will deteriorate motor winding coating over time especially if it is packed on it. Grease would also need to be dielectric(non conductive). Best to get the seals and rebuild it properly.
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