SmokeRise1 Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 I have a Minkota Traxis 55 that is about 2 years old. It is wired to a 2 prong connector that fits into a matching socket in the back of my boat. Lately the motor will not start all the time and sometimes cuts off while running. The only way to get it to work is to disconnect it and then reconnect it. Sometimes this works the first time. Other times I need to do the disconnect/reconnect thing 5-10-20 times before it starts working again. Has anyone else run into this issue? I'm trying to figure out if the problem is in the motor, the connector on the motor or the socket on the boat. Maybe the terminals need to be cleaned or the plug/socket need to be replaced. Any information or ideas will be greatly appreciated. Quote
Super User Nitrofreak Posted June 26, 2012 Super User Posted June 26, 2012 One thing you can do is to test the connector for power and ground when this happens, if you have power and ground then it's not the circut coming to the motor, that will eliminate that half of the circut, one thing that will help is to add dielectric grease to the connection to avoid corrosion, if the problem is not resolved with the connector then it is most likely in the circutry of the trolling motor, remove the covers and a lot of the wiring is exposed to see, visually inspect the wireing for any chaffing to the metal areas for a possible short to ground, if you dont see an easy fix you can contact minn kota with the number supplied on the operators manual. Quote
SmokeRise1 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 I'll have to find a tester that will read 12v but this sounds like a good way to break down and isolate the cause of the problem. Thanks Quote
Loop_Dad Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 I have the exact the same trolling motor Traxxis 55. Mine is only 2 months old. Mine is connected directly to the battery except on the positive side, I have 50A manual reset circuit breaker. I've noticed sometimes when I try to go forward it does not run. The reverse works. So I reverse for a sec, then the forward starts working again. I though this was due to weed getting caught in the motor as this seems to happen when I am in the weedy section. I think a couple of times, I had to remove the weed from the motor to get it started again if I remembered correctly. I wasn't paying too much attention to this, but now you got me worried I'll try to observe better the next time I go out. . Quote
SmokeRise1 Posted July 26, 2012 Author Posted July 26, 2012 Turns out the connnector/plug and socket were bad. Due to excessive heat the plug started to melt a little and resulted in bad contacts on the prongs. I replaced the socket on the boat and the plug on the trolling motor yesterday. I will test it out this weekend. Quote
Super User Nitrofreak Posted July 26, 2012 Super User Posted July 26, 2012 That will do it for sure, hope that's all it was. Good luck and be safe !!! Quote
dman Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Turns out the connnector/plug and socket were bad. Due to excessive heat the plug started to melt a little and resulted in bad contacts on the prongs. I replaced the socket on the boat and the plug on the trolling motor yesterday. I will test it out this weekend. Everything you described happened to me when i got my boat a couple years ago. Actually it started happening when i put a new, higher power trolling motor on. Same thing - it would start cutting out on me, i noticed the plug and wire getting extremely hot and then melted a bit into the carpet! I changed out the plug and everything but it still happened. I ended up taking out the Inline fuse by the battery and replacing it with a circuit breaker. Not a single issue since, doesnt even get hot. Quote
Loop_Dad Posted July 27, 2012 Posted July 27, 2012 Everything you described happened to me when i got my boat a couple years ago. Actually it started happening when i put a new, higher power trolling motor on. Same thing - it would start cutting out on me, i noticed the plug and wire getting extremely hot and then melted a bit into the carpet! I changed out the plug and everything but it still happened. I ended up taking out the Inline fuse by the battery and replacing it with a circuit breaker. Not a single issue since, doesnt even get hot. I was wondering about wire / connecter getting warm / hot. I've noticed my connector was hot, but I had loose nut at that time. If everything is done correctly, are wires supposed to be cool to touch? Or can they be warm? I was assuming they can be warm with 55 lb trust. Quote
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