Need A Trolling Motor

[Fishing N Boots]

So I went out to inspect what was wrong with my trolling motor, and when doing so I think I completely ruined it. Let me start off by saying that I inspected everything and there was absolutely no corrosion on any of the wires or connections, the batteries fully charged, the connections on the batteries were fine, all the wires were perfect, none were loose, the fuse was fine. I really think the trolling motor took a dump, but I am not certain. I guess I should tell you the issue it had, When on the water it worked for maybe 2 minutes then turned off, an hour or so goes by and it turns back on and starts working for about 3-4 hours, and then it cuts off. The batteries were fine.

 

So I took the trolling motor prop off thinking that I could get to the wires from there, I was wrong, so i took the lower unit shaft off which exposed this big copper wired metal contraption. I took the metal contraption off and it showed the wires running to a circuit board? or something, and on that had to magnets that connected or something, I am not quite sure, someone that knows trolling motors will know what I'm talking about. Well I took all that off just trying to see if maybe a wire got disconnected, and I was unable to put it all back together. 

 

So 2 questions I have. 

 

1. Is there a way to put that back together? I honestly don't think there is? Also, if I checked all the connections and it still did not want to work, do you think it really matters to even put back together?

 

2. I did not realize how expensive trolling motors were, and now that I am going to have to purchase one, I'm wondering what would be best. I am looking to spend around $300-$400 I guess and i have an 18'8" Skeeter. This will obviously be bow mount. The old trolling motor I had was 24v, not sure on the thrust. How important is 24v as it is alot more expensive. Also, does it really matter how new the trolling motor is, I found some good ones on craigslist but they seem to be older. 

 

Thanks.,

[Sun Fish]

I don't know enough about trolling motors to help ya out with putting that one back together but I do have some suggestions for your next purchase.  I have a 17'6" Nitro that came with an old  speed control 12/24 55lb thrust Motor Guide.  It did the trick but felt under powered especially on windy days and battery life got iffy around 8hrs on the water especially on windy days.  On my old 16' glass boat I had a speed control 12v 42lb motor and it also felt under powered but also horrible on battery life.  I found myself going through one battery and onto the second on a 8hr+ day on the water.  I didn't have them wired in parrel on that boat as I didn't have the space so I just carried a spare on board.

I've since upgraded my Nitro to a Minn Kotta Variable Speed 24v 70lb motor and what a world of a difference it is.  Battery life is of no concern running it on 8hr+ days on electric only lakes.  It has plenty of power in the wind and the variable speed adjustment is perfect to dial in the speed you need to maintain boat position and conserve battery life.  Given the size of your boat I wouldn't go with less than 24v 70lb and I would highly recommend going for variable speed versus speed control for battery life if you like to spend long days out on the water.

Boat ownership is expensive.  Hell I purchased my Nitro last year for 4500 and with the upgrades and work I've done to it I've dropped about an additional 3000.  It's going to be hard to find a motor that matches your boat for $300-$400 unless you can find a really good used deal.  It's going to be more around $500-$800 if your looking new.  IMO a trolling motor is not an item to skimp on when replacing given how much time we spend using them.

[Comfortably Numb]

Maybe I missed it but what motor are you having probs with? What size wire is run to the motor? What battery/batteries?

 

If a Minnkota its probably the circuit board in the head.

 

I bought a MK Maxxum 24/ 70# and am very happy with it. I replaced the 8 ga wire going to it with 4 ga and it made a big difference

[Fishing N Boots]

It is a Minnkota Edge 65. 24v with 2 batteries that are brand new, and the wire I believe is a 6 ga.

[Fishing N Boots]

Okay, So I went ahead and purchased an MinnKota Edge 70 from Bass Pro Shop. Went home and installed in place of the one that was not working. It works right after I hook it up, so clearly it was the other Troling Motor being friend I guess as the reason it did not work. Although, I take it to the lake on Sunday and after 3 1/2 hours of use on speed 3 with the occasional 4, it stops working. I assumed it was the batteries and just rolled on. I charged the batteries all last night, go to turn it on this morning and it is not working again. What could it possibly be. I checked the wires and it is 6 ga wire, so I have no clue.

[Koofy Smacker]

This may seem obvious, but did you check the switch on the side of the foot pedal to make sure it was set to momentary or constant? Ive had them kick to the off position an awful lot by accident and if you dont look at it you would think the motor died

[lazeebum]

You have an intermittant open in your trolling motor circuit.  Is the fuse ok?

[lazeebum]

This may seem obvious, but did you check the switch on the side of the foot pedal to make sure it was set to momentary or constant? Ive had them kick to the off position an awful lot by accident and if you dont look at it you would think the motor died

And what he said!

[BassinB]

Before you use that new motor extensively You may want to figure out what fried the other one.  If it was an issue with wiring or something it will happen to your new one as well. Check your fuses and things as well.  Sometimes motors just burn out on their own accord, but sometimes the issue is in how it is wired.  Whether it be voltage spikes or short circuiting.

[Fishing N Boots]

This may seem obvious, but did you check the switch on the side of the foot pedal to make sure it was set to momentary or constant? Ive had them kick to the off position an awful lot by accident and if you dont look at it you would think the motor died

 

Hey, sometime even the obvious gets overlooked, yet yes, I did check it. I made sure everything was turned on. I put it on momentarily on all speeds and also continuios for all speed, nothing.

 

 

You have an intermittant open in your trolling motor circuit.  Is the fuse ok?

 

The fuses were fine.

 

The biggest thing that is driving me nuts is at the bow is where the positive and negative run connect to two other cables, that then run all the way down to the batteries. They are 6ga wires that run down, and everything is connected correctly.

 

Cable runs from the postive on battery 1 to the negative on battery 2. Then 6ga wire positive runs to the positive, and 6ga negative runs to the negative. These batteries are also connected to the minnkota 3 bank battery charger. All fuses are fine, so I havent the slightest clue.

 

Remember the old one worked, then stopped working, then turned back on a couple of hours later, then jsut quit for the day while batteries were fully charged. Took that one off, went and purchased a brand new one, it worked right away for almost 4 hours and now, it wont work. Recharged the batteries hoping that both batteries ran down and now it still wont work.

[lazeebum]

I don't know what kind of boat you have,but a friend of mine had a boat that the trolling motor wires had splices in them.  They eventually broke down.

[Sun Fish]

Do yourself a favor and tape up some new wire to the existing wire (using it as a snake) and pull yourself fresh wire through get the old stuff out and you should be good to go also put in a new fuse.  There may be some kind of break in the old wire and this is a fairly simple task to do to insure 100% your wiring is good.

[Fishing N Boots]

Thanks for the information dink, I used the tape routine whenever I did my fish finder, yet I used a ziptie because I couldnt find any tape. Thursday I am taking the old trolling motor to a shop to have them repair it and the gentleman there told me he has no problem taking a look at the boat and wires and see if there is a problem. So on thursday I will do that, then if nothing, i will replace the wires. Thanks for the help everyone, i shall keep ya updated.

[Koofy Smacker]

Do yourself a favor and tape up some new wire to the existing wire (using it as a snake) and pull yourself fresh wire through get the old stuff out and you should be good to go also put in a new fuse.  There may be some kind of break in the old wire and this is a fairly simple task to do to insure 100% your wiring is good.

That very well be whats up with it. Sometimes with loose wires or a break in the wire it can appear that everything is fine and then something gets bumped and its gone. Can really throw you into confusion. Think of it as a plug that you need to hold in a certain way to get the appliance to work. Same idea just inside your boat. Good idea to pull it and just replace it to be sure your not getting bad grounds and corrosion somewhere in there.

[Fishing N Boots]

That very well be whats up with it. Sometimes with loose wires or a break in the wire it can appear that everything is fine and then something gets bumped and its gone. Can really throw you into confusion. Think of it as a plug that you need to hold in a certain way to get the appliance to work. Same idea just inside your boat. Good idea to pull it and just replace it to be sure your not getting bad grounds and corrosion somewhere in there.

 

 

Yeah, I plan to do that on Thursday if everything does not get fixed while at the shop. I currently have a laptop that wiill turn off if the power adapter is not in the right position, I adjust my foot and the laptop turns off. Honestly, I'm surprised I have not punched it yet.

[Fishing N Boots]

Took the old trolling motor and boat to a shop here in oklahoma city. Going to cost $150.00 to fix my old trolling motor which will be okay as it was over $600 for the new one. While there they looked at my boat to see what could be the cause. I guess the circuit board has 40 amp fuses (i think they are fuses) and they keep tripping because the two trolling motors that I have require atleast 50. She said that I could probably run on power 3 all day with no problems, yet whenever I go to power 4 or 5 that's when it cuts out. She pussed on the little red "40" fuse and bam, it reset it, and trolling motor started working. Are these hard to change?

[BassnChris]

hould not be too hard....i did it ok and I am a bit challenged sometimes.

 

just 2 wires to connect.......a couple of fasteners to anchor it down.........my motorguide instructions indicated I had to install a 50 amp breaker. was not difficult.........really pretty easy.

[Sun Fish]

Took the old trolling motor and boat to a shop here in oklahoma city. Going to cost $150.00 to fix my old trolling motor which will be okay as it was over $600 for the new one. While there they looked at my boat to see what could be the cause. I guess the circuit board has 40 amp fuses (i think they are fuses) and they keep tripping because the two trolling motors that I have require atleast 50. She said that I could probably run on power 3 all day with no problems, yet whenever I go to power 4 or 5 that's when it cuts out. She pussed on the little red "40" fuse and bam, it reset it, and trolling motor started working. Are these hard to change?

Very simple to install, can be purchased at Walmart.  It's an inline breaker not a fuse as a fuse can not be reset and must be replaced.

It looks like this

All you have to do is splice it into the positive lead comming back from the trolling motor.  Do this closest to the batteries.  Get a couple simple crimp connects that will fit over those bolts if they don't come with the breaker already (I can't remember) fasten them down and your good to go.  The little button on the side resets the breaker if it ever trips.  I didn't bolt my breaker down anywhere I just have it inline and it's fine.

[Fishing N Boots]

So are you saying basically take the positive lead coming from the trolling motor, cut it, put on a crimp connect and fasten to the top bolt in the picture, then put another splice connect on another positive line fasten it to the bottom bolt in the picture and then run to the positive lead of the battery??

 

If that is the case, do I only do it one time for 1 battery or since my trolling motor is 24v does that mean I have to do this for each battery?

[kjfishman]

it is a bit of a pain to put them back together but doable. I used dental floss to hold the brushes while I reassembled the motor.  If 24 volt trolling motors are big bucks so the only other option is find a shop that specializes in trolling motor repair. It cost me $100 to have the speed coil replaced on my Motor Guide. When I replace it it will be with a Minn Kota.

I don't know enough about trolling motors to help ya out with putting that one back together but I do have some suggestions for your next purchase.  I have a 17'6" Nitro that came with an old  s.peed control 12/24 55lb thrust Motor Guide.  It did the trick but felt under powered especially on windy days and battery life got iffy around 8hrs on the water especially on windy days.  On my old 16' glass boat I had a speed control 12v 42lb motor and it also felt under powered but also horrible on battery life.  I found myself going through one battery and onto the second on a 8hr+ day on the water.  I didn't have them wired in parrel on that boat as I didn't have the space so I just carried a spare on board.

I've since upgraded my Nitro to a Minn Kotta Variable Speed 24v 70lb motor and what a world of a difference it is.  Battery life is of no concern running it on 8hr+ days on electric only lakes.  It has plenty of power in the wind and the variable speed adjustment is perfect to dial in the speed you need to maintain boat position and conserve battery life.  Given the size of your boat I wouldn't go with less than 24v 70lb and I would highly recommend going for variable speed versus speed control for battery life if you like to spend long days out on the water.

Boat ownership is expensive.  Hell I purchased my Nitro last year for 4500 and with the upgrades and work I've done to it I've dropped about an additional 3000.  It's going to be hard to find a motor that matches your boat for $300-$400 unless you can find a really good used deal.  It's going to be more around $500-$800 if your looking new.  IMO a trolling motor is not an item to skimp on when replacing given how much time we spend using them.

[Sun Fish]

So are you saying basically take the positive lead coming from the trolling motor, cut it, put on a crimp connect and fasten to the top bolt in the picture, then put another splice connect on another positive line fasten it to the bottom bolt in the picture and then run to the positive lead of the battery??

 

If that is the case, do I only do it one time for 1 battery or since my trolling motor is 24v does that mean I have to do this for each battery?

You should only have 1 positive and 1 negative running up to your plug receptacle.  You should have two 12V batteries wired in series to create 24V.  So yes you you cut your positive wire put a crimp connect fasted it to the top bolt, put a crimp connect on the other  open end of the positive wire and fasten it to the bottom bolt and your done.

You said there is a 40amp breaker already in place you have to remove it and put the 50 in its place.  The 40 amp breaker has to be out of the circuit or you will still have the same problem. It should just be a matter of swapping the breakers out unless you do plan to run fresh wire in which case you would have to cut the positive to install it.

Take my advice though since you went with a speed control motor. Don't constantly run on 5 if you plan to be out on the water more than a couple hours and try to run it on 2 or 3 at most if you plan on being out on the water all day.  This more so applies for electric only waters where your completely dependent on your TM.

Here's a better visual of proper 24v trolling motor wiring.