spot lock problems/ minn Kota issues

[jbmaine]

Hi all, 

I've used my Ultera twice now and am having spot lock issues.

The first trip out I had multiple instances of being in spot lock and having it stop working. I would notice we were drifting and the remote would no longer have the anchor symbol displayed. I would hit the spot lock button and it would come back on. Then sometimes it would turn back off. I called Minn Kota and talked to a very nice lady who said it could be the remote, the foot control, or the power head. She said to not plug the foot control in, just use the remote. If it kept happening plug the foot control in and see what happened. By doing this we could pin down the problem and she would send me a new remote, foot control, or power head. 

 

Second trip out-- Just using the remote, spot lock turned off every 3-5 minutes. Plugging the foot control in it only stopped working once the rest of the day. When I got home I called Minn Kota and got a different person, who quickly started to annoy me. I described my previous conversation and what I did, and the results. First he said I must have turned it off myself. I told him the remote and foot control were in the front of the boat, I was in the back when it happened. Then he said I must have bad batteries. I told him the batteries were fully charged, the charger showed no problem, and stow and deploy, running the trolling motor all over the lake, everything else worked perfectly ( and I tried everything). Then he said I must have a bad GPS signal, I said it showed four bars.

 At this point I asked about the first person who said they would send me a remote, foot control, or power head. I said most of the issues seem to happen using the remote, Could he send me a new remote and start there.

His answer was he didn't believe it was anything previously mentioned. He said it sounded Like an abnormal power draw on the motor and I had to bring it in to my nearest Minn Kota authorized service center.

 I gotta say I am very frustrated. I've had two " experts" tell me two totally different things. 

 I don't want to be with out the trolling motor for however long it takes right at the beginning of the fishing season, but I really don't want to fight it every time I go out. It really puts a damper on the relaxing on the water and having fun aspect of fishing.

Anyone else ever have issues like this, and or how did you fix it.

                                                                       Jim

[MickD]

Never had the issue with two different motors.  But, now and then I inadvertently hit the remote button, could happen by feet hitting the foot control, and shut it down.  If you're wearing the remote, put it down on the deck for a while and keep away from the foot control.  You've probably already considered this, but if not, try it.

[jbmaine]

26 minutes ago, MickD said:

Never had the issue with two different motors.  But, now and then I inadvertently hit the remote button, could happen by feet hitting the foot control, and shut it down.  If you're wearing the remote, put it down on the deck for a while and keep away from the foot control.  You've probably already considered this, but if not, try it.

After the first time it happened I made sure I wasn't holding the remote. as I mentioned, A couple of times the foot control and remote were in the front of the boat, and my wife and I were in the back having lunch. It is happening with no input from me.

[OperationEagle]

I also had issues where the whole system would just lock up. I could turn but spot lock was dead and speed control was dead. 

 

Actuallly a dangerous situation as I was approaching the dock with other boats around. 

 

Besides the remote, the other thing I made sure was in my hand was my phone. I was able to video this happening to show it was not operator error. I sent it to the MK CS so they could see for themselves how the TM was acting. 

 

I was also asked to plug in the foot control etc to help narrow down the culprit. I always suspected the head/main ipilot link board but MK. Regardless they first replaced the remote and when it continued to happen they replaced the ipilot link board. 

 

I also kept working with one CS rep in order to minimize the possibility of a frustrating start over and over again process. 

 

Happened at the end of the season so I look forward to getting back on the water to gain the confidence in it again. 

 

I wonder how common these issues are. Starting to see a number of threads that depict some instability in the system. 

 

With all of the electronics and moving parts, I wonder how long these ulterra’s will last. 

[jbmaine]

2 hours ago, OperationEagle said:

I also had issues where the whole system would just lock up. I could turn but spot lock was dead and speed control was dead. 

 

Actuallly a dangerous situation as I was approaching the dock with other boats around. 

 

Besides the remote, the other thing I made sure was in my hand was my phone. I was able to video this happening to show it was not operator error. I sent it to the MK CS so they could see for themselves how the TM was acting. 

 

I was also asked to plug in the foot control etc to help narrow down the culprit. I always suspected the head/main ipilot link board but MK. Regardless they first replaced the remote and when it continued to happen they replaced the ipilot link board. 

 

I also kept working with one CS rep in order to minimize the possibility of a frustrating start over and over again process. 

 

Happened at the end of the season so I look forward to getting back on the water to gain the confidence in it again. 

 

I wonder how common these issues are. Starting to see a number of threads that depict some instability in the system. 

 

With all of the electronics and moving parts, I wonder how long these ulterra’s will last. 

Please let me know if your problem is resolved. I wish I could say this was a very interment problem but just using the remote it went out of spot lock 4 times in 15 minutes, in calm water. I'll try calling Minn Kota  and see if I can talk to the first person again. She seemed much more helpful.

                                              Thanks

                                                        Jim

                                                           

[OperationEagle]

3 hours ago, jbmaine said:

Please let me know if your problem is resolved. I wish I could say this was a very interment problem but just using the remote it went out of spot lock 4 times in 15 minutes, in calm water. I'll try calling Minn Kota  and see if I can talk to the first person again. She seemed much more helpful.

                                              Thanks

                                                        Jim

                                                           

Sure thing Jim. The CS I worked with was great. No complaints besides being forced to go through each step to eliminate issues before getting to what I had always suspected to be the problem at the start.  I am sure it’s company policy given the expense of replacement.  

 

Be sure to get the name of the rep You are dealing with if they seem especially attentive and knowledgeable. That way you can keep working with the same one. 

 

Will let let you know once I test it on the water. A few more weeks yet since last week there was two feet of ice still on the local lakes. 

[haggard]

Quote

Then he said I must have a bad GPS signal, I said it showed four bars.

 

That was going to be my guess. Even with four bars, is it possible that a momentary signal dropout (which you may not observe) triggers a shutdown? Signal strength could vary greatly even within the same lake. 

 

Things to try:

 

- get past 1st level support and ask for an engineer, find out if spot lock shuts off with a momentary dropout, or if it attempts to re-acquire signal before bailing

 

- a different lake in a totally different region, to determine whether or not it's signal strength in a specific area

 

- higher gain antenna (obviously may be difficult, but worth asking about)

 

- monitor the battery voltage as the problem occurs - run a meter on the battery (or better yet on the power head if you have access to DC V there). I was going to call BS on support's response saying it was bad batteries, but then you never know. if DC V drops below a threshold, all sorts of screwy things can happen. I don't believe it's bad batteries, but if something else is causing the good batteries' voltage to not get fully delivered to the power head, then screwy things can happen.

 

We're in the same neighborhood so whatever I can do to help just let me know if you need an extra hand for testing etc.

 

[jbmaine]

Yesterday I called a Minn Kota service center. They just called me back. It's a boat yard in Portland ME. They would like me to leave the whole boat with them to try and diagnose the problem. They said it could be 2-3 days before they even look at it. The only issue with that is they can't guarantee they will keep the boat inside, their yard is not fenced and if there is theft or damage they say their insurance will not cover it. 

  Right now I'm not getting a good feeling about this and I'm a little ticked.

I asked them to pick a day when their schedule is free to look at it, so I could bring it home that night. They said their booked until August and couldn't do it.

[J Francho]

Why would you call a boat yard, and not MK themselves?

 

800.227.6433

[Jibber82]

9 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Why would you call a boat yard, and not MK themselves?

 

800.227.6433

He did call MK. They told him to call his local MK service center. His local MK service center is located in a boat yard.

[dgkasper58]

I had spotty issues with spotlock on my Terrova as well.  Mine more or less lost signal and then went crazy and would turn off.  It only happened two or three times, but it was enough to make me wonder.  Hearing this issue popping up gives me concerns.

[TnRiver46]

My wireless trolling motor drove me mad (not even GPS, this was years ago) so I got a good ole fashioned regular one. Simple can be good 

[J Francho]

On 5/1/2018 at 11:05 AM, Jibber82 said:

He did call MK. They told him to call his local MK service center. His local MK service center is located in a boat yard.

Nope, keep calling until you get a person that will help.  If the person on the other end can't help you, ask for their manager.  It's a call center.  There will be two layers of technician, a team lead, and a boss.  Possibly another boss, depending on how big.  Keep escalating.

[jbmaine]

I'm hoping there is some progress in the works. I convinced MK to send me a new I pilot control head. When it gets here I'll install it and see what happens.

                                                          Jim

[slonezp]

Im guessing one of 2 things. Loss of gps signal due to being in a dead spot, or due to a faulty powerhead

[jbmaine]

I'm hoping/ thinking it's the I pilot control head. We were out yesterday and it was very windy. Every time we hit spot lock in an area with shifting winds the TM would have to make extreme rotations CW and CCW to hold position. After a couple of minutes of this it would disengage spot lock ( like it became confused and just quit) . This happened several times. We then moved to an area with steady winds from a constant direction and hit spot lock. The TM only had to make minor rotations to hold position, and stayed running the whole time ( about 45 minutes, long enough for me to catch a 3.7 smallie , stealth gloat ? ). So we shall see. On a side note It's kinda funny, the TM sorta freaks my wife out, she says it's kinda like an alien head, the way it moves on it's own ?.

                                                                  Jim

[tigar]

Maybe you have already checked this but here is a suggestion

 

Check under your foot control, I had a zip tie get lodged between the base of the foot pedal and the pedal itself... When on spotlock and the head rotating to hold position it would hit the zip tie keeping it from that last little part of the max rotation and would kick out. Took me a while and a few choice words to figure out the issue. When the head rotates and hits an obsticle it will kick out. It was such a small object I couldnt see it and was convinced it was an issue with the TM just like you are describing. 

 

[jbmaine]

3 hours ago, tigar said:

Maybe you have already checked this but here is a suggestion

 

Check under your foot control, I had a zip tie get lodged between the base of the foot pedal and the pedal itself... When on spotlock and the head rotating to hold position it would hit the zip tie keeping it from that last little part of the max rotation and would kick out. Took me a while and a few choice words to figure out the issue. When the head rotates and hits an obsticle it will kick out. It was such a small object I couldnt see it and was convinced it was an issue with the TM just like you are describing. 

 

Thanks for the thought, but it has the issue even with the foot control not plugged in, just running with the remote.

[jbmaine]

UPDATE-- Got a new I pilot control head from Minn Kota. Installed it and tried it out. TM ran perfectly!!. Ran it for over 6 hrs. and not a single hiccup. 

 Think we're good to go.

                                  Jim

[J Francho]

Thanks for getting back, and glad it's working!

[OperationEagle]

8 hours ago, jbmaine said:

UPDATE-- Got a new I pilot control head from Minn Kota. Installed it and tried it out. TM ran perfectly!!. Ran it for over 6 hrs. and not a single hiccup. 

 Think we're good to go.

                                  Jim

That’s awesome.  I’m glad the finally sent you a new head without too much more run around.  I wonder what the failure rate of these heads are. I guess we’ll never know. 

[jbmaine]

7 hours ago, OperationEagle said:

That’s awesome.  I’m glad the finally sent you a new head without too much more run around.  I wonder what the failure rate of these heads are. I guess we’ll never know. 

I'm not going to say I bullied them for a replacement, but I was kind of persistent.

Swapping it out was easy, and I really put it thru the wringer yesterday.

Now that it's working, I couldn't be happier. I consider it money well spent.

                                      thanks again

                                           Jim

[Jorgen]

On 5/8/2018 at 1:12 PM, jbmaine said:

I'm not going to say I bullied them for a replacement, but I was kind of persistent.

Swapping it out was easy, and I really put it thru the wringer yesterday.

Now that it's working, I couldn't be happier. I consider it money well spent.

                                      thanks again

                                           Jim

I have had exactly the same problem, I got a message today that I have to replace the control head on my Ulterra Riptide. Disaster struck right after a big seatrout took my fly, the boat started to drift and hit the rocks. I had no chanse of noticing because I had a big fish on. After this the spot-lock often stopped working for no obvious reason. They asked me to send a picture of the control head, it was mentioned a problem with a misplaced wire that interrupted the gps signal. They said this problem occured on several of the engines produced in 2017. They will fix it for free so I am happy! ?

 

Jørgen (Norway).

[OperationEagle]

A update on mine...

 

My Ulterra spot lock also gave up but other issues happened too.  A number of pieces replaced.  Including the motherboard.  Second season without a trolling motor that I paid $2,000+ for and it remains unfixed.

 

Although CS rep has been good, she was unsympathetic about the downtime. I certainly hope they stand by their product. 

[NHBull]

I too have a very random problem with spotlock shutting off. I noticed that when it over compensated and wires got tight, it would kick off.

No problems when there is a slight breezes where little compensation is required