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| So fishing season is here full force… so it’s also when equipment starts to fail/give you problems! Urrr….
Here’s my situation. I have a one year old MinnKota V2 Powerdrive 70# 24v trolling motor. It’s been working all season like a champ with no problems until as of late.
I purchased two brand new batteries this season and always make sure I have them fully recharged before hitting the water. Just lately when I turn my speed up the trolling motor seems to loose it’s power? The prop will still spin but 10 speed feels like its running on 3 speed? The steering head rotates just fine but just lack of power/juice? If I run it like this long enough it will eventually just stop as if I have 0% battery life left.
Couple side notes:
- battery indicator on TM reads fully charged when I first start out but soon will read 25% charged after a while as if something is draining it. Earlier this year I could go a couple days on fresh batteries now only 10 minutes?
- Motor does not feel hot as if something is shorting out.
- No fishing line wrapped around prop shaft.
- I have (2) 12v batteries wired in series and all wiring is HD marine grade 6 gauge wire with solder connection throughout
- I have a MinnKota Hi-Amp 60A circuit breaker coming off the (+) side… that has never blown/popped yet
- I ALWAYS disconnect my trolling motor from the batteries when recharging.
Any help or advice before I take it in for service would be greatly appreciated.
Edited by Esox Madness 7/10/2012 3:16 PM
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Posts: 5874
| Is it only on 10 that this happens? What about 4 or 6? Still act like the batteries are drained?
Do you still have your old batteries? Why did you get new this year? What batteries did you get? Size/make. |
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Posts: 97
Location: Milwaukee, WI | It is possible that there is some dirt or grime on the inside of the foot pedal which is affecting the control board that handles the speed control. If so, its an easy thing to clean.
Using a needle nose pliers, remove the springs that hold the foot pedal cover so you can access the control board. You can clean that using compressed air such as you would use for a computer. If its really dirty, you can also clean it with a cotton swab and a small amount of rubbing alcohol.
I also recommend that you not leave the foot pedal out in the elements. Bring it inside when the boat is in storage, and put it under cover at night when you are on trips and leaving the boat in the water overnight. They are really, really susceptible to problems if they get dirty.
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Posts: 97
Location: Milwaukee, WI | Probably should have read your whole post before I responded....
The foot pedal should not in any way impact the power drain issue. But one question: Are you testing the power when the motor is on? If so, that power level indicator is not going to be accurate.
Have you put a separate battery tester on the batteries them selves to see if they are truly being drained, or if its just an issue with power to the motor?
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| @Shep – the power loss seems to be constant throughout the speed range not just 10… but when I crank it up to 10 speed is when you really notice something is not right. I purchased new batteries this year because I just needed new ones, old ones were 5-6years old. I went with cheaper WalMart EverStart Deep Cycle Marine – Size 29 this time around and really haven’t experienced any problems until now. When the TM battery indicator states low 25% charge (as if the batteries are getting drained) I did check the batteries w/ multi-meter (I disconnected the TM when I test the batteries)… they still will read 12.7ish volts? So something is telling me it’s in the motor and not the battery setup?
@Louis – I will check the pedal to see if something is dirty under there tonight. I keep my boat stored inside all year and truly do try to keep it out of the elements (sand & whatnot) but at the same time the motor gets used a lot. When I’m doing my battery testing I have everything disconnect and not when the TM is under load.
I’m going to try a complete different pedal that a buddy of mine has… just to see if that is the culprit or not. I think it’s something deeper than that unfortunately.
Edited by Esox Madness 7/10/2012 3:17 PM
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Posts: 5874
| OK. Are you pushing the TM test with the motor running? If so, it will read low, like maybe 1 or 2 LEDs on, like it is low. Test it with the motor off, and it should read all 4 LEDs on. If you are reading 12.7 Volts, then that indicates a full charge on the batteries.
If you really notice it on 10, and not so much on 4 or 6, then I would look at a bad connection possibly. The motor is going to draw the max current at 10, or at least try to, so any connection issue is more likely to show up at that setting. Check each battery connection, at the circuit breaker, inside the plug, and receptacle. Make sure they are clean and are making a good tight mechanical connection.
Edited by Shep 7/10/2012 2:15 PM
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| @Shep - Yes sir, I always check my TM battery indicator when the motor is not running. Likewise, I’m always checking my batteries w/ a multi-meter with everything disconnected…
I will recheck all my connections and tryout a different foot pedal to see if that eliminates this problem.
It just doesn’t make sense to me on how it’s acting up when earlier this season it was flawless??
Edited by Esox Madness 7/10/2012 3:19 PM
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Location: Eastern Ontario | Maybe you should have your batteries load tested |
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Posts: 5874
| A load test may reveal something with the batteries.
If all else fails, get it to a good certified Minn Kota Service Center. If you are close enough to Milwaukee, I recommend Ed Shilling in West Allis. |
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | I had this happen a couple years ago. The problem was my connections to the battery. I thought I wired it in series but wired it parallel. It doesn't have the power that it should and it drains the battery really fast. I would check the connections again to make sure it is in series. |
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| So I finally got some time to look into this and I think I’m coming up with the conclusion that I have one bunk new battery and the other new batt is good. All connection are solid and batteries have always been hooked up correctly. I still do have a few question for you guys however.
When I charge up by batteries w/ my MinnKota 220D charger it tops them off/maintains them at a consistent 13.4v… cool everything seems to work. However once out on the water and I use my TM I’m still losing power. I then check my batteries (independently nothing connected) w/ multi-meter and one reads 12.7v (good charge in my mind) and other was 10.1v (not good in my mind).
So my question is, should both batteries discharge/drain at the same rate or close to one another, I assumed so? When the one batt is low and I connect the two together, off my TM plug I’m reading 22.7v. Would this be a reason why my TM is acting goofy/lack of power? It’s not getting full power to it. When I hook them back up to the on-board charger and they maintain/top out at 13.4v and I test my TM plug at 26.8v the motor runs fine for a while until it seem there is a power drain. This a sign of bad battery?
So I’m thinking I have (1) bunk/bad new battery and the other is good. I never did get them load tested and will do so. Again these were WalMart EverStart Deep Cycle Marine – Size 29 which I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews from.
Any thoughts on this?
Edited by Esox Madness 7/17/2012 2:23 PM
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Posts: 5874
| Yep, Bad battery. Take it back and get it replaced. |
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Posts: 17
| I had literally the exact same problem earlier this year. My 70# Powerdrive had a very short run time, even after a full charge. My batteries were the same Everstart batteries you have, and they were only a few months old. After taking a look at both batteries , I noticed that one of them had a hole melted in the top where the terminal used to be. The battery was leaking all over the battery tray. It was a huge mess, but Walmart replaced it free of charge and everything has been back to normal for the last couple of months. |
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