Minn Kota Speeds 1-6 not working

zack123

Cadet
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
13
Hi, 2012 Minn Kota 80lb with ipilot speeds 1-6 isn't working, but speeds 6-10 are. Although the 6-10 speeds seems slower than they should be (they actually seem like speeds 1-6). Hope that made sense. Everything else seems to be working fine. Could this be the control board?

thanks
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
Not knowing the electrical schematic of your TM, I am assuming it is 12/24 volt setup. And if so, could one of the battery connections be missing? :noidea:
 

zack123

Cadet
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
13
Its a 24volt setup and I've checked all the connections and tried different batteries also, the green light comes on, so I am pretty sure it's not a battery or connection issue. Yes the problem just started occuring. I've just received a reply from Minn Kota and this is their reply:

"suspicion here is that the motor has leaked water. Water interferes with the contact between the armature and the brushes, causing a motor to run weakly. The way to check for water would be to remove the prop, which will expose two bolt heads on the back of the motor. Remove just one of the bolts, and see if it comes out clean, or wet and dirty. If wet and dirty, that is the problem"

I'll be taking it apart and checking, I'll post up what I find.
Cheers
Zack
 

zack123

Cadet
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
13
So just an update on this. I took the motor apart (not the easiest of tasks, the power connectors are soldered onto the brush plate connections, and you need to get these off to pull the casing out. I ended up having to cut the connectors on the wires.
So pulling it apart, there were no signs of any water getting in and the brushes were clean as a whistle. The only thing that was in bad shape were the 2 seals. So this leads me to think that my original hunch that the issue is the main board going bad.

So ordered a brush kit (seeing that I have it opened, I might as well do some maintenance) and a main board from Northland Marine (http://www.northlandmarine.com), great guys! responded to my emails promptly and helped out with all my questions! Check them out for all minnkota parts and great service!

Received the main board, hooked it up, comes with all the heat shrink for all the connections and wiring instructions (triple check these) you don't want to have to order another main board!!!

Replaced the seals, they were corroded really bad, needed to smash them out with a chisel and hammer. Glad I ordered the flange bearing too, because I kinda ruined the old one when I was trying to get the seals out. Placed the seals in, put the new flange bearing in. Replaced the brush plate, connected it all up.

Plugged it in, fingers crossed! started it up and it is all working, speeds 1/2 through to 10 working again! pretty stoked!
Let me know if anyone would like to know more details about any of the steps.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
Great news zack123. Nice to repair things and have them actually work after the effort. Seems you know a thing or three about connections and was able to connect up the new board. So I have to ask, did you do any investigative surgery on the old board? I would most likely check out the old board to see what was defective and maybe even repair it for a spare. But that is just me. :noidea:
 
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