thepotroast
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2009
- Messages
- 91
Have a Minn Kota Edge 40 (freshwater) bow mount with the pedals that came factory equipped with my 2004 Triton bass boat. Took the boat out for the 3rd time since purchase, and the trolling motor worked while fishing, we picked up our gear to move to the next spot, put it back in the water...and nothing.
My first thought, is that we blew a fuse. Well, I can't find a fuse anywhere for the trolling motor. It's a simple 12V setup that runs off it's own battery (brand new battery), which does have a resettable circuit breaker on the + battery cable at the terminal. So then I checked to see if the bow plug (male end) on the boat was getting current, it was. But still nothing coming from the motor. I then started to disect the foot pedal to see if there is current going to the lead wires to the foot pedal operation, and there is....
Dumbfounded, I put all the gear away for a day, came back out to the boat....hit the pedal again, and the motor started spinning. Tried it again 30 seconds later, nothing....immediately checked to see if 12V current was coming through the plug, and it was....but still couldn't get the motor to spin.
I believe there is no short in my wiring or anything of that sort, considering I have constant 12V power going to the source plug at the bow, but this trolling motor seems to only work every now and then. I couldn't see any loose connections, I sprayed contact cleaner on any visible connectors, nothing is rusted or corroded and this was only ever used in freshwater.
I know that Minn Kota's carry warranties, but this is now a 5yr old unit, even though it was probably only used a handful of times, it (and the entire boat) still look new. I am pretty disappointed, but before I go out and spend $400 to replace this unit (leery on buying another Minn Kota now), I'd like to see if anyone has any suggestions? I don't really have the time or location to break it all down, because frankly I am mechanically inclined, but not so much electrically beyond testing circuits, etc.
I figured if nothing else I could put it on Craigslist for cheap as a fixer, and just go buy a new one. With a constant 12V coming to my bow plug, it's hard to believe it's anything other than the trolling motor going bad.
My first thought, is that we blew a fuse. Well, I can't find a fuse anywhere for the trolling motor. It's a simple 12V setup that runs off it's own battery (brand new battery), which does have a resettable circuit breaker on the + battery cable at the terminal. So then I checked to see if the bow plug (male end) on the boat was getting current, it was. But still nothing coming from the motor. I then started to disect the foot pedal to see if there is current going to the lead wires to the foot pedal operation, and there is....
Dumbfounded, I put all the gear away for a day, came back out to the boat....hit the pedal again, and the motor started spinning. Tried it again 30 seconds later, nothing....immediately checked to see if 12V current was coming through the plug, and it was....but still couldn't get the motor to spin.
I believe there is no short in my wiring or anything of that sort, considering I have constant 12V power going to the source plug at the bow, but this trolling motor seems to only work every now and then. I couldn't see any loose connections, I sprayed contact cleaner on any visible connectors, nothing is rusted or corroded and this was only ever used in freshwater.
I know that Minn Kota's carry warranties, but this is now a 5yr old unit, even though it was probably only used a handful of times, it (and the entire boat) still look new. I am pretty disappointed, but before I go out and spend $400 to replace this unit (leery on buying another Minn Kota now), I'd like to see if anyone has any suggestions? I don't really have the time or location to break it all down, because frankly I am mechanically inclined, but not so much electrically beyond testing circuits, etc.
I figured if nothing else I could put it on Craigslist for cheap as a fixer, and just go buy a new one. With a constant 12V coming to my bow plug, it's hard to believe it's anything other than the trolling motor going bad.
