# Help, Strange IPilot problems.



## C.Ward (Jan 19, 2016)

My trolling motor began shutting down after 5 minutes of use at the end of summer. I found that the marineco socket was badly corroded so I replaced the male and female sides.
The problem persisted so I took it the my local Minn Kota repair shop, they ran it on the bench for 30 min with our any problem. Yesterday I ran the motor in the driveway for 30 mins with out a problem. I tried to use the trolling motor while fishing later that day and it worked for about 5-10 minutes before shutting down and giving the “f” on the remote.
Does anyone have any ideas?? The problem only happens when the motor is deployed in the water.


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## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

Your battery ok?


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## C.Ward (Jan 19, 2016)

They seem to be. It’s a 24v trolling motor. I use the starting battery as one of my batteries for the trolling motor. The engine always starts quickly. The batteries are from 2017. I’ll get them load tested.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

worked for about 5-10 minutes before shutting down 

There's a difference between bench testing an electric motor and water testing it.
No "load" on the motor out of water. More a electric motor is "loaded" the more power it needs which in turn also generates some heat. 

Normally I'd hook up a DC amp meter inline and run the motor and watch if the amp load increases when it's under a constant load, and run my hand over the wiring while it's running looking for warm or hot spots, which could point to a bad connection or a bad spot in the wiring and check the motor and control housing to see if it's getting warmer/hotter than it should.

If the motor shuts down and the above didn't point to an obvious problem then it's most likely a control/chip problem. 
I'd also have a volt meter attached at the same time, if the voltage starts at 24V's steady, then drops before the motor quits might point to a battery problem.
Unfortunately the test meters I use to have were expensive and don't know if there are any currently available at an affordable price now.


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## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

mro said:


> worked for about 5-10 minutes before shutting down
> 
> There's a difference between bench testing an electric motor and water testing it.
> No "load" on the motor out of water. More a electric motor is "loaded" the more power it needs which in turn also generates some heat.
> ...


The first thing I would check is for voltage drop due to a bad connection or bad battery, it is also the easiest thing to check.


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

My first thoughts were no load out of the water vs. under a load in water causing a breakdown. Could be heat related, could be battery, but definitely do as mro suggested. Start by checking voltage drop while running. Or as you said, load test your batteries. It may tell you all you need to know.


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## BK922 (Jan 24, 2016)

You also may have a self resetting thermo fuse in line somewhere that is tripping because it’s gone bad. 2nd pic. The load vs no load in water is definitely a problem. If you do find one of these replace with appropriately sized resettable breaker, first pic.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

BK922 said:


> thermo fuse


I don't know if I mentioned that I have a new Terrova 80 24V trolling motor.
I've yet to get around to finishing the installation, mainly just the wiring.
Minn Kota recommends using an inline 60 amp breaker. On other types of battery powered equipment (24and 36V systems) I've seen thermal overload breakers in/on some of the motors and there were also circuit breakers on the dash for the same motors so Minn Kota trolling motor could have one too. If there's one on the motor itself can't think of an easy way to check it.

BTW, most of this type of breaker reset by themselves after cooling off.
The problem with all circuit breakers in general is the the more times there tripped the weaker they become and can just fail or start tripping at lower amp loads.

BTW2, I'm surprised that the "factory" tech doesn't use a a water tank when testing their motors.


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

How soon after shutting down does it take for the trolling motor to start working again? 
Does it take about the same amount of run time for it to shut down again?
If you have a simple volt/ohm meter it would not be any problem to check a thermal fuse for dropping out.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

fishnpreacher said:


> thermal fuse for dropping out


First is that it has to have one and second if checked with the meter at power lead it will show an "open", no continuity as a zero reading on the meter.

No way to determine if some other component is causing the problem if you can't get to the thermal breaker if it has one although if it does have one it would be suspect. Now if it's just doing it's job and is not faulty itself you then need to find what's causing it to trip.

Those types of breakers are normally inexpensive so the easiest way to see if their the problem is just to replace it.


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

mro said:


> First is that it has to have one and second if checked with the meter at power lead it will show an "open", no continuity as a zero reading on the meter.
> 
> No way to determine if some other component is causing the problem if you can't get to the thermal breaker if it has one although if it does have one it would be suspect. Now if it's just doing it's job and is not faulty itself you then need to find what's causing it to trip.
> 
> Those types of breakers are normally inexpensive so the easiest way to see if their the problem is just to replace it.


Yeah, I wasn't clear on how to check it, assuming there is a thermal fuse. I meant to say you could check the voltage on each side of the fuse, 12v in and 12v out. My bad.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

fishnpreacher said:


> 12v in and 12v out


If I weren't so lazy I'd see if there's a parts diagram...
PS (24V)


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

Got me again....12...24....I quit 😛


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

I had a company for 30+ years where I made more money fixing ac/dc and LPG/diesel machines than sales. If I'd a been the service center for Minn Kota I would have had a water testing tank.


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

mro said:


> I had a company for 30+ years where I made more money fixing ac/dc and LPG/diesel machines than sales. If I'd a been the service center for Minn Kota I would have had a water testing tank.


Absolutely!


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