Auto Pilot ?

[eyefish2]

Ah the power of technology!! I just had a friend call from the middle of a lake, 2 states away to get this message posted ASAP!

He said his minkota auto pilot has started to act up. He said it was working fine this morning and then every now and then it would go haywire. Would take off at full speed or just not work for a few seconds and then would go back to the set speed he was at. He said now it will only run at full open. He said if he turns it off and then on, no matter where he has the foot speed set, it is wide open or nothing. What do you think, the motor or the foot control, is there any way to test them? We have both taken a weeks vacation and are fishing this week. I am meeting him at the lake Tuesday morning,(7 hour trip) will my old auto pilot work off his cables if I take it. I have switched trolling motors but kept my 3 year old auto pilot for back up. Mine is a 64 pd thrust and his I believe is an 84 pd thrust. Should we be able to run my foot control on his motor to test if that's what it is?

Any suggestions in the next 48 hours is appreciated!

[Juls_WI]

Just figured I'd get this back to the top to see if anyone can help this guy. If there is any one group of people that can solve his problem, it's the folks who visit this board...Rew, are you out there? ;-)

Juls

[Cangl]

The speed only working usaully at high, . Typically the foot pedals lose continuity "electrical path of current" resulting in loss of constant or momentary thrust. A bad connection or low battery voltage would be the first concern to be dealt with as the autopilots when at low charge "dumb down and rotate at will and also tend to thrust at higher settings as thats what it takes to get enough voltage to turn the prop. Take your older model pedal and check those connections and charge. An actual voltage reading for 24V should be slightly above 24V's Guy's 26 volts? possibly? Being familar with 12V volts, anything above 13.5 volts is boling away battery life.

[EYEFISH2]

BACK TO THE TOP FOR MORE INFO IF ANYONE HAS ANY!

[AquaMan]

LAST EDITED ON May-14-01 AT 11:49AM (CST)[p]
First of all, bring you motor for back up. That should run with a little less efficiency, but al teals it is something. As far as cable, what cables. Power and foot peddles area all you need. Power might need to be spliced since no tow power plugs are the same. The foot peddle should be the same.

Is he using the Minn Kota quick release deck (The one that is two flat pieces of black aluminum that slide apart) or is his motor permanently mounted? Either way, some quick changes would put yours on his boat.

As far as his go, it sounds like there is a short in the battery connection or the foot peddle connection. Check both for clean and tight contact. A weak battery is also a culprit as posted above. Check to be sure he has a strong, fully charged battery. Some 80+ pound motors require 24V. Does he have 24 volt or 12? Is one battery connected properly? A blown fuse maybe? Run a check from battery to power plug.

Tell him to try running the motor without the auto switch on. See if that changes the motor reactions. If it does, head the motor straight off the bow and steer with the main motor like a rudder.

If it does not, then move to the foot peddle itself. Dirt and corrosion can get in there and short out the contacts. The wires can get crimped if they were wrapped around the peddle for transport.

If all these do not remedy the situation, use your backup and take the unit is for diag at an authorized Minn Kota repair.

Good luck and know that it beats sitting on land.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

Eric@crowncomputerinc.com

[Caleb]

Take the pedal apart and use some non waxed dental floss to clean the contacts on the pedal. Make sure that none of the strings fray and come off on the contacts. This helps because somtimes dust will get in between the contacts and the boat may tip a ceratin way and mess up the contact.

Hope this works
CALEB

[Paul H]

Don't think you can get to the contacts. MK uses what is called a popple swich - inside a pieces of silicone.

When mine gave out I jumpered a add on foot swich in line with the circuit board - rather than spend 100 bucks

[caleb]

You can get to the contacts I've fixed a couple pedals this way.