Malfunctioning Minn Kota

[MickThe]

Hey all,

My Riptide AP bowmount MK has a little problem, when i steer to starboard with the foot pedal controls it is responding very slowly in fits and starts.......

It's fine when steering left so would this be some corrosion on the contact points inside the foot controls? (I usually give all that area a spray with WD40 regularly)

Hopefully not any problem with the head of the motor itself.

Should i take the foot controls apart to investigate, or is a replacement set of foot controls easy and cheap enough to just do that?

Thanks for any assistance offered

Cheers

Mick.

[Leighton]

Minn Kota have a 3 year warranty, take it to BLA at Hemmant. They repair the motors in house and are usually pretty quick at getting it back to you.
DONT spray your foot control, sand sticks to the lubricant.
Un plug your foot control and tea bag the pedal in a bucket of fresh water to clean, then hang it up over the side of the boat to dry

[Peter4]

Warm soapy water is even better. I would try this before taking it to BLA as it may be a simple salt build up causing the problem......

[Fish'n Junky]

I'm not sure of the variations in models, mine is an older one, and I'm assuming yours is too, or you'd probably be getting it done under warranty.
If it has the flat style connector between the foot pedal and the motor, the following may be helpful..

I have found the actual connector between the foot pedal and the motor itself is prone to corrosion if not cleaned after every use.

FIRST - DISCONNECT THE ANDERSON PLUG TO REMOVE THE BATTERY FROM THE CIRCUIT AND REMOVE ALL POWER TO THE MOTOR!!!!!! FAILURE TO DO THIS AND PROCEEDING TO THE NEXT STEPS WILL RESULT IN THE NEED TO BUY A NEW CONTROL BOARD... I learnt this the hard way!

Next, unplug the foot pedal connector and inspect both the male and female connectors..
As long as all the voltage is removed, it is safe to use a small wire brush (gently) to clean the male end, and for the female side, I used a fine sand paper wrapped around a small drill bit. Be gentle with the cleaning, and when done, spray it with a circuit board cleaner to remove any trapped filings and corrosion that wasn't reached with the paper or brush.
I don't spray anything else in this connector at this stage, but opt instead to give it a spray with circuit board cleaner after each use. I then leave it disconnected to dry out.
It might pay to check the male side and gently separate the slotted pins a little with a small jewellers screwdriver. I found that doing this helped the pins make better contact in the socket and to date have had no further troubles.
PM me if you need any further details. I have schematics of the minn kota riptide, and being in the trade have diagnosed and repaired mine before. There's really not much to them that's user serviceable. (The control board being coated in resin is repair by replacement item).
As for the foot pedal itself, it is ingeniously simple and a good wash in warm soapy water is all that is needed to maintain it. Spraying wd40 or inox or the like will only attract sand, mud etc and help it stick to the pedal. The actual circuit board in the pedal is well sealed against water and salt etc, and there's really no value at all in using a spray on it...

Hopefully you'll fix the problem easily enough..

Let us know how you go!

[MickThe]

Thanks for the help, that's some excellent info - i think i may have let the actual connector for the foot control get a little corroded.

Will work on that, and disconnect the Anderson Plug i would have tripped up on that for sure!

Mick.

[the gecko]

Another vote for dont spray em with anything at all.......especially wd40.

If youre under warranty, then send it back.

If not......try borrowing someone elses footpedal to see if thats the problem. tell us where you are located, and you might get a friendly ausfisher helping you out.

When my pedal carked it, I found they were cheaper from USA on ebay, but check the dollar exchange rate. Mine cost au$80 (last year) Vs $200 here.

If youre feeling rich or desperate for a fish, you can buy the remote control unit from BCF for $400. They plug straight in and work well, while youre waiting for your replacement footpedal.

Andrew

[rayken1938]

it is safe to use a small wire brush (gently) to clean the male end, and for the female side, I used a fine sand paper wrapped around a small drill bit. Be gentle.
Do not do this you are only asking for more trouble in the future. If you must use anything get some microscrub and be very gentle.
A better alternative is to take it to an electronics repairer and get them to clean it up in an ultrasonic cleaner.This will remove the corrosion without further damaging the anti corrosive plating on the plug and socket.
Scratching or sandpapering will only be a temporary fix bit will only cause more corrosion as bare copper will be exposed.
Dick smiths also sell electrical contact cleaner that does not leave an oily residue.
Cheers
Ray

[Fish'n Junky]

Do not do this you are only asking for more trouble in the future.
Ray

Why do you say that?

Admittedly, it's been a long time since my apprenticeship, but my apprentices are still taught the same methods of cleaning circuitry that I was.

The three main steps are:
Mechanical clean (brush or similar)
Chemical clean (isopropyl alcohol based cleaner)
Inspection to ensure cleanliness.

Gentle use of a wire brush or a fine sandpaper won't cause any harm.

Now, scrubbing it with a diamond encrusted scourer and attacking it with 40 grit might cause a few problems as that will remove/damage any tinning or plating over the pins/sockets.

As I said, I have had no further trouble with my motor, but I do disconnect the pedal and spray it with an isopropyl cleaner after each use.

If I was going to store it without use for an extended period, I'd lightly oil it, but be sure to remove that oil prior to use with the spray cleaner.

BE Gentle and the methods I've mentioned will not cause any damage.

[Nico.d.R]

i had my sealed foot pedal circut board shit it self because of a factory screw that was tightend to hard and broke the seal . it caused my minn to keep turning right so i brought it in to BLA (aquarium drive hemant) and had it back in a week , with a new curcuit board ,speed control and plugs they used the old caseing and replaced every thing else . if your motor is less than 3 years old just take in the serial number of the motor and you will not need your reciept .

cheers nico