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Newbie Question re Dead Minn Kota E65 Problem - Maybe Electrical

OldHippy

New member
Trying to find out what's wrong with my pontoon boat's propulsion system. Uses 24V 2 batteries, which I'm told were new 10 to 12 months ago. Charging is controlled by a ProMariner XPSiT 5/5 of unknown age, although all indications are that the XPS is working fine - it performs the self-tests and indicates no battery faults. The trawling motor is a transom mount Minn Kota EP65. There is a hand controller/POT installed on the steering console, next to the two-button lift control. I've verified all fuses A-OK.

The boat sat covered and idle from end of June through a couple days ago, but was continually plugged in to allow ongoing conditioning by the XPS. Arizona temperatures here were record-breaking this year, staying in the 105 to 116 degree range practically the whole time.

When the heat broke a few days ago I uncovered the boat and attempted to take her out on the lake. it ran at a snail's pace and that speed was constant through the range of the POT, forward or reverse. We returned to dock after about 10 min. and plugged back in to charge and condition.

Yesterday we tried again. Motor lift worked fine. Batteries look OK per the XPS display. But, while raised up, the motor seemed dead. I lowered the motor and - ever so briefly - the blades spun up as the motor hit the water, then lifeless again. Since then the motor has been dead.

The marine shops around here are scary - expecially for newbies like me. The first thing they want to do is pull the boat out of the water and take it to the shop. That's a guaranteed $200+ round trip, and then count on at least $500 to $1,000 to get your boat back. Most neighbors I've talked to have horror stories. So, here's my two questions:

1. How can I do some further troubleshooting before calling a marine shop? What kind of meter/tool/whatever would I need are what steps can I test? At least to learn enough to not get taken by the marine shops.

2. Do the above symptoms maybe suggest a problem with the hand controller/POT? The controller looks rough, like it's got a lot of nautical miles on it. Am I correct that the controller is something that a reasonably intelligent newbie could swap out and, at least, eliminate one potential problem?

Thanks for any help.
 
The very first thing you do is to pull the batteries and have them load tested at a local auto repair or auto parts shop.
 
a good voltmeter can give you a lot of insight into whats going on with the wiring....XPS units are usually flawless....so the batteries may be ok if the unit is configured correctly...a load test is always a good idea...

I'd start with the primary wiring back to the motor....making sure you don't have any significant voltage drop thru the battery cables. The motor itself could be giving up the ghost....a clamp on amp meter could help in assessing the motor's health....

lastly it could be the remote controller hookup....separate each connector in check each pin/socket for a clean connection.

most likely, its a bad connection somewhere....not hard to find but could take a while....
 
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