motorguide wireless foot pedal

[donf]

I bought my MG Xi3/5 wireless foot pedal about a year ago. I read a lot that batteries run down if not removed. I was going to implement some kind of switch hack so I wouldn't have dead batteries. However, before doing that I hooked it up to a lab power supply and measured the current in different modes.
Here's what I got


batteries intalled in off mode .5 microamps (practically nothing)
on mode no button depressed .7 milliamps
on mode a button depressed 25 milliamps


A typicall AA alkaline battery is spec'd at 2.5AH


So doing the arithmetic you get the following life expectancy


off mode 2.5 million hrs of 285 years (longer than typical shell life) so they shouldn't run down in off mode
on mode no operation 3571 hrs or .41 years
on mode button depressed continuously 100 hrs or .01 years


So they must have redesigned their control circuit so the batteries don't run down in off mode.
I didn't even know that it had an "off" mode until I read the fine print stamped into the bottom of the battery cover that says to turn off hold anchor button down until you hear 2 beeps.


My pedal came with extremely stiff springs so I have been tinkering with springs. It turns out that valve springs of a typical BS small engine are about the same diameter so I'm trying those.


The other thing I noticed was erratic behaviour of the pedal. The problem turned out to be that the pcb inside was not secured in place so it moved around. Since the switches on the pcb are activated by small magnets a slight movement of the pcb makes a big difference. So I held it in place and used hot glue to secure it.


Having said all that if you decide to take it apart be very careful. There are some small plastic parts in there that cannot be purchased. I called just to find out and customer service said if you want that small plastic arm then you have to buy the a whole complete pedal. ouch!

[bloodman]

Thanks!!!

[fisheye216]

Tried to modify mine with new springs several years ago, and it didn't work out well. Wound up throwing it away and using remote, which works well offshore, but reduces my fishing time and number of casts when moving along a bank or fishing around docks. Ordered a Ghost , which hopefully will solve these issues.

[donf]

Well, I discovered that my previous advice about not needing to remove the batteries was WRONG. I don't understand the details but I have discovered if I leave the batteries in there for 4 weeks they will run down. So I'm going to have to remove them every time or add a switch. I suspect that the problem is that extremely low current drain actually uses more of the capacity than the normal arithmetic would indicate. I measured the currents again and got the same results.

OTOH, replacing those springs with modified valve springs from a brigs small engine works out pretty well. With factory springs it was practically impossible to use. Its a shame that this foot pedal was such a poor design. Its like they designed it and never really tested it in a real world fishing environment.

[ThomasD]

Mines a little over 3 years old. I never turn it off but I don't use it much either, prefer the remote. I change them about every 6-8 months and haven't had a set go dead yet.