Ulterra spot lock acting as though it has a mind of it's own

[89-289FS]

Installed my new 112 ulterra Ipilot,w/MDI. Installed the heading sensor( no magnetic problems) . Did the Bluetooth pairing. Took the boat out and did the heading sensor setup( 2 circles).
Did the offset procedure (3 degree offset).
spot lock seemed OK for awhile. Then it started acting nuts kept going to the right, winding the cords up tightly, making a beeping sound, and shutting spot lock off. It gets even better, I have both my humminbirds, and the heading sensor on a separate lithium battery, each with it's own fuse. The last time the spot lock problem happened, both my graphs shut down (lithium battery is at 14.2 VDC). I tried to turn on the graph on the bow, and it wouldn't turn on. fished with no graphs. Just checked the fuses, they are all OK. Checked the power at the plugs. All OK. Tried the graphs, they turned on.
I'll take the graph shutdown issue as a fluke(even though I don't understand it); but the spot lock issue I need an answer for. The one thing I did( which shouldn't matter) is I changed the stow position of the prop from port to starboard after the install(Turning the power off and on after I changed the stow position), and before I did any of the pairing and set up.
Any and all opinions are appreciated.

Steve

[bobcoy]

Lotta stuff there! What is your TM hooked to? Lithium also/ What is the voltage? 14.2 is very high unless it is being charged by something. But that should not shut your graphs down. Your Heading sensor should be ok with that too. Sounds like you went through the install checklist, but I did not see what you set your initial boat scale at. Also where is the power to the Ethernet switch coming from? Bob

[fishon396]

I found spot lock works better when you are at a complete stop or close to it. Not sure if that helps any but it does less searching that way.

[89-289FS]

Thank You for replying to me. Both of my graphs, and the heading sensor are on their own lithium battery. When I checked the voltage when I got home yesterday the voltage on the lithium battery was at 14.2 VDC.
I do not have the graphs set up on an ethernet system. Each graph is independent of the other.
Bob,
I'm not sure what you mean by what my initial scale is set at. I went through exactly what the minnkota setup documentation for the install for the TM, and heading sensor, including the pairing, heading sensor calibration, and offset setup. I also watched and re-watched a bunch of you tube videos on the ulterra install,remote pairing, heading sensor install and calibration, and offset procedure.
I also watched the video about letting the boat slow to almost a complete stop so the TM wouldn't search as long before locking in. Which made complete sense ( The person who did the video did an excellent job of showing the difference between cruising in and hitting spot lock, and letting the boat slow down more before hitting spot lock.).

Thanks again for the replies.

Steve

[bobcoy]

I will have to look at the manual but the "Boat Scale" adjustment is near the beginning. The chart shows what setting they suggest for the weight of the boat. Default is in the center of the scale. There are 2 settings higher,(+1 and +2 and lower - 1 and 2). The heavier the boat the more aggressive the control needs to be. The opposite for a lighter boat. + is more aggressive and - less. I even make changes to those settings if it is windy(more positive) or calm(more negative). If your boat seems nervous or hunting you need to make a less aggressive setting. If it seems slow to react to conditions the go more aggressive. You will find a sweet spot for normal conditions on your boat. I would not set it at whatever they recommend just by weight. See what works for your setup. Weight is not the only factor involved. When you dial that in you will like spotlock and some of the other modes better also. As far as the graphs turning off I am not what would cause that. I have 4 Lithium batteries and while they have a load on them they sit a 13.2 or 13.3. What I was wondering was if you had some type of charging or an equalizing system on board. Like Yardina or Power Pole Charge that may have tripped off the batteries BMS with an above normal voltage. Just trying to figure what might have happened. Seemingly the only hook-up between the TM and one of the finders not both,with the new info you provided.Bob

[bobcoy]

Page 71 in the ipilot link manual: https://www.minnkotamotors.com/sites..._2397102re.pdf
I searched the Ulterra manual and it is not in there.
Page 42 of the ipilot manual: https://minnkotamotors.johnsonoutdoo...ilot-BT-EN.pdf

[89-289FS]

Thanks Bob. I haven't (until now)downloaded the manual. I went by the install paperwork that came with the motor. I'll add up all the numbers and take care of it tomorrow.
But I don't understand what setting the scale would have to with the ulterra going to the max steering limit( in spot lock), to the right (stbd) and shutting off, as I calibrated the heading sensor, and did the offset procedure (per the install instructions), and there was only 3 degrees of offset. Which according to the install procedure is nothing.
It didn't happen every time I clicked spot lock; but it did happen several times within a couple of hours.

Thanks again for the info. It is appreciated.

Steve

[bobcoy]

If too aggressive it will overshoot and then correct and so on and...... Could be something else but this is the most likely situation. Bob

[fishon396]

I have a aluminum boat rt178 and the minus 2 setting has been working good for me. I have only had the ultrex a short time.

[tweakjr]

Do you have another heading sensor to compare to the MK one?
If so go into diagnostic under system or options and compare the two headings when the TM is deployed.
The smallest little magnet nearby will throw it off and spot lock will act crazy.
In my case it was a tiny magnet in a Yeti cup lid more than a foot away making it squirrely.
Only other idea is if your battery put out a momentary high or low voltage.

[89-289FS]

Here's an update. Took the boat out today. After 5 minutes or so. both my graphs went dead, Went to check the voltage on my electronics, and heading sensor battery, and found that the positive wire for the battery charger for that battery had become disconnected. Which means the battery couldn't take a charge. So even though the battery showed voltage when I checked at the fuses yesterday, when I put it under load today, it died due to no charge. Which I believe is why I had the spot lock problem on Friday, as the heading sensor had low/no voltage
Changed the power leads over to my starting battery, and everything worked as it should. Including spot lock.
I did do the boat scale adjustment, and set it to -1, and everything worked great. Really put the motor through it's paces today, and it worked great

Thank You all for your input. It is appreciated.

Steve

[bobcoy]