Dangerous issue with Force on Anchor Lock

[GMT]

I've been out with my new Force 4 times now. Loved everything about it except this.

This Sunday, on 4-5 separate occasions while on Anchor Lock, the Force would suddenly accelerate to 8-10 and either spin me in a circle or directly in reverse. Nearly knocked me over each time and I had to scramble to hit the foot pedal to cancel. This happened in different spots on the lake, some miles apart. I've fished the lake before, in the same spots,with no issues.

Once a kayaker was passing behind me and must have thought I was trying to hit him.

I recalibrated after the first time but it did not resolve the issue. I have the latest software update installed. Also tried powering down and powering up again, no change and redeployed several times as well.
Weather was nice, mild winds and clear skies. It's like it lost GPS and had to get back to somewhere in a hurry.

Garmin needs to limit the thrust while on Anchor Lock, or if GPS is lost, send an alarm and switch to manual. I could see someone easily being thrown overboard or driven into another boat, dock or rocks. I fish Lake Michigan and would not appreciate being driven onto rip rap with following waves .

Going to call customer service this morning, but this is a big concern for me. Hope there is a quick and absolute fix.

[mikear]

I know it’s not a Garmin, but my Xi5 does this on occasion. I know three other guys who have/had an Xi5 and theirs do it as well. I agree the issues seems to be GPS signal loss. Does the Force have a remote with a manual override button? When my motor does it I am able to quickly disable the prop by placing it in manual mode.

[GMT]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback, sorry to hear others are experiencing this too.
Yes, it has a remote, which I also use frequently and really like. The problem is getting to the remote quick enough as well, before getting tossed over the side or driven in to something.
I would think the default for these systems would be to go to manual, not full acceleration in some random direction. It's weird that it happened in several places, may be an issue with the unit.
I also had my Anchor gain set at 2, forgot to include that in my original post.

I know it’s not a Garmin, but my Xi5 does this on occasion. I know three other guys who have/had an Xi5 and theirs do it as well. I agree the issues seems to be GPS signal loss. Does the Force have a remote with a manual override button? When my motor does it I am able to quickly disable the prop by placing it in manual mode.

[BassTracker175]

Watch this: Anchor gain was 1 if I remember right.

Maximize your volume as well so you can hear normally.

[GMT]

Definitely something like that. Not a good experience. Lost all trust in Anchor Lock for the rest of the day.

[GMT]

Here's the update from Garmin. Spoke to CS this morning, great rep and very thorough in his analysis. Believes it is a communication issue between the foot pedal and TM, suggested that anchor lock should work on the remote without the issue. They are currently out of stock of foot pedals due to shipping issues but will replace the foot pedal when they get supply in. Till then, I"ll drive regular with the TM and try Anchor Lock on the remote and hope that solves the problem.

[Hooked247]

Had these same sporadic episodes on my Xi5 too many times, got rid of that went to the Ultrex when that came out, and had the issue again. Both of them would do it when the boat would drift too far from the GPS spot locked signal, and instead of slowly working back to the original anchor lock position, it cranked up to max power turning and twisting. I was almost thrown off the boat a few times and said enough and put my Fortrex back on. Many will say they never had the issue, and I don't doubt that, but two different brands with the same problem.... I calibrated and recalibrated, heck even one time out on the water with technical support to ensure I wasn't doing something wrong - nope. I've been told at some point while my boat is drifting it will loose GPS signal briefly and when it regains signal its programmed to quickly put you back on your spot locked position. Well my thoughts are CHANGE THE PROGRAMMING to slowly move the boat back over to the original locked position. What's really interesting is I did note it was only when the water was basically calm. In heavy current I never had the issues. All brands with spot lock anchor lock whatever you want to call it have issues. Between all my buddies we have every newer make and model trolling motor many times over, and the only none complainers are the old school traditional motors. Again why I went back to my 112 Fortrex - ZERO headaches.

[XingEyeballs]

The trouble with electronic equipment is its only as good as the program, when you loose signal or connection the motor doesn’t know it’s drifting off. When it realizes it quickly tries to hold the spot which is what it’s programmed to do. Never experienced issues with this but I would expect any brand to do it...very similar to hitting the resume button on your trucks cruise going 25mph when the cruise was set at 70mph.... the computer is dumb, it just knows it’s way off the set point and it downshifts aggressively which doesn’t always seem the most comfortable or safe.

[GMT]

I know I wasn't drifting too far, wind was light and the TM was making small corrections for a minute or two before losing it.

After speaking with CS, I believe it wasn't losing the GPS signal, but was a Bluetooth "communication issue" between the foot pedal and trolling motor, i.e foot pedal telling the TM to do something different. Maybe hard wiring the comm could alleviate this? Either way, not the safest thing to have happen when you're expecting to be stationary and focused on retying a lure or casting somewhere. Hope the new foot pedal resolves the issue. I'll be interested to see if it works as it should by using Anchor Lock on the remote.

[Hooked247]

The trouble with electronic equipment is its only as good as the program, when you loose signal or connection the motor doesn’t know it’s drifting off. When it realizes it quickly tries to hold the spot which is what it’s programmed to do. Never experienced issues with this but I would expect any brand to do it...very similar to hitting the resume button on your trucks cruise going 25mph when the cruise was set at 70mph.... the computer is dumb, it just knows it’s way off the set point and it downshifts aggressively which doesn’t always seem the most comfortable or safe.

Well said. I have some buddies that haven't had one issue, but they are the minority. I certainly wan't things to work but I couldn't take the risk anymore. In Alabama if I get thrown off the boat in Lake Martin, it's like swimming in a pool, if I get thrown off in Lake Eufaula I may never surface because I was a snack to a 900lbs gator. I'll pass...

[Hooked247]

I know I wasn't drifting too far, wind was light and the TM was making small corrections for a minute or two before losing it.

After speaking with CS, I believe it wasn't losing the GPS signal, but was a Bluetooth "communication issue" between the foot pedal and trolling motor, i.e foot pedal telling the TM to do something different. Maybe hard wiring the comm could alleviate this? Either way, not the safest thing to have happen when you're expecting to be stationary and focused on retying a lure or casting somewhere. Hope the new foot pedal resolves the issue. I'll be interested to see if it works as it should by using Anchor Lock on the remote.

My other trolling motors would do it if I was 5 - 10 feet off, not necessarily way off.

I'm curious if anyone who hard wired the Garmin foot pedal is having any issues. I'd love to complete my Garmin set up with a Force, but. . . . . .

[BassTracker175]

There’s no hardwire for COMMUNICATION, just for power (vs battery).

My other trolling motors would do it if I was 5 - 10 feet off, not necessarily way off.

I'm curious if anyone who hard wired the Garmin foot pedal is having any issues. I'd love to complete my Garmin set up with a Force, but. . . . . .

[BassTracker175]

Sounds like the pedal is acting up as a bad commander.

Also hope Garmin has added a small power switch on the pedal, to avoid misoperations.

Waiting for your update! Thanks!

I know I wasn't drifting too far, wind was light and the TM was making small corrections for a minute or two before losing it.

After speaking with CS, I believe it wasn't losing the GPS signal, but was a Bluetooth "communication issue" between the foot pedal and trolling motor, i.e foot pedal telling the TM to do something different. Maybe hard wiring the comm could alleviate this? Either way, not the safest thing to have happen when you're expecting to be stationary and focused on retying a lure or casting somewhere. Hope the new foot pedal resolves the issue. I'll be interested to see if it works as it should by using Anchor Lock on the remote.

[SamMule]

They all do this from time to time. This is the first I've heard of it with garmin, but both my minn kotas and my xi5 will do it every now and then. Not sure what causes it. I never use a foot pedal, so I've ruled that out. Seems to be pretty sporadic. My guess is something with the GPS.

[BillWoodard]

When i installed my force on my Boat it did it 3 times.i reset my wireless gateway and did the update on the force separate from the graphs.i have been out 5 times since the updates and had zero issues.but to do the update i had to do it through the remote control.hope this helps you.

[GMT]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I did have the most recent updates installed (confirmed with Garmin CS), and I had done the update prior to the last time I used it and had no issues. It would work normally while driving and then for a few minutes on Anchor Lock before malfunctioning. I'm hoping the new foot pedal fixes it and will try anchor lock from the remote until then.

When i installed my force on my Boat it did it 3 times.i reset my wireless gateway and did the update on the force separate from the graphs.i have been out 5 times since the updates and had zero issues.but to do the update i had to do it through the remote control.hope this helps you.

[Rumour2u]

Had these same sporadic episodes on my Xi5 too many times, got rid of that went to the Ultrex when that came out, and had the issue again. Both of them would do it when the boat would drift too far from the GPS spot locked signal, and instead of slowly working back to the original anchor lock position, it cranked up to max power turning and twisting. I was almost thrown off the boat a few times and said enough and put my Fortrex back on. Many will say they never had the issue, and I don't doubt that, but two different brands with the same problem.... I calibrated and recalibrated, heck even one time out on the water with technical support to ensure I wasn't doing something wrong - nope. I've been told at some point while my boat is drifting it will loose GPS signal briefly and when it regains signal its programmed to quickly put you back on your spot locked position. Well my thoughts are CHANGE THE PROGRAMMING to slowly move the boat back over to the original locked position. What's really interesting is I did note it was only when the water was basically calm. In heavy current I never had the issues. All brands with spot lock anchor lock whatever you want to call it have issues. Between all my buddies we have every newer make and model trolling motor many times over, and the only none complainers are the old school traditional motors. Again why I went back to my 112 Fortrex - ZERO headaches.

all you needed to do on the ultrex was to change the boat scale setting to -2.

[txcobowhunter]

I was using my XI5 on spot lock and got too close to a metal covered boat slip. My GPS beeped and it was off to the races. I very nearly crashed into the dock before I got it shut down. No foot pedal was being used.

[Hooked247]

all you needed to do on the ultrex was to change the boat scale setting to -2.

I tried -1 and -2. It was was better at -1, and was "perfect" at -2, BUT, I could go out a dozen times with no issues, then BAM it would glitch. It was an abrupt wide open right back to my original locked position. Ultrex was better about it than the Xi5, but after almost being tossed off my boat more times than I cared for I couldn't take the chance. Some lakes I fish I would not like to be tossed in to; however, fishing any part of the Alabama River chain it's literally a matter of life and death in that strong current. Although it depends on how many gates are open one time my 36v 112lbs thrust motor was wide open, and it was all it could do to keep my boat stationary!!! Sure most would say that's to strong and we have no business fishing in that, I don't disagree, but think about the current if it was half of that and you were tossed off. Your not getting back in your boat, and probably not going home.

I know many that have trouble free Ultrex's and I really like them; however, I run a complete Garmin setup and would like to network the trolling motor so I'm just waiting for the Force to be on the street for a bit before I purchase another trolling motor.

[Chris9702l]

I used my xi5 for 2 years and never had that problem, guess i'm lucky