Trolling Motor Issue

[Mich007]

I continue to have battery issues. I have a 36V system that with a full charge by midday I have very little juice left. Talked with Dual Pro if all lights are green it is not the charger. All lights are green! Checked battery voltage average reading on all batteries is 13.6V. Could there be an issue with the Minn Kota? All three interstate batteries are 5 months old. System worked great until the last two weeks. Any ideas?

mich007

[bdog7198]

have you checked the water level in the batteries?

One bad cell will screw up the whole setup.

[CatFan]

After the charger shows full charge, unplug it and let everything sit overnight. Then measure at the batteries for an accurate reading. All should be very close to 12.65V. If that is good, hit the lake and then measure the voltage on each battery when you notice performance dropping. If one drops more than the others it indicates an issue with that battery.

What size are the batteries and how often do you fish?

[Mich007]

After the charger shows full charge, unplug it and let everything sit overnight. Then measure at the batteries for an accurate reading. All should be very close to 12.65V. If that is good, hit the lake and then measure the voltage on each battery when you notice performance dropping. If one drops more than the others it indicates an issue with that battery.

What size are the batteries and how often do you fish?

I fish 2-3 times a week. These are interstate 31 series batteries. I will hit the water on Tuesday and do as you suggested. Running the motor in the garage did not effect the batteries at all. I need to test the load in the water.

mich007

[CatFan]

AGMs?

[Larry3215]

Are you fishing in current or strong winds and/or making long runs at full power a lot? Its also possible your just using up all the available juice.

Another possibility is a bad connection somewhere. That can cause excess voltage drop and an apparent loss of power.

[br5499]

This I what I do when this happens I will load test the 3 battery's and the one that drops off the most is the bad battery.

[Jonestrollingmotor]

This I what I do when this happens I will load test the 3 battery's and the one that drops off the most is the bad battery.

You don't have to load test after running the trolling motor. You, in effect, have already load tested all three in series by running the trolling motor until the problem happens. At that point, a voltage reading of each individual battery (as Catfan said) will tell you if one is bad. The one more deeply discharged is going to be a bad battery. If none are deeply discharged, it's time to start checking connections. There is nothing in the trolling motor components to cause this type of recurring problem, however bad connections at the control board, or bad connections in the head would cause it to quit -- but it would get worse as time goes on.