Trolling motor battery issue. Thoughts?

[gordy28]

So we were up at balsam today, open up the trailers and get the boat ready.

Took the boat out, fully charged, brand new battery. Starting trolling a weedline and within 5 minutes the battery was dead.

Not the first time this has happened but no idea what the issue is.

Battery isn't the issue

May be unrelated or not but another thing we noticed. Boat has 5 controls on the dash. Bilge, lights, fore and after livewell switches. Also has a radio/cd player on the dash. Today only 3 of the switches working. Basically one half of the panel. Looked underneath and didn't see any obvious shorts/disconnect

So anyone ever see this with a trolling motor and battery? Trolling motor is about 5 years old. Minnesota kota power drive v2. 55 lb thrust

Starting happening last year, assumed it was old battery (also 5 years old). But doesn't seem to be with it doing it on a brand new fully charged battery

Any help/thoughts appreciated

Gordy

[Terry]

something is not adding up

 

you could almost have a dead short and it would not kill the battery in 5 minutes

 

 

we you say fully charged battery, are you saying you test the battery just before you left the dock, just before you started trolling or just before you left you're home to go to the trailer...how long was it hooked up to the boat after charging

 

 

jave you tried a different charger to make sure it is charged

 

have you tried only connecting the battery just before you start the boat

[dhickey]

Bad ground wire?

Does the battery check out ok out of the boat? full charge and ready to go?

Or it may be grounding out.(old wires and vibration)

[gordy28]

Thanks for the replies, here's my Answers

Battery is fully charged at home - and a good read

Even when I first hooked up and just check the strength (lttle test button on the minn kota) it says full power but then with 5 to 10 minutes its dead

Could try leaving it unhooked right until we get to a spot- but not confidant as had tried that w old battery

Bad ground wire? Not sure - how would you check

All connections seem to be fine when getting it ready- but we have had wire issues in boat before

[gordy28]

Sorry terry didn't really answer all

Fullt charged at home before heading to trailer, and then appeared to be a full charge just before I started running the trolling motor

[OhioFisherman]

Is the problem actually with the battery? The wiring? or the trolling motor itself? It seems to me that you have more that one place to look. Can you put the trolling motor into a garbage can of water at home and see how long it lasts off the boat?

 

Did you test the battery when you got home?

[Garnet]

New or not check battery levels.

 

Start by load testing battery.

 

Battery's are most likely to fail the first time out.

[gburdzin]

Here are some of my thoughts and basic questions about your boat that might help isolate the problem:

 

1. Does the trolling motor have it's own heavy guage wires running directly to the battery, or is there a fuse/breaker panel somewhere from which it is fed? Usually the wires run direct to the battery, but it's suspicious that other electrical stuff is also not working. What guage are the wires and are they sufficient for the size of the trolling motor (did you upgrade to a bigger motor recently that could be too much for the wiring)?

 

2. Does the trolling motor wiring have a circuit breaker inline near the battery? If so you might want to bypass it temporarily to see if it is faulty and cutting out after awhile.

 

3. Does the boat have just 1 battery for everything, or is there a separate battery for the main motor? If there is more than one battery, and you're not using a 24V system for anything, make sure the grounds are connected on the 2 batteries so that you don't have a "floating" ground messing up the voltage.

 

Greg

[gordy28]

Thanks guys

Charger we used also charged the cranking battery. Which works fine

Greg to answer your questions

1 wires run directly to the battery. The trolling motor and boat are the same age and both have never been altered from original equipment

2. Going on memory here but I believe there is a breaker box on one of the wires coming from trolling motor to the battery

3. It's a one battery system for the trolling motor and one cranking motor for the big engine

 

The best way for me to describe it is. Fresh battery, fully charged but once you start running it on trolling,motor the charge is "sucked" out in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes

Thanks guys

G

[gburdzin]

So once the charge is "sucked" out is it gone for good, or if you wait for awhile does it come back? I'm just wondering if the inline circuit breaker is heating up with the current flow and cutting out, and once allowed to cool goes back to working again?

 

Also, you might want to try this test, but near the cottage so that you don't leave yourself stranded out on the lake...run the trolling motor for 5-10 mins until the charge apparently runs out, and using a set of automotive jumper cables connect your trolling and cranking batteries together (as if you were giving someone's car a jumpstart, pos to pos, neg to neg) and see if the trolling motor works again with both batteries providing power. If it works again then you likely have an issue with the battery and should get it load tested, or the trolling motor is somehow drawing an incredible amount of power draining the battery. If it doesn't work again, then the problem is likely somewhere in the wiring (inline circuit breaker) or trolling motor.

 

Good luck

Greg

[jedimaster]

Connect the trolling motor to the battery direct and run it. Check the wires see if they get hot. Test with a voltmeter the charge before running the trolling motor and after 10 minutes. If you have another battery do the same with it. If it kills two batteries connected direct in 10 min then you have a trolling motor issue. If it only kills the new its a battery issue with your new one. If it runs fine and doesn't kill either than you have a problem with a some accessory or wiring in your boat.

[JamesG]

what are the battery specs? as in. group? Amp hours? deep cycle? the little test lights on the trolling motor are only an indication of the battery voltage as a state of health. a bad battery can have full voltage but limited reserve capacity

 

another thing is to check if you have some fishing line wrapped around your trolling motor prop shaft as this will cause a heavy load...

[Terry]

yeah something is not adding up

[Sinker]

Does the battery charge back up?

 

I'd be checking your wires and connections first.

 

Something is wrong for suure. Its near imposssible to kill a full charged batt in 10 mins. Seems to me something is shorting out, and your losing the connection along the way somewhere.

 

Are you sure the battery is dead?

 

S.

[gordy28]

Hey there. Lots of great info guys thanks

Not sure battery is dead. Charger was at home not up north. Not 100 percent sure of battery specs. Is a deep conversation clear though

Going to do a full inspection next weekend based on all the tips. Something got in prop or a short seem the most logical

For the panel stuff I think we are going to take boat to local marina in a few weeks when he's done with all of the opening stuff-right now it will sit until he can get to it. He's a solid guy and has known my dad for years so if trolling motor is still an issue will ask him to take a look

Cheers and thanks again it's appreciated

Gordy

 

[aplumma]

I would start with the easiest test first. Remove battery from boat fully charged. Go to local auto place and have it load tested. There is no point looking for a down line problem when the foundation is the battery and it is not proven to be solid.

 

 

Art

[Whitespinnerbait]

circuit board inside of the base of the trolling motor that's mounted to the bow is shorting out ( it's right under the little tester button you push to see how charged the battery is )................$ 200.00 for a new board. It's not sending enough voltage to the foot ...which gives you the impression the battery is weak or dead.

[bigmac1984]

You mentioned that you have a 24v system... Are both batteries draining or just one? I was told that both batteries on a 24v system should drain equally if the system is working properly, in other words if your motor stops working, both your batteries should be equally drained/dead.

 

Im actually having the same issue right now with my trolling motor, happened this past weekend on Balsam too, and it was only one of my batteries that died friday, fully charged it over night, and within 5 hours I had no juice left, and it was the same battery that died. One battery was completely dead, the other had 3/4 charge left.

[Terry]

24 volt ?

[gordy28]

Our system is not a 24 volt

Wsb. Your explanation is what I'm afraid of but makes sense

I feel like its not the battery. Anyway thanks again for the replies

Will make sure to update when solved

[Garnet]

Feelings are a waste of time. Get the battery load tested. You can buy 1 from CTC for $50 or just have CTC do it.

[sofabed]

Which park are you in on balsam?

[Chance]

Always start at the source and go from there. As Garnet suggested Canadian Tire will load test your battery for you.

[gordy28]

Quick update

Battery is fine - no issues with charge or leave ad

Taking boat/trolling motor to Orillia this weekend to a minn kota dealer for to see what's going on

Thanks, again

Gordy