Minn Kota Power Drive 50 - troubleshooting

[Hack_Fisherman]

My brother gave me a 50 pound Minnkota powerdrive trolling motor that does not work. Has anybody got experience fixing these? Wondering what to look for and what the typical failures are. I’d like to resurrect this thing if I can. 

 Thanks advance. 

[OhioFisherman]

Hack, no idea what that particular one looks like, but if you look on youtube there are a lot of diagnostic and repair videos for electric trolling motors.

[AKRISONER]

powerdrive pedals are notorious for failing...the unfortunate thing is that if its the first generation, you cant get a new pedal so its pooched.

I was running one last year and the pedal started going wonky and that was the end of it. You cant fix them either for less than like $400 so its not even worth it.

[jimmer]

53 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

powerdrive pedals are notorious for failing...the unfortunate thing is that if its the first generation, you cant get a new pedal so its pooched.

I was running one last year and the pedal started going wonky and that was the end of it. You cant fix them either for less than like $400 so its not even worth it.

What he said, unless you can find someone with a good foot peddle lying around.

[AKRISONER]

15 minutes ago, jimmer said:

What he said, unless you can find someone with a good foot peddle lying around.

this is why jimmer currently owns my powerdrive lol He had a peddle, 

[DRIFTER_016]

If you can get a hold of a PD V1 co-pilot you can ditch the pedal.

I have a brand new pedal that barely gets used because I'm always using the remote.

[pidge]

I sent you a PM Hackfisherman. Thanks, Greg. 

[Hack_Fisherman]

That’s a lot of good info guys thank you very much

[captpierre]

Amazon has foot pedals

[Hack_Fisherman]

 I think I got a real mouldy oldie. 

 Maybe first Gen?

 Anyone know where I would begin to test whether the pedal is gone or it’s the motor ? I’m not that much of an electronics guy but do have some basics and a digital multimeter 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Hack_Fisherman

[Rattletrap2]

I had an old Minn Kota 765MX and it ate up foot pedals like you would not believe. It was an older version than yours even! I measured the resistance of the slider potentiometer and picked up a rotary potentiometer of the same resistance.I mounted everything in a water tight box. I turned it into a hand controlled unit with a piece of aluminum conduit as a handle that I could control with my knee once I dialed in the speed I wanted. I also had a switch to turn it on constant and a momentary push button in the end of the handle. It worked great and I used it like this for many years. The motor itself was good, just the pedals were built too flimsy.

I used to have the wiring diagram for what I did with all the coloured wires identified, but it was like over 20 years ago.

[Hack_Fisherman]

24 minutes ago, Rattletrap2 said:

I had an old Minn Kota 765MX and it ate up foot pedals like you would not believe. It was an older version than yours even! I measured the resistance of the slider potentiometer and picked up a rotary potentiometer of the same resistance.I mounted everything in a water tight box. I turned it into a hand controlled unit with a piece of aluminum conduit as a handle that I could control with my knee once I dialed in the speed I wanted. I also had a switch to turn it on constant and a momentary push button in the end of the handle. It worked great and I used it like this for many years. The motor itself was good, just the pedals were built too flimsy.

I used to have the wiring diagram for what I did with all the coloured wires identified, but it was like over 20 years ago.

 Thanks for the idea. My coworker knows of an old order mennonite who’s supposed to be electronics wiz. Go figure! If I can’t fix this or find a pedal for it I might just go and see what he can come up with. I don’t really want to spend a ton of money on an antique, but I sure can’t afford a new one!!

Especially when I have to re-power with another Outboard soon and want a really nice fish finder... New floors and carpet and seats and a transom.   That doesn’t even address the work I’m trying to get done on the old wooden classic in the pictures background. That one gets peanuts and hardly that 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Hack_Fisherman

[Rattletrap2]

3 minutes ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

My coworker knows of an old order mennonite who’s supposed to be electronics wiz.

That is kind of an oxymoron isn't it? lol Normally you would not see "Old Order Mennonite" and "electronics wiz" in the same sentence!

[Terry]

Yeah, but his multi-meter is horse drawn

lol

[Hack_Fisherman]

 Isn’t it? I was sitting at a traffic light heading in elmira and saw a young man at the light with a horse and buggy selling maple syrup. A bad storm was coming, and he was standing there looking at intently while checking the weather (assuming) on his large smart phone/fablet. 

No word of a lie 

[AKRISONER]

11 hours ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

 I think I got a real mouldy oldie. 

 Maybe first Gen?

 Anyone know where I would begin to test whether the pedal is gone or it’s the motor ? I’m not that much of an electronics guy but do have some basics and a digital multimeter 

 

 

 

 

guarantee your foot pedal is pooched. Thats the exact same foot pedal and connection as the powerdrive V1's

 

To the person that said that the foot pedals are on ebay/amazon, you are looking at the Gen 2 foot pedal, which unfortunately does not communicate with the Gen 1/even older systems. The only way to upgrade to those foot pedals is to switch the head chip in the older units (this is possible) however when you price it all out, its in excess of $400 making it totally not worth it when used motors can be found online for a lot less.

[Hack_Fisherman]

1 hour ago, AKRISONER said:

guarantee your foot pedal is pooched. Thats the exact same foot pedal and connection as the powerdrive V1's

 

To the person that said that the foot pedals are on ebay/amazon, you are looking at the Gen 2 foot pedal, which unfortunately does not communicate with the Gen 1/even older systems. The only way to upgrade to those foot pedals is to switch the head chip in the older units (this is possible) however when you price it all out, its in excess of $400 making it totally not worth it when used motors can be found online for a lot less.

Thanks. I noticed the pedals were all from newer versions. Shame they can’t be adapted. 

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

Thanks. I noticed the pedals were all from newer versions. Shame they can’t be adapted. 

you're telling me! last year my motor blew, I ended up taking my old mans 55lb powerdrive v2 and buying him the 80lb motor he needed for his boat. $2000 was a bit steep considering how much a pedal costs lol. To throw salt on the wound, Jimmer has a working pedal so he threw me a bit of cash and took the motor from me and is using it to this day lol. Such is life.

[JoshS]

They used to sell the V1 footpedals at sail, not sure if they still have them. Ebay might

I have a v1 PD and those pedals suck. I keep a half working extra in the boat as backup (this one has barely any power to turn right). Most of the time something goes on the pedal, like ability to turn a direction or constant ON switch etc. But if the whole thing isn't working it may not be the pedal. Maybe try to find someone with that working pedal to troubleshoot. The pedals are fixable to some extent I think. I was able to fix my broken constant on switch as it was a plastic piece worn. But electronics you need to buy the parts. Rocky's in Orillia or Aikmans may be able to help, not sure how the stock is out there for those old pedal parts now a days.

[AKRISONER]

14 minutes ago, JoshS said:

They used to sell the V1 footpedals at sail, not sure if they still have them. Ebay might

I have a v1 PD and those pedals suck. I keep a half working extra in the boat as backup (this one has barely any power to turn right). Most of the time something goes on the pedal, like ability to turn a direction or constant ON switch etc. But if the whole thing isn't working it may not be the pedal. Maybe try to find someone with that working pedal to troubleshoot. The pedals are fixable to some extent I think. I was able to fix my broken constant on switch as it was a plastic piece worn. But electronics you need to buy the parts. Rocky's in Orillia or Aikmans may be able to help, not sure how the stock is out there for those old pedal parts now a days.

i went to aikmans with my v1 and yup...he delivered the sad news...this was after he did his best to get it fixed...and then he proceeded to not charge me anything...thats how that guy rolls. Honest to a T

[jimmer]

I lost a lot of respect for Minn Kota when they discontinued making parts for older electrics. Haven't used your old one yet Kris, still humping along with mine. Nice to have a backup though

[Old Ironmaker]

Unfortunately many of the elec trollers are not repairable. It would cost me 1/2 the price for a new 55 lb thrust to repair a 23 year old. We live in a disposable culture these days. Anyone remember Vacuum Cleaner repair shops? Today if it's broke buy a new one.

I was pulling into a Hortons in Simcoe the other day and a lowered Jhet black tricked out Chrysler 300 pulls in beside me, bling chromed 20" wheels, 400 watt stereo booming Hip Hop. Out comes 4 young Mennonites. Or 4 hip hopsters dressed as Mennonites.

[jimmer]

27 minutes ago, Old Ironmaker said:

Unfortunately many of the elec trollers are not repairable. It would cost me 1/2 the price for a new 55 lb thrust to repair a 23 year old. We live in a disposable culture these days. Anyone remember Vacuum Cleaner repair shops? Today if it's broke buy a new one.

I was pulling into a Hortons in Simcoe the other day and a lowered Jhet black tricked out Chrysler 300 pulls in beside me, bling chromed 20" wheels, 400 watt stereo booming Hip Hop. Out comes 4 young Mennonites. Or 4 hip hopsters dressed as Mennonites.

Times are a changing!

[Hack_Fisherman]

 hey guys, anyone know why this is a four wire system if it’s 12 V? I’ve got two power leads and two black. One of the red and one of the black has a blue stripe 

[jimmer]

Not sure about the wiring, but if you live close to me, you can drop by and plug that foot peddle into my motor to see if it works.