whichwaysup Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 Hey all - hoping for a little guidance here. Over the past year or two, I've noticed issues with my Minn Kota Ipilot (24 v system). Roughly a year and a half ago, the batteries were giving out about halfway through the trip. The batteries were roughly 3 years old, so right on the edge of "premature death" and "reasonable life". I replaced them with cheapo 1 year warranty batteries. Note that prior to this, my trolling motor would last full day trip and still be strong enough for another partial day afterwards. Fast forward one year later, trolling motor starts acting up - won't spot lock, will only go up to about 1 or 2 speed, then will beep twice and turn off or return to zero. I know voltage on this system is a big deal, so I checked, cleaned, and tightened all connections. No improvement. Eventually, I tested voltage on the two batteries, and found one at 13 volts, the other at 11 volts. Over a couple of trips, I found the same 2 volt variance between the two batteries, so decided to replace the battery that was constantly finishing with lower voltage. This time I went with a 3 year warranty walmart battery. I hadn't done any long trips until yesterday, but after about 3.5 hours, the trolling motor does the same thing - won't spot lock, won't go above a very low speed. Up until that point, the motor worked perfectly, was plenty strong, held course and spot lock even in strong current. My initial thought is to replace the 2nd battery - maybe they are BOTH bad after one year. However, my "there's no such thing as a coincidence" red flags are screaming. What else could lead to this? Charger is no spring chicken - it's original with the boat (at least since I've owned it). The motor itself is about 4 years old. The wiring and connections are all in great shape - I use a battery tender plug. Before I go back to wally world and fight them to honor the 3 month out of date warranty a second time, I want to make sure I'm not missing something. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 How about the charger? I had one that didn't charge one battery completely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted March 22 Author Report Share Posted March 22 I will check that more specifically - a good call - I checked the before and after voltage of both batteries after a couple trips and am 99% sure both batteries got up to the appropriate/same voltage, but now I'm second guessing what I saw. Think I'll check and write it down this time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Seither Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 Get a hydrometer and check the specific gravity of the batteries could have a bad cell, next like headhunter said check the charger to make sure all legs going to the batteries are charging, not sure what charger your running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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