Ghost in my MK AP…

I am having some unusual issues with my MK AP. Here is the deal, best I can explain it.

I’m out on the water, with fully charged batteries, and my motor dies out in about 20 minutes. Battery meter indicates full charge….

I take it home, and try a test. I run my motor at 80%, starting at 8:30pm. Was planning on going out in 30 minutest to see state of battery charge. Forgot about it, and 12 hours later (next morning), I go out and it is still running…

Now, this motor has died out several times on the water. What could possibly be the issue?

Wow first off I was under the impression it would overheat if you ran it like that, good to know it’s not true. Are you sure there are no loose connections? You can always pop the cover off the motor base and look around, you might have a board going bad on you, really I don’t know. What do you mean dies out? totally dead or weak, bad pedal? But you said it ran 12 hours non-stop no problems?

Dies out – i.e. runs out of juice.

Do you have a circuit breaker on it? I had my blow when I have used it on the water.
I would also check the connections (like was mentioned)

Well…don’t take this to the bank…but..

Running without a load (water) will allow your motor to run…a very long time. I would forget about that piece.

First thing I can think of is a bearing…but this would be easy to find by just spinning the prop and your bat is still showing good.

I think I would give MK call…maybe after I used it on the water again and checked the wires and unit for heat.

One last thought…If you are chargeing your batteries…your indictor will always show a full charge…even when they are dead.

Let us know what it is!

As everyone said check connections. Also check batteries with a hand meter just to make sure of their condition sometimes the boat or charger meter goes out. Other than that I would call MK.

If you have one of those short stop circuit breakers on it then it might be blowing the breaker and then it would reset shortly. This would give you the impression that your battery died. I know that when I bought my last Minnkota motor they recommended that one of those should be installed. If you have one then you could try removing it to see if things work but you might also be putting your motor at risk if you are having electrical problems.

Is it just possible you’re battery is junk? I mean 12 hours no load couldn’t be all that much work… Have you checked you fluid levels in the battery lately? I know on my last battery I charger the heck out of it all the time, never checked the water, which then ran low, and I think ultimately shortened the life of the battery, and I experinced very similar results out on the lake it’s like the battery was good for 10 minutes, now I have a new battery, and don’t have this probelm anymore.

That’s all I know.

Good catch Nick! That’s a very good possibility. If your plates are showing top them of with distilled water and charge.

It was a cool(er) year this year and I noticed that I only had to top mine off once. Normal years I would have to top them off twice.

Could be the seal in the motor. Had a similar thing happen a few years ago. The motor would run out of the water when dry, but when put in the water it would run momentarily then short out and die.
The motor survived a couple more years after being rebuilt but that seal leaking took its toll.

I agree, check your seal. That is more than likely what it is. I would not recommend unhooking your fuse/breaker. I did and it cost me $40 for a new switch and bottom cover that I did not need. The water is causing a short! Good luck

It is very possible that my batteries are bad, as I got them on a good deal, and they were used. I will obviously check into that end more this weekend.

I agree that running out of water creates significantly less load than in… but – 12 hrs at 80% vs 20 minutes ??

One thing i just found ou about my battery meter (Pro V). It is different than my previous boat. The motor has to be running while checking battery strength to get an accurate reading. If the trolling motor is off, it always reads 100% irregardless of what the charge is. That wasn’t the case with my prior boat. MK is a 2003, and has virtually no use on it, so I’m hoping it isn’t within the motor.