I- pilot link remote Ulterra not working

Guys-
Recently purchased an Ulterra with the i-pilot link. Had it professionally installed. Everything works great.Love the features, spotlock, record a track, auto stow etc. But two weekends in all of a sudden the remote lost contact with the motor. Tried powering everything down and restarting. Remote still won’t see the motor. Made sure all batteries were fully charged, they were. Tried to re-pair remote to motor, still no dice. I’ve looked through all the troubleshooting stuff from Minnkota and nothing about remotes not seeing motor. Also looked through all kinds of message boards and Youtube videos. Not seeing anything relevant to my situation.I do see alot of stuff about the old remotes and battery issues but nothing about the new remotes with the rechargeable batteries. I can still control the motor through the graph and the foot petal but the remote is SO much handier. Anybody have the same issues as me? Tried to call the customer service hotline but I couldn’t wait for an hour on hold to talk to someone. This week I downloaded the remote app on my phone and will try to see if that pairs with motor to at least narrow where the issue is coming from. I know everything is still under warranty but do not want to haul everything to an authorized dealer and have it sit for two weeks while they figure it out. Any body have any tips?

Thanks!
Gaspump

Hey Gaspump,

I had similar issues this spring with my Ipilot Link remote losing pairing with the motor. I downloaded and installed all of my updates from the FishSmart app and couldn’t figure out why it lost connection. The troubleshooting section on Humminbird’s site stated something about downloading the iPilot Link App to your phone to enable pairing and updating. So, I did that and successfully paired my phone and the motor. Then I went into the settings on the iPilot Remote and hit used the pairing function WHILE I held down the pairing button on the control head. It worked, but again not sure if just dumb luck and was on a Terrova. Either way, I know how frustrating it is and hope this helps. Good luck!

When you called support, did you call Minnkota or Humminbird?

I know with the Covid thing people are working from home a lot and the answer times are a bit strained, maybe. But I’ve had (prior to Covid) rather good response wait times.

Thanks for the info Erik. I downloaded the app. and will try it out this weekend.

Denny, I called Minnkota. Probably didn’t help that it was a Saturday afternoon.

LOL, ya probably not. Just wanted to be sure that it was Minnkota that you were calling.

Hey Gaspump,

Did you find out what to do with your remote? Im having the same problem you did. Not sure what happen but turned it on and all info was gone. Mine is the newer model and has the rechargeable battery’s. Not sure how to get the software info back. Thx

Alex- Yea I did figure it out. All I had to do was pair the remote with the motor. I had tried this a few times and it didn’t work. Turns out I was doing it wrong. I can’t remember exactly but there is a specific sequence that you need to use. Pretty sure it was in the manual. After I paired it and got it to work I never had an issue the rest of the summer. Good Luck!

same problem here, I hit pairing on the remote, held the pairing button down on the motor head at the same time until it made several beeps from the head, problem solved.

Hey Gaspump,
Thanks for the reply. I finally got though with Minn Kota support yesterday. Let them know exactly what was going on with my remote.
They told me that remote was shot! Mother board was burned up. I needed to purchase a new one. Lucky for me mine is still under 2 year warranty. I shipped old one back yesterday, and now waiting for new one to come in. I think it was because I left remote in the sun. Maybe it got to hot? Not sure but am gonna try to keep new one out of sun. Take care –

Hello Guys,

I have a brand new Ulterra that came with the bluetooth i-Pilot remote. I have a buddy that gave me an i-Pilot link remote to try and I can’t get it to pair to the motor. I hold down the pair button on the motor head and hear the long constant beep, then go to the remote and hit pair. After about 10 seconds, it says no motor detected.

I have Garmin graphs, but was thinking that shouldn’t matter?

Are there bluetooth and non-bluetooth i-Pilot link remotes?

rivy2112 wrote:

Hello Guys,

I have a brand new Ulterra that came with the bluetooth i-Pilot remote. I have a buddy that gave me an i-Pilot link remote to try and I can’t get it to pair to the motor. I hold down the pair button on the motor head and hear the long constant beep, then go to the remote and hit pair. After about 10 seconds, it says no motor detected.

I have Garmin graphs, but was thinking that shouldn’t matter?

Are there bluetooth and non-bluetooth i-Pilot link remotes?

Yes they are different remotes and not compatible as far I’m aware. Also, if your Ulterra does not have i-pilot LINK it may not work with a LINK remote, even if they’re both bluetooth versions.

Just got off the phone with Minn Kota. Since my Ulterra came with the ‘normal’ bluetooth i-Pilot remote, then my Ulterra is not LINK compatible.

The way the Tech told me to check is to look at the motor head unit. Mine does NOT say i-Pilot LINK, just i-Pilot.

Maybe this was obvious to everyone else, but for me being new to this, it was a lesson learned.