Ipilot Link / Ulterra 36V battery question

I just put in a 36V Ulterra with Link on my boat (and it’s awesome) but one thing that is particularly puzzling to me is the TM battery indicator on the remote. Took me a minute to realize the prop had to be shut off in order to get a reading of the battery levels powering the motor, fine there. What I found is that the indicator on the remote is WAY OFF from what the actual battery level is.

For example, this past weekend I was out from about 7-12 on a full charge on the 36v system and the battery level was in the red by noon. I got a little freaked out with the Ulterra and it getting stuck down with no charge to bring it back to the stowed position so I went back to the dock. When I plugged in the battery charger it read 80% charged. It’s a new boat to me and my first glass boat so I wasn’t exactly sure how much battery it took to haul around this heavy boat, but I didn’t think there was any way I burned through that much battery in 5 hours..

Any ideas why that battery indicator on the remote would be reading incorrectly?

I purchased the same trolling motor this spring. I have noticed the battery level indicated on the remote being less than what the batteries actually are also. It is something I am going to keep an eye on. Please post if you get any answers, I will do the same.

The new Ulterra`s have a low voltage limit built into the trolling motor the motor will quit working but still have enough voltage to stow the motor.

I installed one this spring as well… 36v 112lbs 72″ Ulterra. I am very interested in this thread.. because after 2.5 full days of trolling with it , we felt we should charge it because it was showing 1/4 charge and bouncing being between the red reading and a 1/4 charge. If they actually read lower, then we probably could have gone all weekend without a charge WOW!! Absolutely awesome!!

Greg,

If it is possible you should recharge your batteries ever night.

Drawing them below 50% charge reduces their life considerably.
There are chemical reactions that take place (sulfied creation) and they coat the plates and reduce their overall efficiency.

If they are AGM batteries and you draw them down to almost dead you may not be able to recharge/recover them at all with out some special charging equipment. Even if you can get them to come back they may never be the same.

You probably just spent $400 + on batteries, take care of them and they will last you years.

Hi djshannon,

Thanks for the info. Oh ya here in Canada I was over $900 after tax for 4 – SRM-31 Interstates

We fish a very rural lake so depending which cabin we get we don’t have power to charge from. I had to park my boat on the other end of the island to charge it Monday night. For our next trip I’m going to get a little Yamaha generator

That is great to know they have a low voltage limit, I’ve been super paranoid about it getting stuck down and having to mess with manually getting it back up.

I was hoping there was an easy fix, I have downloaded the latest softwware and everything, without any success. Hope that gets fixed soon!

label033 wrote:

For example, this past weekend I was out from about 7-12 on a full charge on the 36v system

label033 wrote:

but I didn’t think there was any way I burned through that much battery in 5 hours..

“That much battery?” Voltage is not an indicator of battery capacity. Three group 24 batteries will have less capacity than three group 31 batteries. Even less capacity would be three 9amp SLA batteries. Yet all examples would be 36 volts.

label033 wrote:

the battery level was in the red by noon

label033 wrote:

When I plugged in the battery charger it read 80% charged.

label033 wrote:

Any ideas why that battery indicator on the remote would be reading incorrectly?

From what you wrote. all that is known for sure, is that the two readings do not agree. Maybe the charger reading is incorrect?
Maybe the remote reading is calculating to 50% minimum charge level as being “dead”.
In other words, Maybe, the charger is showing 80% of a full charge while the remote is showing 30% of a charge,,,, (above the 50% minimum recommended discharge level)?

Could be, I’ll have to do some more investigating. I am leaning towards the remote is showing incorrectly, or calculating to 50% min charge. I was up on LOTW this past weekend in some pretty rough water and the TM was working pretty hard on spot lock. I was in the red on the remote for quite a while and never did run out of juice. I didn’t think to look at what the charger reading showed when I got back to the dock.