iPilot Remote Issue

I was wondering if anyone else is having issues with their iPilot remote seeming to malfunction from what seems like a weak antenna.

Of course I’m just past the warranty period but I’ve never had this issue until this year. In fact it worked great on the rainy river in April but has been acting up since opener.

It seems like a weak antenna because it works sporadically in the back of my boat and behind the console. Even if my dog decides to stand in front of the motor it works sporadically. As long as I have a clear view of the motor, it works fine.

Also when it’s acting up I’ll touch an arrow to slightly adjust the direction and it will turn 1/8-1/4 turn. Really frustrating.

I replaced the battery and saw no improvement.

Take a look back at Mike W’s post from a few months ago on I pilot remote issues. Some good info. I have the I link remote and have had 0 issues but it seems like the regular I pilot remotes have a fair amount of issues and I think the battery is often the culprit.

https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/minn-kota-i-pilot-remote/

Seems like you and I are having the same issue. Does your remote turn off? Mine does not. I still see that the remote is on the ipilot just will not respond to a command. Then I will get times where it will turn a 1/4 or 1/2 turn and other times where it gives me a very small choppy turn.

https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/terrova-i-pilot-issue/

I have read somewhere that it could be the board in the base of the terrova. My remote worked fine with my powerdrive v2 i pilot. Someone said if the issue is there with your foot pedal it probaly is the main control board (not the one in the head)

Mine does not turn off. Although one time not it completely froze up and I had to remove the battery to reset it.

It does sound like the same issue. I am certain that it had to do with signal strength. With a clear view of the motor, I still only get 20-25′ of range. Seems pretty short since I have a 20′ boat. The issue does not happen with the foot pedal either.

Have you found any solutions? I’ll probably call Minnkota today but I’m not expecting much. I’ll probably also call Jack at Action Fishing today too.

I’ve got the exact same problem with my 2nd gen remote. It works great from the bow, but anywhere behind the console and it performs intermittently with choppy performance when it does. My ipilot terrova is a first year unit, the original remote works far better than the 2nd Gen remote and never exhibits the sporadic 1/4 turns.

The crazy thing is that I had 0 issues with the remote in the last 3 years until now.

I just had a remote crap out after years of use. Replaced it with a brand new one and I noticed sporadic signal from the back of the boat, which did not happen on the old remote. I also noticed that when I asked it to turn 1/4, it would keep going for another 1/4 or so sometimes.

Mini remote is working for me so far but i dont have a lot of time on it yet. Biggests tests we be winter time and changing the battery. Opening the battery compartment has been the kiss of death for every minnkota remote ive ever owned. Even turned purfectly working ones into junk.

I have the same issue you are describing. Makes navigating in Prescott tough!

I’ve had similar issues over the years with my remote. Learned from responses to Mikes post a few months back how important it is to replace with the right battery. Since I’m at work I don’t remember for sure but believe its the Duracell battery that you must replace it with. (same brand that you took out)

I’ve replaced the original battery with other brands and had sporadic success at best. Replaced with Duracell brand, and have not had a problem since.

What your experiencing, sounds like it could be cured with a new battery.

Spoke to Jack.

He said that when the terrovas start malfunctioning, he recommends new batteries. Deep cycle batteries, that is. These motors are very sensitive to voltage and any worn down batteries will cause the controls to malfunction.

Sad thing is that I had a bank on my Minnkota charger fail for who knows how long and probably ruined a battery.

He said the when people replace the batteries, he doesn’t hear from them again.

Next call is to Minnkota to verify.

biggill wrote:

Spoke to Jack.

He said that when the terrovas start malfunctioning, he recommends new batteries. Deep cycle batteries, that is. These motors are very sensitive to voltage and any worn down batteries will cause the controls to malfunction.

Sad thing is that I had a bank on my Minnkota charger fail for who knows how long and probably ruined a battery.

He said the when people replace the batteries, he doesn’t hear from them again.

Next call is to Minnkota to verify.

Oh man my batteries were new last year.

Jonesy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>biggill wrote:</div>
Spoke to Jack.

He said that when the terrovas start malfunctioning, he recommends new batteries. Deep cycle batteries, that is. These motors are very sensitive to voltage and any worn down batteries will cause the controls to malfunction.

Sad thing is that I had a bank on my Minnkota charger fail for who knows how long and probably ruined a battery.

He said the when people replace the batteries, he doesn’t hear from them again.

Next call is to Minnkota to verify.

Oh man my batteries were new last year.

This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. As the batteries are discharging during operation of the trolling motor, they are losing voltage. They are designed to handle a range of voltages as they discharge. If this was the case, as soon as the motor started discharging, the trolling motor would act up.

Just my 3 cents.

gbfan10 wrote:

This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. As the batteries are discharging during operation of the trolling motor, they are losing voltage. They are designed to handle a range of voltages as they discharge. If this was the case, as soon as the motor started discharging, the trolling motor would act up.

Just my 3 cents.

I gotta say I agree with you. Although, since I’m not the expert on Minnkota motors, I can’t discount what Jack said. Especially considering the batteries are 3 years old and one bank went bad on my charger.

I don’t recall the minimum gauge wire required to power the 36v motor but I do know I used the minimum.

I took mine to a service center today. I will update once I find out what the issue was.

I probably won’t be replacing batteries in the near future.

However, I did open up my iPilot owners manual and found under the troubleshooting page that metal objects between you and the controller can make it malfunction similar to what I’m seeing. I do have 3 anchors in an anchor locker right next to the motor.

Heard back from the repair shop. Said it’s the ipilot head on mine that is the issue.

I wonder if it’s something that they were able to test for?

I moved my anchors with no improvement.

I have had issues as well. I have found that the remote works best for me if I point it straight up to the sky. I have had 3 terrova’s and this is the first issue I have had.

mojogunter wrote:

I have had issues as well. I have found that the remote works best for me if I point it straight up to the sky. I have had 3 terrova’s and this is the first issue I have had.

Good point. I’ve found the same. I also noticed if I have my index finger on the top edge of the remote it doesn’t work as well. Keeping my fingers on the bottom really helps.

biggill wrote:

I wonder if it’s something that they were able to test for?

I moved my anchors with no improvement.

Said they ruled out every other potential cause. They were getting the same issues in the repair shop so it wasn’t something with my boat. They want 260 plus 20 labor to replace it lol

Isn’t the new head w a new remote about $400 to $450?

Denny O wrote:

Isn’t the new head w a new remote about $400 to $450?

There are places online to get a new head/remote for 333-360. Figure I could snag one of those and sell the remote and save about 50-60 bucks. Or wait until a nice used one comes along for 200ish.

Just hope that used one doesn’t act like ours.

I know this is an old post – but I wanted to comment for those with iPilot problems in the future.
I have a Terrova 24 volt system and have gone through 3 iPilot heads over a 2 year period.
When I first installed the receiver head onto the Terrova it had a range of over 500 feet each time and would work fine for weeks or even several months. Then seemingly for no reason the range would decrease to under 15 feet and any farther than that it would not respond at all or response erratically. My wiring is the proper size and the battery in the remote is not the problem. I know this because when I would received the new replacement head units and they would work fine with the same remote and battery. I also had new power series 12 volt batteries. I have to believe it has to be something wrong with the Terrova unit that causes failure.
The last time in the middle of fishing season Minn Kota wanted me to ship the whole motor to them at my expense. I refused because it was in the middle of fishing season and I knew it was highly unlikely they would fine the problem because the unit never fails right away. They would likely have it for weeks and just replace the iPilot head again and send it back. I still use the iPilot, but it’s a pain in the a**. I have a foot pedal unit should it become unusable
My point is I believe there are some motor that just don’t match up properly with the iPilot receiver and that depending on how bad the match problem is, the ipilot receiver may last only weeks or months. It’s a shame if you get stuck with a bad pairing because it’s an excellent system when it works. However in some cases I believe it will be nearly impossible to establish a fix before your warrantee runs out.
I just hope enough people make it known to Minn Kota so as to adjust for possible issues in the future.
Me maybe I’ll sell my unit with foot pedal and buy replacement in future. However now in retirement and those kind of bucks don’t come easy.

Thanks for the late response. I still have the problem. I’m just stuck with dealing with it.

I’d sure like to understand how this even makes sense. There has to be some kind of technical explanation for it.

Same here I been dealing with it from time of purchase. I figured after the first receiver head replacement all would be find. However like I said two more replacement heads and the problem just kept returning. Bad enough all that downtime and replacement involvement, but being one of the few that has a costly system that doesn’t work with no real repair option, well that just eats at me every time I use it now. Receiver units are $249 a pop so if you’ve never replaced yours it might be an option. If it were to fix your system it would be worth it. In my case after three I give up, I just hope that Minn Kota isn’t aware there’s a problem out there, but has ignored it because it only affects a low percentage of owners.
I search every now and then to see if others have report same issues and I’m starting to see reports of the problem. However I’ve not yet seen if and how similar complaints have been resolved. I’m always hoping the cause is found and Minn Kota comes out with perhaps a go between plug filter or something that will fix it even if it means purchasing another receiver is required.
Good Luck to both of us!
If I ever find anything I’ll try to remember to post back here.

FYI… I just sent in a troubleshooting request to MK. I was polite hoping I can get a valuable response.

I’m curious what they have to say.

I am not gonna take the time to read back through all these posts but did you ever try resetting it and going through set up again? I am referring to the process that matches the remote to the head.

I was running a friends Terrova without Link last weekend, he had the plain remote without the colored screen. I too had problems getting the remote to command the motor when people stood in my way.

I have the link with the color LCD remote and have never had problems.