MinnKota I Pilot remote issue

I’ve had a Terrova 24v Ipilot for a little over 2 yrs. About 1 yr after purchase I had trouble with the remote and sometimes it would not turn on despite having the motor deployed and yes the battery was just over 3V. Mysteriously it would at some point work again. MinnKota kindly replaced the remote.

A few times on the water with the new remote same problems. I found if I opened the remote and popped the battery out and back in it would work. A PIA. Took the motor and remote to the warranty center and they could not get it to replicate problem. MinnKota again replace the remote.

A few trips into last spring same problems. Shipped the unit to MinnKota in Mankato and they replaced the head. Now same damn problem. Erratically won’t respond to pushing buttons esp after the remote screen goes off but motor still pulling me along.

I contacted MinnKota and I’m now out of warranty. Annoying that the initial problem remains. No warranty on the replaced parts ie faulty part replaced with faulty part and they are not responsible. No warranty from replacement date only purchase date.

If it no longer re-boots with battery removal what do I send in and where?

Anybody have similar problem? Seems to me it may be a glitch in their software?

Thanks,

Grey Beard

Same issue. Whack the remote on the side of the boat a few times and it seems to start back up. Have talked to others with the same problem. Buy a different brand next time.

Is it possibly related to freezing conditions and effect on battery?

Random issue here too. I just thump it on my hand a few times until it works.
Haven’t had to open it up yet.

I dont own one of these,but it intrigued me enough I did some searching online.

a couple of things I found that are similar to your problem were solved by this,
one,do you have the correct battery in the remote? some of the cheaper batteries dont have enough amperage in them to operate effectively,nor do they tolerate the cold very well either.

two,the remote appears to go to sleep rather quickly and you need to hit the okay button first to wake it back up,this might explain why the repair center couldnt get it to act up if they were continuously using the remote without letting it go to sleep.

I would bet if you go to the walleye central forum,someone on there might have an answer also.

I wish you the best of luck,nothing worse than spending hard earned big bucks on something and not having it work right for several years.
anything electronic shouldnt have to be banged on anything to make it work,but,if that is what it takes,I would invest in another brand!!

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Random issue here too. I just thump it on my hand a few times until it works.
Haven’t had to open it up yet.

Always works for me

Thanks for the replys. I posted this same issue on other sites and all have had similar reports of problems with their remotes. Exasperating when one remembers how much we paid for this and so far the most consistent remedy is giving it a whack across the back. Maybe MinnKota should do that to the back side of their design team.

Things that have worked to get the remote to restart as reported here and other places are:’
Give it a couple of whacks, bend out the prongs on the battery, light coat of dielectric grease on the battery, pop out the battery and if lucky enough and still in warranty replace. One guy went so far as to carry 2 remotes. UGH.

Grey Beard

It is too bad, but we as consumers, are the tester’s. Companies like minnkota, lowrance and hummingbird all put product on the market and make changes after problems arise. I have a minnkota maxxum 101 36v trolling motor and had the armature replaced three times. There was a bad batch of armatures for that model year. I got two of them. The third time was a charm, I haven’t had any problems since the third replacement. I was told that they would NOT warranty my motor any further. That did urine me off a little bit. When it is time to replace that trolling motor, I will be looking at other brands. I understand that I will become a test dummy for that company also.

grey-beard wrote:

One guy went so far as to carry 2 remotes. UGH.

I’m one of those guys.

i have gone though two remotes mine just don’t com back on. Sent back to minnkota and they sent me new ones. i did the same thing bought a second remote. Nothing worse than going fishing and something dose not work right.

Same problem & carry two remotes. I have a first year remote that always works, but the rubber is worn off the buttons so it gets erratic when it gets wet.

Sounds more like a firmware bug, than a hardware glitch…Was fishing Bay of Green Bay last July and a buddy of mine’s did this, too. Like it loses its mind. Won’t react to input. Had to cycle power to the whole system. Only did it the one time in three days, but…

I employed the suggestions of bending out the battery pin and applying dielectric grease to the battery. It was only a one day trial but the remote worked flawlessly as compared to the previous outing when I had to whack it multiple times. It also seemed to take longer to go into the sleep mode.

Someone also suggested that if you place a dime on the battery and then replace the cover you will solve the remote problem. That will be my backup if the above fails.

Considering how many remotes MinnKota has had to replace one would think they would have solved this problem.

Grey Beard

This just happened to me today after having my remote hanging from my mirror in truck all winter. I don’t know if it hit a button on the dash or what, but I couldn’t get it to power on at all. I was just about to call minn kota. After changing batterys and everything, I was very upset just like you probably are. I was checking volts on both old and new battery and popped old battery back in that was still reading 3 volts. And it worked, it powered on I was like omg it’s working. So if your having this issue try leaving the battery out for awhile so the remote resets. I don’t know if it hit one of the buttons on my dash from it hanging on mirror or what but it worked for me so just a fyi.

Tried buying the smaller remote as Ive heard they dont have this issue. Found out this spring that is not right. Same exact problem. Popping the battery out and reinstalling seems to work. Ive just come to the conclusion that minnkota has put this defect in all of their remotes and every year or so Ill be buying a new one. The cost and frustration of this will be figured in next time Im purchasing a trolling motor.

I had this same problem. Try unplugging the foot pedal and see if the remote works. I took the footpedal apart and cleaned it and now my remote functions correctly..

Same issues here. Remote shuts down and needs a wack to get it back on. Now my remote does not work at all. Warranty is 1 month expired. Minn kota knows they have a problem. I hope they fix it. Not holding my breath.

Ive had the same issues with Terrova. Changed battery the first time and it worked. Happened again and changed the battery with no luck. Tried to see it the unit had to re-learn itself and that didn’t work either. Finally took a knife and bent negative battery terminal up and positive terminals in so they make HARD contact. Seems to work for now. Maybe when I changed the battery the first time it had just made decent contact. Then after being used and bounced around it just lost some contact. Fingers are crossed.

just ran into this issue for the first time with my Ulterra on my last trip. pulling out the battery and replacing it worked…until i charged it again after which it wouldn’t turn back on until the battery was replaced again.
and although my urge was to bash it against the side of my boat, i didn’t try that. i’m glad someone else tested this method first.
i’ll try bending the prongs and adding grease, definitely seems to be a contact point issue.
and i also have a backup remote for my backup trolling motor. i’ll put that out and program it to match the one on the boat.

The lithium grease does seem to help.

It’s a connection issue as mentioned. I thought my battery was bad as the remote would die on me right after charging. I pulled it apart and found the connectors had pulled apart slightly and weren’t making contact. I’m surprised I even noticed it but that was the issue – pushed them back together and the remote fired right back up and has worked since. I did order a replacement battery from MinnKota just in case.

If smacking the side of the boat intermittently solves it, it might be a connection issue. I tape mine together now and it works. Grease might also work.

new guy here I just had the same problem with my I pilot link remote. ……I took the advise from above SMACKED THE REMOTE with my hand and IT POWERS UP… WOW … I used the app on my I phone to steer the motor ..it saved the day of fishing ….its .BRAND NEW IT IS FIRST TIME OUT IT WAS STUCK IN DEPLOY POSITION …HAD TO REMOVE THE RIPTIDE ULTERRA TO TRAVEL BACK TO THE DOCK .. I’m sure there are more people with the same trouble I’m going tweek the prongs and add dielectric grease if I can THANKS TO ALL FOR HELPING ME WITH POSTING IT SO OHERS CAN HELP THEM SELVES

I was having this issue pretty regularly last year with my 4 year old ipilot remote and found that banging it does work but I also found out the pressing a button very firmly does too. I prefer this over abusing it.

Here is the solution that I have found. Take the remote apart and spray the circuit board thoroughly on both sides and around the LED with DetoxIT. Carefully pat it dry. I also gently tightened the battery contacts by bending the sides in and lifting the bottom up slightly. This fixed it for me. I suspect that condensation may be causing some internal corrosion that the DetoxIT spray eliminates.

I don’t know if this has anything to do with any of your problems buuuut for the last six years that I have had my power drive 2 every fall I remove the motor and store it in the basement and the remote with it. I have had zero issues and I’m still on the original battery. Would the freezing conditions be the cause??? Just my thoughts

MK says the battery is a 2450. The 2450N has a lip that helps with a snug fit. Energizer batteries do not have an N at the end of their 2450. Others have said that Panasonic batteries have a different physical size.
Probably why shaking it, dielectric grease, or adding a dime makes it work.
Food for thought.
I too have a second remote with 2450N. Haven’t had to use it yet.

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I too have this problem. I flip the remote over and push down hard with my thumb on the battery compartment. Seems to always bring it back.

Please help. Looked up all kinds of trouble shooting, nothing explains my problem. After stowing my remote does not have the option to deploy. And motor has red status light on. Tried reseting the motor. But lights just keep flashing. Anybody have any logical answer for this?

amphib206 wrote:

MK says the battery is a 2450. The 2450N has a lip that helps with a snug fit. Energizer batteries do not have an N at the end of their 2450. Others have said that Panasonic batteries have a different physical size.
Probably why shaking it, dielectric grease, or adding a dime makes it work.
Food for thought.
I too have a second remote with 2450N. Haven’t had to use it yet.

This is interesting. I just sold my older 2012 Terrova which used 2450 batteries and upgraded to a 2020 model. To my surprise my 2020 model now uses 3X AAA batteries rather than a 2450. Grey beard said his is 2 years old; I wonder if it’s using 2450 or AAA? Maybe MK changed to the AAA setup to reduce this issue? Not sure but now I have a hell of a lot more batteries to carry with me LOL