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Motorguide Trolling Motor Troubleshooting

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 2:07 pm
by Jake Gaudet
Last spring I finally caved and bought a used front trolling motor, I found a pretty good deal on a used Motorguide Wireless online but probably should have done a little bit more research.
The motor worked great for the first couple trips but I noticed the connectivity of the wireless foot pedal was pretty iffy and for the entire second half of last fishing season it just straight up didn't work, despite my best efforts to take it apart or reset the pairing between the foot pedal and motor. I know the previous owner had sent it back to Motorguide after their circuit board recall and had a few parts replaced through the warranty but it has now expired.


I've read a few frustrated accounts of guys trying to deal with Motorguide... but does anyone have any advice for somewhere that I could bring it to get it fixed or any suggestions on what to do? Any advice is appreciated. Hoping to be up and running for the Walleye opener.

Thanks,
J

Re: Motorguide Trolling Motor Troubleshooting

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:36 pm
by scarkner
If you have no joy with the professionals let me know. I can fix just about anything and have the equipment that should be able to tell if it is the transmitter or the receiver that is at fault.... we can go from there.

Frustrating when wireless stuff doesn't work since you can't see what it's doing the same way that signals can just be tested with a wired system!

Re: Motorguide Trolling Motor Troubleshooting

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 4:38 pm
by Lvace
I have been running a wireless 55 for 3 years now and the one thing I found is as soon as the battery in the pedal runs a bit low my connectivity gets a bit iffy. I used to put the cheaper cr2032 sunbeam batteries but now I only use the better Duracell ones and found my signal strength to be much better and I do not have any more problems ! Not sure if this helps but was worth mentioning !

Re: Motorguide Trolling Motor Troubleshooting

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:59 am
by Roblin
Try calling Motorguide Tech Support. Even though it's out of warranty, they may still talk to you and have some suggestions.
My experiences with US tech support has been great.

North Country Marine

Sales and Service Location
4201 Perth Rd
Inverary, ON K0H 1X0
www.northcountrymarine.ca
p: (613) 353-6996

is listed as a service center.

Re: Motorguide Trolling Motor Troubleshooting

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:05 am
by Kerrazy
Lvace wrote:I have been running a wireless 55 for 3 years now and the one thing I found is as soon as the battery in the pedal runs a bit low my connectivity gets a bit iffy. I used to put the cheaper cr2032 sunbeam batteries but now I only use the better Duracell ones and found my signal strength to be much better and I do not have any more problems ! Not sure if this helps but was worth mentioning !
Aha!!! Good info, I will try that this season. It sure is frustrating when the motor doesn't respond as expected! I have seen it not turn, or reduce speed and Man is it frustrating!

I have the handheld remote and the wireless foot control, and have seen both not doing what I had hoped.

I did pick up a 3 bank charger this year so hopefully having batteries in optimal shape will ensure response as expected... Or it's gone!

Re: Motorguide Trolling Motor Troubleshooting

Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 11:54 am
by Jake Gaudet
Just to post an update... After spending most of an afternoon at work searching online for a new trolling motor, and not finding the one I wanted... I decided to head out to Orleans Boat world after work yesterday and picked up a new foot pedal to see if it would solve my problems.

It didn't.. the foot pedal just wouldn't connect to the motor, so my dad and I decided to start taking it apart and test with the voltmeter to see I could find any problems.

After about an hour of trying different things and searching through forums online for different solutions.. I was messing around with the voltmeter and tested the battery on the brand new remote and bingo! it was dead. Didn't occur to me to test it since I just bought it but it makes sense after the fact. Searched the house and stole the battery from an apple tv remote that was fully charged and the foot pedal and motor ran perfectly. Never been so happy to be the proud owner of a functional trolling motor.

Lesson learned... sometimes problems aren't as complicated as they may seem. Also tested the new battery in the old foot pedal and confirmed that it was broken. Which made me feel better about not being able to fix it earlier this year.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions