Minn Kota Trolling Motor Interference with universal ducer

[MHodgesSr]

I realize this may be an old question, but please bear with me. I have a Minn Kota Maxxum 101 trolling motor. When I run the trolling motor, it causes "noise", black lines, on the sonar to the point it is unreadable. I hear that Minn Kota has solved this problem in the gen 2 model. However, this does not help me, I am told the fix involves grounding the starter battery to the trolling motor batteries via a grounding cable with a fuse. Has anyone done this and how exactally?

[tunaman]

It used to be a problem, but with the advent of the digital motors it is no longer an issue... I've had that discussion with Jordan at Anglers a couple of times.

More likely, it is an issue with the brushes... if your motor is new, it could just need a break-in. If it is older, could be the tolerances are no longer tight enough... check to see if your motor is still under warranty and call it in.

Roger

[MHodgesSr]

Thanks for your reply Roger, this motor was new on a 2006 boat I bought so the motor itself is not all that old. I will contact a qualified repair shop here in Sacramento to see what they recommend. Thanks again

[TonyL]

Hey Hodge , I too have this issue , but intermittent , not bad enough to get me off my lazy arse ta do somethin,BUT I have researched it somewhat , and have the plan.Apparrently theres 2 issues , 1 is grounding the trolling motor foot to the ground circuit of th TM up at the TM plug , 2-connecting the TM and Start motor grounds.This supposedly gives the TM a better ground as the start battery is grounded to the big motor and most all other electrical in the boat.Here's a link to an old thread I found some time ago.
http://www.wmi.org/boards/electronics/m ... _id=262960
Good luck , let me know if this helps.

[rdearmond]

I had the same problem with my universal TX. My Minn Kota is also a 2006 36-volt 101lb. The main problem was the grounding so Jay Liu fixed that and that made a huge improvement. But still had intermittent interference. So I switch to a TX that match my fish finder; Lowrance, problem solved. Jay Liu said the universal TX is built around all the diff. graphs their not always compatible. After he grounded the wires, I switched TX, I can run my 520's at 100% sensitivity in manual no spikes, loss of bottom crystal clear.
The other thing Jay Liu mentioned is Min Kota had trouble with some of their motors/ brushes that they were burning up and there was an up-grade that I guess helps with interfer. issues as well as a better motor.
Jay Liu is one of the repair techs for MG and MK he's sharp
Jay Liu's Service 530-246-8051

[TonyL]

Hey rdearmond , do you know which type of ground repair J.L. did ?

[rdearmond]

I believe he grounded from the motor to the head unit. The other thing is check to see if your motor is still under warranty because the motor / brush up-grade was huge it's smoother quieter and helped with the interference.

[MHodgesSr]

Rdearmond, do you remember the model or part # of the Lowrance transducer? I also have heard this is the best fix. Thanks to all for your help. Mike