Minn Kota Maxxum 74 sluggish

[bluewingjb]

Ok I have a 1999 Minn Kota Max 74.. I just replaced one of the batteries and the other routinely reads over 12V when charged. Let me also say I have an onboard Minn Kota charger that I use and both the new and old battery take the same amount of time to get to a full charge. Lately I have noticed the motor seems to be running rather sluggish and seems to be draining the batterys pretty quickly. Sometimes when I am running it the pitch of the motor changes, gets more pronounced, and the motor seems to switch into a high gear. I suspect when that happens its getting the full effect of both batteries. More often than not though it seems to be running in low speed. I took apart the foot pedal and the only thing I see in there that could be the culprit is the small assembly with a couple of caps and a relay on it. I did check the voltage at the plug with it in the receptacle on the boat and had 24V on the screws where the wires are attached going to the foot control. Is there anything I should be checking? I will say I have new armature and brushes and the wires to them are in good shape. I did have about 15-20% of one of the magnets in the housing crack and had to remove it but the problem was there before that. I have a feeling the issue is either the wires at the brushes or the little assembly in the foot control. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dryhorn2]

I would load check your other battery. I had the same problem at the first of the year. I replaced both batteries and problem was gone.

 

[bluewingjb]

Actually I might have found the issue... Opened up the lower unit and had quite a bit of water in it.. I know that could do it.. I do plan on replacing the old battery in the next few weeks however. Going the get some marine grade clear sealant and use it when putting the lower unit back together.. I checked the rubber O rings and they were good.. I do have a bit of a rough spot on the front of the housing and suspect that might be where the leak is. Will just have to see what happens when I put it all back together.

 

[basscrazy]

I also have one and I recently had trouble out of mine the only difference is that if you turned in certain direction it wouldn't work at all but like yours it was also sluggish. My problem was a small flat strip of three wires that attached to the knob that allowed you to adjust the power was not getting a good connection when you moved the wire it would work for a while and eventually go back to its old ways. Eventually the strip of wires broke off and I as completely out of commission. Not saying that this is what is wrong with yours but you can wiggle that wire and it works better that is the problem.