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Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues

Posted By: Cory Lee

Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/09/15 08:26 PM

Motorguide xi5 saltwater - 24v 80#

In the video you can see the head vibrating/shaking/turning left right constantly. It does this at all time when the prop is running and it is in water, but not out of water. It is worse at higher speeds and you can feel it in the back of the boat when at high speed. It is also fairly noisy. It has done this since I've had it. I thought that it wasn't mounted well enough, so I added a third bolt on each side and an extra rubber bushing under the far back edge. (I originally only used the existing holes.) There is no movement of the motor where its mounted to the boat. I have bought a new prop and I've tried rotating both props 180 degrees. This is a consistent problem. I have had the shaft checked and it is straight. Does anyone have any recommendations of anything to check, or see anything wrong with the mounting in the pictures?

Link to video











Posted By: Bob Landry

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/09/15 11:28 PM

Maybe a motor armature that is out of balance, or if the speed is digital controlled, possibly a motor speed/torque difference
Posted By: Cory Lee

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/10/15 02:36 AM

I've been out messing with it some more. With the motor down, if I pull back and forth pretty hard on the shaft, there is slight movement at the other end of the base. Less than 1/4". I think this is due to using two different rubber mounting deals. All I had. I'll go get some more and remount tomorrow, but do you think this could potentially be causing this movement? Doesn't seem to me that it would but guess I can remount it again and see.
Posted By: Bob Landry

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/10/15 12:58 PM

There should be some movement or the TM would be too stiff to operate. I can see where a less than perfect mounting would cause some vibration, but not how it would cause the motor to swing back and forth.
Im suspecting a bad servo or control board in the control head. If you are really serious about fixing it, I would take it to a repair facility. We can guess all day here and get minimal results.
Posted By: Blue Blazer 2400

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/10/15 08:04 PM

Have you checked to make sure the prop shaft is not bent?
Posted By: Bob Landry

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/10/15 09:55 PM

Originally Posted By: stratos
Have you checked to make sure the prop shaft is not bent?


Yes he did, in the original post.
Posted By: Cory Lee

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/10/15 11:45 PM

Yea I took it to All Star Marine in Lewisville and the guy checked the shaft and told me I should add another bolt to the base. He wouldn't look at the video of what it was doing. I added the extra bolt on each side. Same problem. Going to take it off again and back over there to drop off. I didn't see any other motorguide repair centers close by. Its just a pain in the butt to take on and off since I'm having to run the bolts up from the bottom side. MG didn't design this thing to be the easiest to mount.
Posted By: ridinonthepad

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/11/15 09:37 PM

Looking at your pics the t/m appears to be very close to or touching the rub rail. As all of us know who run this t/m it spins very fast. Could the rub rail be the culprit causing the noise and vibration? My i5 is very quiet and I have not noticed any vibration.
Posted By: Bob Landry

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/11/15 10:16 PM

OK, I'm confused now as to what problem the OP was posting about. The video shows the rolling motor oscillating from right to left and we don't know if the OP is doing that with the control. What the video shows is a far cry from a mechanical vibration, so which is it?
Posted By: red skeeter zx200

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/12/15 03:43 AM

Mine was not that bad . I changed the prop and it made it better went to a 3 blade .
Posted By: Cory Lee

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/12/15 09:20 PM

The shaft is about 1.25" from the rub rail. The motor vibrates left/right constantly. Worse at higher power. I do move it with the control but I don't oscillate it at all. Its not responsive enough to move it that fast. Several hundred per minute. I have changed the prop out and the shaft is not bent. Going to take it off and drop it off at All Star Marine in Lewisville.
Posted By: Allan W

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/12/15 09:35 PM

Did you try it without a prop? Acts like the armature is out of balance??
Posted By: Cory Lee

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/13/15 01:42 AM

It only does it when it's in the water.
Posted By: Allan W

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/14/15 10:15 AM

I meant without a prop in the water?
Posted By: Cory Lee

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/16/15 01:36 AM

I did not put the motor in the water without the prop. Should I? If it still does this in the water without the prop, what does it mean?
Posted By: BlueNitro

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/17/15 06:19 PM

Video wouldn't play to see what you are describing. I get vibration on the head the more speed I use but I use that as a speed indicator since there is not one on the remote.
Posted By: Allan W

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/17/15 07:22 PM

It means that the armature is out of balance or not true (straight)

Posted By: Cory Lee

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 08/27/15 02:22 AM

UPDATE: I went fishing one last time last week before taking it off to go to the shop. First cast of the day I got a birds nest and got line in the prop. I didn't notice right away and the motor started making a clicking noise. I killed the motor, took off the prop and cleared the line and replaced the prop. After this, the motor stopped vibrating/oscillating. It worked perfect the rest of the day. I have no idea what that means but I'm not sure if its fixed or not. Right now I'm just waiting to see if it starts doing it again.
Posted By: Gonzz

Re: Motorguide xi5 trolling motor vibration issues - 09/04/15 12:31 PM

How do you like this TM? I just ordered one and will get it tomorrow.
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