Question about my Ultrex

I've got a 24 volt 80 lb Ultrex I bought in march of 2018. A couple of times this past week while out on the water the blue light
button (power on) went out. I played with the on/off switch and the blue light came back on and was never an issue the res of the day.

Did it twice, once on Fri and once on Sat-after it came back it was never an issue. Should I be proactive and get a new power on switch
from Minn Kota ? Its time to get new batteries anyway so I'll be replacing those next week.

Any advice?

I have had to replace the switch on mine for the very reasons you mention.

Replacing the switch is temporary. It isn’t the switch causing the problems. The switch in the “on” position, seperates the wires and that separation let’s the trolling motor turn “on”. Turning the switch “off” shorts a wire to ground, telling the trolling motor to turn off. You can remove the switch, throw in the lake, and keep on fishing.


The reason the switch “fails” and keeps the unit powers up is the 1/4” female terminals are loose from the factory. You can wiggle them(temporary fix), use a pair of pliers and tighten the connection(temporary fix), replace the switch, which causes a “cleaner connection during the process of the installation(temporary fix), or you can solder/heat shrink the connections to the switch (more permanent, but possibly still temporary...since it is possible the switch could still fail internally).

The best solution, is the remove the switch entirely and solder the two wires together. Then add a master cutoff switch in the battery compartment that turns off ALL power to the trolling motor for servicing the prop and charging the batteries.

The switch shorting to ground is a great idea, but the installation and quality of the switch is a very poor decision on MKs part.

Good idea on just eliminate it... but will you still have the indicator lights?

I have a master disconnect on the back of my boat that completely cuts off my 12 and 36 system and I can put a lock on it if I wanted.

Do you have 2 master disconnects?
Not sure how 1they can make 1 disconnect that does both.
My Skeeter has a disco, but 1 it does not disconnect the 36 vdc.

That's never happened to me, but I did have my first issue this week. Currently out of commission until warranty repair work is completed, motor suddenly failed to turn the prop. Had power and it would respond to steering commands. One year old, the service center thought it sounded like an armature went out.. All I know is, it's frustrating when you pay that much and it hasn't even made it a year, i'm not even as hard on mine as some people.

Do you have 2 master disconnects?
Not sure how 1they can make 1 disconnect that does both.
My Skeeter has a disco, but 1 it does not disconnect the 36 vdc.




No I have one just like I said. I mounted it in my splash well, next to the livewell drain and remote flo rite valve I installed. I cut off the ears so its round like the other two valves I added and bolted it thru with some small ss bolts.

https://www.waytekwire.com/item/44057/Cole-Hersee-880175-TR-Series-500A-/

Probably your pedal switch out of adjustment its easy to adjust, lots of talk about it on here.

I had my armature burn some spots in it, it would only not start when it stopped lined up on those spots, which was half the time, if I turned the prop a little it would then work. I bought a armature and replaced it myself.

You come off like a doush the way you respond to people

I got a replacement switch for 5 bucks from Oreilly's auto parts. Dropped in and fixed issue. You can also get it in red so it is not nearly as bright when night fishing

Cool

I thought you came across like a doush when you said "not sure how they can make 1 that disconnect that does both." BUT I still gave you the link so now you know. Your welcome.

Obviously if I didnt have one disconnect that did both I wouldnt say I did...

Thanks for the link, Jeff! That is a cool part. I think I’ll buy one for the boat.

That will work for sure but will also void any warranty you have left. I would wait till the warranty is out.
I use a master switch to cut the power to my trolling motor but won’t eliminate the switch until it is out of warranty.

Thanks guys-at least now I know whats going on with the light going out and having no power. I do love my Ultrex.

fact on the brightness!!! had to put black duct tape over mine during Sealy at Fork !! when on spot lock and all the lights on you can't see [censored]!!!!

I have electrical tape over mine so just a tiny tiny sliver of light is showing. Just trim the tape down to size and it will stay on a long time.

Maybe it's the "new" (although they aren't new anymore) but it seems like you can't hardly go a week without someone having a problem with these motors. It's a lot of money to spend just so you can put it in the shop or , even worse, fix it yourself so you can keep fishing..

Heck they've only sold about 100,000 of them in the past 3 years. How many electronic thibgs do you know of that a 100% trouble free record? Especially things used as hard a trolling motor.
Minn Kota has the top cjoice of fishermen for the past 20 years but they aren't perfect.

Never had the first problem out of my Maxum, ran it for years. Have had a Fortrex since 2015, not a problem out of it either... I'm hard on my stuff and I fish a lot.
Not slamming Kota, just seems like there are a multitude of problems.