Electric trolling motor Question

[Snagged]

I have a 80lbs. thrust Riptide on my DB 24 volt. Yesterday on the clack my batteries died on the first hole backing down some divers. I had the charger plugged in from about noon the day before until I left that morning. The only thing I can think of (and I hope this is not what happened) is that last week going down the clack the motor took a couple of dings on the rocks and started making a moaning sound under low speed. My fear is that I bent something (already) and now the motor is drawing lots of amps to overcome the increased load and thus draining my battery. The other option is that I did not plug the charger in all the way or the plug slipped from the socket, the more preferable situation. Anyone have any experience with this that can maybe offer some insight? The motor purrs at full throttle but moans a bit at lower speeds.

[Kevin Turner]

I'd first pull the prop to see if you by chance got into some fishing line. If that checks out, was the skag kicked to one side after impact? Or, is the skag section of the lower unit loose, where it can be moved side to side?

I've seen the skag rotate and twist the long bolts that hold the lower unit together. The twisted bolts rotate & may come into contact with the magnets.

Also, check for water in the motor. This can happen after the skag rotates, allowing the bolts to loosen, and water enters the unit.

How old is it? Maybe it's nothing the impact caused and warranty may cover it?

[Snagged]

It's only a month old. The skag is not loose and I cans ee no line in the prop but I have not taken it off yet. Maybe warraty will cover it, it did not hit that hard.

[fishkisser]

Sounds like you may have dinged it enough to slightly offset a bearing ... that would explain the noise at low speed ... definitly a warranty problem with that happening right outa the blue:wink:

[Slayer]

put an amp/volt meter on the batteries, thats easy to eliminate

[BassinFever]

You said that your last trip before this one was "Last week". Then you said that you plugged the batteries in on noon the day before. If this has been your practice all along, you may have damaged your batteries. You need to put the batteries on the charger right when you get home.

[Smj]

You said that your last trip before this one was "Last week". Then you said that you plugged the batteries in on noon the day before. If this has been your practice all along, you may have damaged your batteries. You need to put the batteries on the charger right when you get home.

Add to this...You are using deep cycle batteries, and you are using proper amperage for charging the batteries? Also, If you've had the batteries for awhile, and been charging properly, you need to check the water level, and fill with distiled water if needed.

Smj

[SeanD]

You said that your last trip before this one was "Last week". Then you said that you plugged the batteries in on noon the day before. If this has been your practice all along, you may have damaged your batteries. You need to put the batteries on the charger right when you get home.

That was my thought too. Can't let those batteries sit uncharged for any length of time if you want them to last.....

[Snagged]

I did let them sit at half charge for a couple of days. They are Gel batteris and they are brand new (I hope I did not ruin them) so there is no water to fill. I also have a factory installed charger that is brand new. I bought the whole system from Stevens and they installed everything.
Would not charging the batteries right away once ruin them? That would be an expensive mistake. Wish the salesman would have covered that.

Thanks for the info.

[Starfish]

Failing to keep the batteries charged will weaken them but would only ruin them immediately if the temperature was low enough to freeze them. I doubt that happened in this case.