Minn Kota 55 Questions

[bucaneer]

I just picked up my new Minn Kota Riptide 55 transom mount today, and I am in trouble already. I seem to have wound the steering tension screw through the steering friction block.
I suppose I have to take responsibility for this, but I didn't screw it up that tight and it did not apply very much tension to the steering ( which is why I kept winding).
Is this tension adjustment really that fragile, or do I have some sort of warranty claim?
Also how difficult is it to replace, as to me it looks like the whole shaft needs to come out to replace it?
The next question is about the fused earth wire.
Connecting the fused end to the negative pole is fine, then it says the other end to connect to any metal part that is in direct contact to the water. Without too much technical knowledge, I'm worried about galvanic corrosion. Would I be better off earthing it to my main outboard which has a sacrificial anode?
Great site you have here fellas, and any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Andy

[madaff]

I have had over the years 3 Minn Kota's and all 3 did the same thing, it's a case of metal thread into a nylon/plastic housing(metal wins out all the time).

As for earthing the hull. Thats one I would never do especially with electrolysis. I would be very surprised and shocked if anyone would bo that with a ally hull.

[bucaneer]

Madaff,
I may have misinterpreted that. The exact wording was "The purpose of the wire is to ground the negative post of the trolling motor battery to any metallic object that touches the water"
Hence my question re grounding it to the main motor as it has least got a sacrificial anode.
The two grounding options it gives for alloy boats are:
1. To negative post of crank battery
2. To negative strip on the fuse panel
As I have neither a crank battery (pull start), nor a fuse panel, I am a little lost as to where I can ground this lead.
One other matter, as you seem to have had similar problems with the steering tension screw, what is involved in repairing this?
Sorry to drive you mad, and I am extremely grateful to you for taking the time to reply.
Cheers,
Andy

[bucaneer]

Phoned BLA's Melbourne branch today. They told me to earth my motor to the hull, but when I told him that was quite wrong he came back with another gem. He said I was right about earthing it to the hull, the correct way was to tie the other end to a piece of steel and just throw it in the bottom of the boat. At this point I requested the Queensland branch phone number.
The guy I spoke to in Queensland could not have been more helpful. Firstly, the fused earth wire is only there to help eliminate interference on the sounder caused by the maximiser. It is an option to using 2 batteries.
On the steering tension problem, it seemes the thread on the main housing is stripped, and despite me saying it may have been my fault, they are going to get the motor picked up from my house, shipped back to Sydney (from Melbourne), repaired at no cost to me, and shipped back. I have dealt with BLA's service department before with a Humminbird sounder, and at the time it was the best after sales service I had ever received, and apart from the Melbourne hiccup, I reckon that's as good as it gets.
Cheers,
Andy

[diesel]

With all the Kotas in use now, how many of you are using inline fuses? or just connecting straight to the battery. My 55lb unit was installed with a inline fuse rated at 40amp but to date have blown 5 fuses, BLA Perth said that they are not required only if sensative equipment runs off the shared battery, what say you all??:confused: :confused:

[Bear]

John,
To me it's a case of beter safe than sorry.

Ask Geoff.

[Craig]

I examined this issue also as initially my set up had a 30amp in-line fuse. As I couldn't lay my hands on a bigger fuse, I think 50amp is the required size, I wired in a circuit breaker I obtained from Coventry Motors.

It has only tripped once and automatically reset after 5 or 10 minutes.

Better to blow a fuse or circuit breaker than an expensive electric motor.

cheers

Craig

[Geoff R]

A wise Grunt once said "I may not be very smart but i can lift `eavy fings".
I have been responsible for blowing mine up a couple of times and i was very lucky the boys at BLA were so accomodating and understanding to the average Meat Head, like myself :o .
My boat has about 1 foot of freeboard all round and my Kota is rather close to the water, which inturn has made it suffer far more Water Ingress than it was designed to cope with. Therefore she suffers a lot more than the average Kota by way of corrosion. I have come to grief when i was trying to clean the corrosion off parts whilst still connected to the battery "DICKHEAD" and i have bridged electical parts that were not supposed to touch resulting in a short.
I don't know if a fuse would of helped me in this circumstance but i tell you, I reckon it's a pretty good idea to get one installed. I think a good idea is to contact an auto electrician, for the cost of 1 hour for his labour and maybe a total $50 for parts i am sure he would be able to set up a kota on your boat with fuses, quick connect anti corrosion fittings, an on and off switch and do a job only a quality tradesman could do that won't let you down.
Or if you know your stuff attempt it yourself at your own peril.
Regards Geoff P

[diesel]

Thanks for the reply Craig,Bear and Geoff. I have since spoken to an autoleccy and he will load it up on his machine and see what size circuit breaker he needs to install,cheers fella`s:)

[BoofHed]

Silly Jeff lol , 40 amp reset, 50 amp connectors,marine battery teminals and 1.5 hrs labour - $255.00. Cheep considerin min kotta,
110 amp hr battery, and new battery charger comes to about $2,500 big ones. Lot of days wrk there to blow in one outing. Now i can come home and plug charger in and not have to worry about cookin battery pr doin anny damage at all