all leckied up and no place to go

[bart]

Evening all
I've got this Minn Kota 80lb rip tide AP attaced to my tinny. I haven't used it in anger as yet, only a couple of test runs. I'm new to the electric experience and have a few questions regarding the behavour of this gadget. Mine has a co pilot remote only and I noticed that on several occasions that the motor wouldn't respond to the turn buttons on the remote. My friend that was with me said that he also noticed this and thought that it was occouring when one of us was standing right in front of the motor, blocking the way, as it were. Now, I'm under the impression that these thing work on a transmitted frequency and wouldn't think that someone standing in the way would affect the signal?? Or maybe I need to let my nails grow so I press the button fully.
I have had some difficulty with steering it, but have since been told that I need to keep my outboard in the water. ( it's attached to a Hornet) Interestingly, the reason I was given for this is not that the outboard is acting as a stabilising rudder as I thought, but because the weight of the out board when trimmed right up, transfers weight forward, resulting in poor steering!
I feel I've done a very thorough job in instaling this unit. It is permanantly mounted to the bow plate, which was factory built. (ie; no quick relaese bracket) I have noticed a vibration coming through the hull when going at or near max rpm. I have the base plate bolted straight to the hull with no dampener or rubber mat between. Would this possibly make a difference if installed?
Is there a recommended depth that I should lower the prop to? Maybe that has alot to do with my problems?
Well that's my fair share of questions for today.I look forward to hearing your opinion on these and would really appreciate your input
Thanks
Bart

[Tony Ireland]

Welcome to the sight Bart.

Not to sure about the co pilot but with the motor on the back it is used as a rudder to keep the boat straight while moving with the kota and has got little impact on weight transfer. If you want to test it for yourself drive along on the kota with the rear motor on full lock to one side and then put it on full lock the other way.

As for the depth I like mine about 6 inches under water but test it at different depths to see what suits you and your stile of boat.

[bart]

thanks Tony

I'll give that a go next time I'm on the water, hopefully next week!