Ohhh... So THAT'S why it wouldn't run!

[arkansasnative]

Long story short i got three trolling motors for free... One is really too old to mess with, the other was a 90's model minn kota im guessing and i ran it over with my boat trailer (i do stupid things sometimes), and one was pretty new minn kota, just a few years old. Well as you probably guessed, none worked! Using a circuit tester i hooked the two new ones up and got the one that i ran over with a boat trailer (mostly plastic damage on the head) to work on 3 forward settings and 1 reverse (Very happy i had a motor that at least sorta worked!). The newest one had nothing but it was getting power thru the head so i figured it had to be in the foot. Today my curiosity got the best of me and i took the foot apart and this is what i found!

I'm gonna try to clean it up and see if i can get power... does anyone know what i could use to get rid of the corrosion? It has a sort of liquid feel and none of it is really dry so it shouldn't be that hard to get off. I've heard mixed reviews on using brake cleaner and then blowing it out with an air compressor?

 

[Jdholmes]

Wow, that's some messy looking stuff. Hopefully it works out for you!

 

[JMichael]

I wouldn't risk using any solvents around the windings on the armature. That's a very thin clear coating on those wires and if you remove any of it, it will short out and kill the armature.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Hot soapy water and a nylon scrub brush. Lotsa elbow grease. Good luck.

 

[Butthead]

Wow, was that one used in saltwater or something?

 

[great white]

You can get a spray electrical cleaner, which is pretty close to brake clean but not as aggressive.

Both are pretty much for oil residue and won't do much for what you've got going on there.

Soft bristle, soap and water with light pressure is probably the best advice.

You can go over the commutator with a piece of emery cloth to polish it up a bit. Very light pressure, you're only trying to clean take off the copper's "patina". Another light brush to clean the dust off after than.

Make sure your brushes can move freely in their holders. They're carbon, so be gentle when cleaning or removing them. Hard to tell from the pics, but you're look pretty worn out. Maybe you can find a new set somewhere. They're usually only around 5-10 bucks. If you can find anyone selling them that is.....

Make sure your contacts are clean and the wires are good at their terminations.

have a look at the bearings on either end of the shaft, make sure you wipe them clean before re-installation. Looks like you have a little bluing on the shaft where the prop comes out. Have a good look at that housing bearing for issues.

The rest of the "smutz" on the housing isn't that a big deal as long as it doesn't get in the way of the rotor/stator clearance. But you will want to clean it out of there because if it comes loose it can mess up your commutator surface and brushes. Soap, water and a light bristle will also get it done fine.

Good luck.

 

[arkansasnative]

Wow, was that one used in saltwater or something?

Nope... im pretty sure its lived its whole life in good ol' arkansas. Thanks everybody for the advice, it looks like im gonna go at it first with soapy water and see what that gets me!

 

[fender66]

Maybe I'm stating the "obvious", but assuming you do get it cleaned up and working....don't forget to figure out how it got that way in the first place. It would suck to spend time getting it working and not resolve the issue and have it happen again.

Good luck, and keep us posted. I'd really like to see you succeed with this.

 

[arkansasnative]

Well I've spent the last 4 hours cleaning the motor with soap, water, air compressor, and a toothbrush and let me say the cleaning is MUCH easier than putting the dang thing back together! I did run into a couple of snags... 1. The small bolts as seen in the first pic (original post) were so corroded that one of them crumbled just by touching it! A quick trip for some stainless bolts solved that but i found out that they're a weird length so the ones i ended up buying were about a 1/4" shorter but they still held fine. 2. After i got those bolts out i took out that plastic piece in pic one and pulled the bearing ( i say bearing... brass ball with a hole in it, felt washer, a slightly corroded steel washer, and a cardboard type ring) out and cleaned/lubed it, and found what i thought was packed clay/mud in the nose of the trolling motor. After i started cleaning it i noticed that it appeared to be some sort of epoxy, a couple of the wires went down into it, and it was hard as a rock! I just cleaned the nasty stuff off of the surface of it... i guess it's there for a counterbalance/vibration dampener or something. I cleaned the commutator (big copper piece on the second pic down \/) with some 2000 grit sandpaper.

All Clean!

Putting it back together was the toughest part with only one pair of hands. getting the brushes pushed back into their slots as i was putting the magnet/coil part back into the middle and then pushing it down into the bearing was difficult. And then as i slid the outside housing (which is also covered in magnets) back over it everything pulled back out and sucked up into the housing! Needless to say I didn't have enough hands to take many pics during this step!

I finally got it all back together, hooked it up to a battery, turned the throttle and NOTHING! :evil: I hadn't put the prop on yet so i grabbed the output shaft and twisted it as I messed with the throttle. I got a little bump of power then dead, another bump then dead again, then i gave it one good twist with the throttle on and up it spun! After about 5-10 seconds of running kind of bogged down it was purring like a kitten in all 5 forward and all 5 reverse settings!!! Just saved about 150 bucks for a new one and I only spent 1.08 for the new bolts!

 

[fender66]

Congrats! Well done grasshopper. =D> =D>

 

[Butthead]

Good stuff; glad it worked!
I asked about saltwater because I was thinking a seal went bad with that much crud and corrosion getting in there.

 

[richg99]

That is the kind of story that I love to read on this site. Thanks for posting. R

 

[JMichael]

Glad to hear you got it going. Nice to save a few bucks on projects like that. I hope you got it sealed back up good so you don't have that problem again.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Happy for you that you got it going! Well done!