MinnKota foot pedal problem/solution

Took my foot pedal to work last night and took it apart, so if you’ve never seen one apart, like me, then here ya go. Not much to them, actually. This is a PowerDrive 55 model, and when I turn left, it goes left. When I turn right, well….not so much. By looking at it last night, I’m putting my money on the sliding mechanism not, well, sliding. I tried my buddy’s foot pedal, and my motor worked like new, so I know it’s not the connection point. After actually seeing this up close, I’m sure it’s gotta be either the sliding part or the circuit board. Most parts in there are fairly dirty, and I’m hoping a good cleaning will take care of it. My question is, what would you recommend to spray in there to clean it up?

The first thing that comes to mind is WD40, but I’m afraid of it attracting dust afterwards and making it gummy. These pieces are plastic, so I need something that won’t harm it. Basically, what I want to do is spray it up, make it clean again, then I’m thinking of spraying some silicone lube in there of some sort, and see if that makes things slide easier.

What do you guys have for suggestions? Thanks–

Hey bud-
It’d be my guess to clean it up with something that leaves no residue and call it good. Silicone and WD40 all leave a film that will re-collect dirt and you’ll be back in the same predicament. jerr

Brian, I just took mine apart & I used a Q-tip to get most of the dust off of it. I also used a q-tip with a little vaseline to wipe in the moving parts. Mine works like new. Don’t know if this will help you out.

I have the same mdl. I had trouble all last summer. It was under warranty so had it replaced this spring. I tried cleaning it and still was bad.

You can buy cans of electrical parts cleaner. Similar to brake clean but safe for circuit boards. This will wash off all the crud and dry with no residue.

Buy a copilot you will never want to use that foot pedal

Having some problems myself. Jon do you use water to rinse off after spraying with the cleaner? Or does the cleaner just do the job?

Thanks,
Nut

Thanks guys. I’m most interested in cleaning it with some sort of solvent just to get it all nice and shiny clean again. I’m thinking that might help. But where the help is really needed is in the two sliding plastic pieces. So I’d like to get something to spray in there that won’t harm it, but will make it clean and slide easier. I’ll see what I can find. Thanks again–

Here’s your solution, cable drive.

Too bad they have a monopoly and keep building those garbage powerdrive pedals.

Quote:

---

Buy a copilot you will never want to use that foot pedal

---

I’ll second the co-pilot.

I haven’t used a pedal in years and don’t even

pack it any longer.

There might be some help in you email (the ido one)

I like the speed control on my foot pedal and also use the copilot often. If you have a bad ankle like I do cable drives hurt to operate. My PD is 7 years old and I’ve had to buy 1 new foot pedal which is going strong.

Thanks Nick!

I’ll give em a look through.

Sorry to let you know, but I had the same issue. Spend the 90.00 dollars or so for a new pedal(minnkota is notorious for these pedal circuit boards to go out,it is the board.

Ya, I kinda gave up on it myself. Have since moved on to a Terrova with iPilot, and to be honest….don’t even have the foot pedal in the boat.

Sure hope yours is working to get you some fish!

Old post yes, but I thought I would say I had the issue with the pinholes on the top of the buttons. The unit would not turn to the left, everything else worked fine.

The hardest part of disassembly is sliding the top white plastic all the way to the right, and then somewhat pulling it up away from the back base, and then getting it to slide back left, up and away from the rest of the unit.
When you slide the top white piece to the right, you’re sliding it across the notch, so it will be tough, and then tough again sliding it back left to pull it out.
I found if you move it laterally up and down against the back while pulling outward, it will wiggle out.

Then you can peel back with an exacto knife, the outter clear layer away from the circuit board.
Do it slowly and carefully as to not pull up the copper in the circuit board. Once far enough, you can use vinegar and q-tips to clean it well.
Then just use tiny lines of super glue to adhere the clear layer back over the circuit board.

The big thing to remember is move slow! The metal “tabs” that ARE the buttons are not adhered to the circuit board. They’re very small and fragile so don’t bend them.

There were also holes developing on other buttons, but I just used some liquid electric tape, and gave each button a nice extra layer. I didn’t do the variable speed strip though, as that might require something like clear fingernail polish because the friction would just rip up the electric tape most likely…

Once getting it all glued and slowly assembled, it turned left! lol

I’ll post some pics after getting them off my phone, but ya, thought I would share. I got the trolling motor off a guy on c-list the other day and got out on the water to discover this.. :/ (he offered a refund but I figured I would tear into it and if it didn’t go well I would just get the remote control)

So I’m having this same issue with my foot pedal. Studying electronics at school I thought I’d take it apart and see what I’m working with. The problem is the circuit board. The sliding portion just adjusts your speed and varies resistance in current to the board. This is not the issue. It’s a pushbutton contact on the board that gets corroded and stops working. Problem is I can’t find a replacement board for it without buying a while new pedal.

New pedals at fishelectronics run about $45 bucks. Not a overly expensive repair.

I have taken the V2 model apart after it stopped working. Essentially the same type things in that model as in the model in the photo here.

I did use WD40 to clean it up. Worked well.

I found my problem. The white plastic pieces need lubrication so that they moved easier when somebody steps on the pedals. Once I got everything lubricated correctly it worked like a charm.

Not easy to put the springs back though.

I’ve taken my V2 pedal apart several times. Some of the problem is dirt and sand in the works. I’ve used WD-40, Q-tips, compressed air to blow out the gunk. Next time I’m going to try Armorall. It’d made for plastic and it’s slippery. The white slider is another part of the problem. I’ve taken a belt sander to the underside of the top cover on the left and right edges to remove some material and get more travel in the pedal, thus more travel in the slider. Replacing the springs is easier if you hook them in the pedal top plate and hold them in place with a piece of electrical tape. Then use a twist tie on the bottom hook of each spring to guide them through the holes as you lower the plate into place.

I had the same problem with that same footledal. Cleaned it and sprayed a bunch of white lithium grease all over the slide mechanism and haven’t had a problem with it since.

Definitely try cleaning it first. If you take it apart and manually press down on the connection when attached to the trolling motor, you will easily know if it is a circuit board issue or needs to be cleaned.

These pedals are pretty crappy from my experience as I’ve had to circuit boards go out in 5 years. On my third pedal. My next trolling motor will not include this type of pedal.

The iPilots would be fine especially if you are actually trolling but if you are bass fishing and picking apart a specific shoreline, it is a lot easier to keep casting while using the foot pedal….just my $.02

I’ve never done it, but heard somewhere to just dip it in the water occasionally to wash the sand out. Sits out in the rain, so it should work!

Guess I’ve been lucky. I have 3 including one from 1998 and never had a problem. I know the remotes are cool but I use my hands to fish and my feet are readily available to control the boat.

Hey all, I know this is an ancient post but i thought i’d drop a bit of info off for you all. I’m in the middle of rebuilding my own foot switch and i took apart my dad’s foot pedal to trace the schematic in Cad Software to figure out the wiring. I’ll post photos of what i really mean but here’s what i’ve got!

The Pedal consists of 7 electrical connections i’ve labeled on the schematic by color. In order to build a replacement with more traditional parts(That wont suck and use these cheap PCB mounted switches) you’ll need 2 DPDT Momentary foot switches for left/Right controls, 1 SPST Momentary foot switch for you’re ON control, 1 SPST latching foot switch for the Always On Control and a Simple Potentiometer knob for the dial 1K Ohm Logarithmic. It all looks really straightforward. I’m excited to give it a go. But here’s the schematic. I’ll update with more Photos and info once i’ve got it.

Attachments:

1. 

   Minn-Kota-Foot-Control.png
   

Thanks for contributing. I can’t wait to see the end product. And steps along the way if possible!

Dude,

Thank you for posting your info on the foot controls!!!!!!!

Joe