# Minn Kota troller - made it quiet again in 30 minutes



## wasilvers

After 2 years of good use, my Minn Kota Edge trolling motor was going SLOWER making noises from the front of it. I thought it was going slower from the battery and bought another. The noise was just enough that I'd swear it affected my fishing. I took it apart and saw the motor brushes were chipped and the motor armature was slightly grooved from use. Sorry I don't have pictures.

To disassemble, remove your prop - be careful you catch the 'key'. There are two bolts behind the prop, these back out about 3/4 inch before they are loose, pull them out and the top cover comes out, probably will pull the motor out with it. Then the motor houseing comes off. Note: If you do this, make sure you mark front and back, top and bottom of the trolling motor 'body', the long shaft. If you put it on upside down, it will run backwards :roll: 

I ordered new brushes (all of $9) from a local vendor who overnighted them to me for a total cost of under $19. Then I took a tiny wire brush on my dremmel to the armature to polish and knock down the ridges. This probably isn't necessary as the next polishign step does a better job. I bought some high grit sandpaper, 400 and 600 grit. I stuck the prop end of the troller in my drill. Put the drill in a vise and turn it on. The motor rotates round and round, like in a lathe - except I put mine pointing straight up to lessen the chance of it falling. Take a small strip of the fine grit sandpapers and move it up and down on the armature as it turns. It takes off the rest of ridges and makes is smooth as glass - especially as you move to the 600 grit paper. A good blow off with the airhose and I was ready to put it back together. I oiled the one bearing on the shaft, put in the new brushes and reassembled. 

Oh my goodeness. There is so much more power - high speed is REALLY fast and it is QUIET linke new again. The only sound I hear is the prop moving through the air. 

Can't wait to get back on the water!


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## 200racing

can we get this pinned at the top of the page?


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## richg99

Neat....clear, simple instructions on how to rebuild a failing trolling motor. Great....thanks for posting. Rich


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## brmurray

this is what I was looking for. Any issue sliding the armature back in with the spring loaded bushes?


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## wasilvers

brmurray said:


> this is what I was looking for. Any issue sliding the armature back in with the spring loaded bushes?



No, I put the armature back in, THEN slid the black casing over the top. If you hold it together, it goes on easy enough.


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## juggernoob

wasilvers said:


> No, I put the armature back in, THEN slid the black casing over the top. If you hold it together, it goes on easy enough.



x2 Have a good grip on the Center Housing and armature, as the magnets will want to pull the armature towards it as you slide the housing over the armature. Oh and watch your fingers.


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## baseball_guy_99

Will this work the same way on a Motor Guide?

Mine is a little to noisy for my liking. I cleaned out all the line, weeds, and crap from behind the prop but it's still a little noisy.


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## shawnfish

dont see why not.....


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## baseball_guy_99

Ok now I'm in need of the experts here on tinboats haha.

I called my local marine parts dealer and she said she can only get the seal kit for my trolling motor.

I have a Motor Guide Tracker Pro Series 60. It's a 56lb thrust and is 12/24v.

I need to find what else I would need other than the seal kit.

Thanks in advance guys!


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## Maggiesmaster

Great info!! Were you able to order the seal kit to make it watertight again?


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## wasilvers

Maggiesmaster said:


> Great info!! Were you able to order the seal kit to make it watertight again?


 I didn't need it for mine, just put it back together and it hasn't had any water in it. I took it apart later to check if it was leaking.


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## lets fish salt

just a idea when we can not find ,parts for starters &mags for airboats !we go to local ele.supplie house an match seal ,bearings an roters ,bushens ,oilseals ! take your parts with you to match them up!sometimes differant parts inter change with each other! good luck !"lets fish salt"


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## JMichael

wasilvers said:


> After 2 years of good use, my Minn Kota Edge trolling motor was going SLOWER making noises from the front of it. I thought it was going slower from the battery and bought another. The noise was just enough that I'd swear it affected my fishing. I took it apart and saw the motor brushes were chipped and the motor armature was slightly grooved from use. Sorry I don't have pictures.
> 
> To disassemble, remove your prop - be careful you catch the 'key'. There are two bolts behind the prop, these back out about 3/4 inch before they are loose, pull them out and the top cover comes out, probably will pull the motor out with it. Then the motor houseing comes off. Note: If you do this, make sure you mark front and back, top and bottom of the trolling motor 'body', the long shaft. If you put it on upside down, it will run backwards :roll:
> 
> I ordered new brushes (all of $9) from a local vendor who overnighted them to me for a total cost of under $19. Then I took a tiny wire brush on my dremmel to the armature to polish and knock down the ridges. This probably isn't necessary as the next polishign step does a better job. I bought some high grit sandpaper, 400 and 600 grit. I stuck the prop end of the troller in my drill. Put the drill in a vise and turn it on. The motor rotates round and round, like in a lathe - except I put mine pointing straight up to lessen the chance of it falling. Take a small strip of the fine grit sandpapers and move it up and down on the armature as it turns. It takes off the rest of ridges and makes is smooth as glass - especially as you move to the 600 grit paper. A good blow off with the airhose and I was ready to put it back together. I oiled the one bearing on the shaft, put in the new brushes and reassembled.
> 
> Oh my goodeness. There is so much more power - high speed is REALLY fast and it is QUIET linke new again. The only sound I hear is the prop moving through the air.
> 
> Can't wait to get back on the water!



There is one point I would add to this writeup. All the individual contacts on the commutator (that's the part of the armature the brushes come in contact with, for those that might not know), are separated by mica. The contacts wear down also, just not as fast as the brushes. Sanding the commutator to get a clean even surface wears it down even more. If it gets to a point where the mica is even with the surface of the commutator contacts, your brushes will wear down many times faster because of the added friction and your motors performance will suffer. The mica needs to be undercut so that it is 1/32" or .032" lower than the contacts (no more than 3/64 max). If yours need to be cut down, you can do this with a triangular file and a sharp hack saw blade. *DO NOT* use a dull blade as this will tear the mica rather than cut it. Use the file to start a grove in the center of the mica between each pair of contacts. Then use the hack saw blade to undercut the mica. Be careful not to let the blade jump up on your contacts and scratch them up and blow off any mica dust when finished.


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## aeviaanah

Anyone know what kind of oil should be used for the planetary gears inside the drive unit? Also how much?

I have an older model, my noise is coming from there...Ive cleaned it all out and now I need to add the oil.


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