Minnkota autopilot problems

[ynotaj]

I have read heaps of reviews from a few different fishing forums about the problems that minnkota have with their electrical circuits but in main the autopilot. All have said that BLA provide great service and have had their problems fixed under warranty. That's fine but why are the problems
occurring in the first place, is everyone just having bad luck or is it poor workmanship that is to blame, and do these faults always happen within the warranty period therefore not costing the owner.

Maybe I am only hearing from a small portion of the owners of minnkotas and you only hear from the ones that are having problems.

What I would like is to have all minnkota owners put up their hand and be honest and say if they have or are having trouble with there leccys.

The autopilot is one of the big selling points for me when considering buying a motor, but if they don't work then they come right back in line with the motorguide.

Hope all you minnkota owners can help me out.

Tony

[Finnatical]

Tony,

I have had my Riptide bowmount for about 12 months and have not had any problems with the motor at all. Has performed faultlessly from day one and was money well spent. Can't understand why I didn't get one earlier. Autopilot is probably the best feature of the motor for the type of fishing I do and it has never let me down - it makes moving and positioning the boat infinately easier and has increased my catch rate significantly.

I would recommend them without hesitation.

[beatle]

Ynotaj- I have the Minn Kota 55lb bow mount and I have had problems with the auto pilot such as the the minn kota spinning around and around in crazy circles whenever I engage the auto pilot button. I normally fish the Tweed river and I have this problem almost always but I have used the motor in inland dams and it appears to work O.K. I did report this problem to BLA and they were very helpful and requested that I send it to them for repair but since then it was working fine in the dams and I have not sent it back for them to have a look at.

[SimonT]

I am currently in the market for a new electric and was thinking about the RT55AP but was concerned about the stories I had heard about breaking etc. I actually spoke to Marco at BLA and he reckons that the majority of problems come about through poor cleaning by the user, and with some simple maintenance the occurrence of issues is significantly reduced. It could just be the supplier talking up the motor, but it did make sense. I would recommend you give them a call and talk to the blokes fixing them as they should give a reasonably good insight.

[craigie]

I have a mid to late 90's model (RT 40 AP Bow Mount).
Has been away in storage for the last 3 years, when last in use the AP was not working.
In the very near future I will be getting the whole unit fully serviced. Hope to have the AP running again.

Should I contact BLA to arrange the service ?
Any Ideas on costs involved ??

Cheers
Craigie.