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The position sensors are magnetic. The do fail, but obstruction in the really not an issue. I is hard to block a magnetic field, almost impossible. You can "redirect" a magnetic field with a shield. This is what I remember from school about 60 years ago.
I had the same problem late in the fall in temps in the upper 20's. I always just launched my boat and used the Ulterra to bring it back to the dock after I parked my truck. That morning it just floated away across the bay and a friend had to go and retrieve my boat for me.
Anyway the problem is on the lubrication of the latch pins and the ramps. Lube them up a little, I used teflon dry lube spay and have not had any issues since. By the way that only happened to me a couple of times, always in really cold weather, When my boat drifted away was while we were launching for a tournament and a bunch of my friends around to laugh at me, but at least they were there to go and get my boat for me.
I called Minn Kota and they were very helpful. They suggested putting Pledge on the shaft. I tried spraying graphite on it think that would be better and it actually made it worse. So I did what Minn Kota tech suggested and wiped it down with pledge. Once I got most of the graphite off it worked perfectly. I just give it a good wipe down now before I launch and so far haven’t had anymore problems. Thanks for all the replies and help. This is why I enjoy this site.
Ive done a couple of posts about the Ulterra 1st Gen. If it is still under warranty send it in. You don’t want to be paying for repair to an Ulterra after the warranty is gone....the parts on and in it cost a lot. I have the same issue...and while cold brings it on it can also happen at other times. Mine was last sent in August 2017....warranty ran out in same month. It started same issues again in December. It is operational but with issues. I am going to run it until it will not work at all and then will get the new Terrova with the lift assist.
Regards
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I took the "turd" (as I like to call it) out the other day to try and diagnose the issue my dad described last year when he used it. Originally I hoped it was just user error. He said that every time he was navigating, when he hit the button, the motor didn't respond. Then he would hit it or hold it and it would run to one side or the other. I "assumed" it to be a faulty or bad remote.
Got on the water, lowered the motor and started operating it. It seemed to function OK. Then I put it in legacy navigation mode (hold the N button on the remote until you are left with an N on the screen without a circle). This is when the issue started. The motor is, for the most part, always pointing towards the front. Except when it is making minor adjustments. I used an island as reference and slowly went around the island. We use this method to work the shore. As you attempted to make a course adjustment, the motor would "hang". This caused you to hit the button a few times. Eventually, the motor would get past the hanging point and run to one side or another (Further than you wanted it to go). I tried trimming the motor up and down with little help.
I brought one of my many spare terrova remotes and programmed it to the TM. It WILL work. You just don't have the deploy and trim features. I wanted to ensure it was not the remote. Although it worked slightly better, there is still a hanging point when the motor points to the front. We primarily troll for walleyes and do might slight adjustments from time to time. We also make lazy turns. This could be a huge issue.
I advised my dad to vigerously lube the "Turd" and we will try it again. Fortunately, it is under warrenty for a couple more months. If it continues to do this, I will be sending it back and asking that they park a Terrova in it's place. I love the concept but "HATE" this motor!