digital maximizer trolling motors, the real deal or not.

[robert1965]

are they realy that much more efficient?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Great question

A real selling point that may, or may not be true.

Perhaps somebody can enlighten us.

[Jon Freeman]

I ran a resort with Minnkota trolling motors all were between 30-50 lbs of thrust. This lake was private and did not allow internal combustion engines on it so those trolling motors got a lot of use and a lot of charging of batteries.

IMO, the maximizers are easier on the batteries' charge. By how much its hard to say because I never really tested the two styles head to head but I do know that my personal 3hp Minnkota electric trolling motor was bigger and pushed the boats around much faster and lasted as long if not longer on a charge than the positive position style.

It's not scientific data because I never did a head to head test, but it might be as good 20% more efficient.

[Jim Almquist]

I can't say for sure that they are more efficient but having the ability to control your speed instead of just 5 speeds was the biggest selling point for me. I also had a 3HP electric and it always seemed like you were to fast or to slow but with the maximizer you can get the exact speed.

[ripstick]

I have a 55 lb max. Never was sure if I got more out of it. But I found out it kick out interference to my rear electronics. I checked around and found out that the way it is.

[robert1965]

what

[Charley]

Ripstick--- Is your trolling motor on the side os your transduer?

You can ran longer. Difference is the old style has set speeds 1,2,3, etc. vs a kind of a dial. I would the real deal. Less charging your battery and more battery life.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I have a 55 lb max. Never was sure if I got more out of it. But I found out it kick out interference to my rear electronics. I checked around and found out that the way it is.

You need to run your electronics off of a different battery than your trolling motor and keep the wires separated.

[PerchJerker]

I think the maximizer is the real deal. Infinite speed adjustments instead of a few speed settings makes for better and easier boat control, and you get a constant drain on the battery instead of lots of surging (starting and stopping). You can get by without it but most people are happier with it.

But .... if you won't be using your motor that often, or for long days where you'll be running down your batteries, you can make a good argument that it doesn't affect your run time since you're not running your battery down anyway.

Bow Mount Motors

Transom Mount Motors

[bassphish2005]

Yes...I have had two,on different boats,you get more battery life no doubt

[fisher972002]

Yes, get it.. Like jimalm said above... The infinite variablilty of the speed is key.. With the non maximizer you have only 5 fixed speeds..

I find myself fine tuning the speed and that fine tunablitly based on wind changes, current, there are so many factors that you WANT the ability to fine tune the speed.. that is the biggest advantage...

On my motor though, the control board went out, cost me $240 to fix, but Sportsmen's in I Falls was able to fix it in a matter of hours they knew exactly what was wrong.. the baord went out, it wold only go on speed 8. and jerky..

ALso I think what the maximizer does it the motor starts slow for a split second, then goes, it has that little hesitation that makes it smooth.. rather than just on and off.. You guys know what I'm talking about....

But I use my motor a lot, I guess sportsmen's said that this problem was common on some of the motors... But it's been running fine since and get the maxxum...

Hate the autopilot, you have to look down at the head to see the dirction you're going rather than feel with the cable based on the position of your foot.. I like to keep watching the shore and not looking at the motor ya know..

Maxxum cable operated.... only way to go. IMO.

[marine_man]

You need to run your electronics off of a different battery than your trolling motor and keep the wires separated.

This is dead on. They need to be on different batteries if you're seeing interference.

marine_man

[stintman]

Yes...I have had two,on different boats,you get more battery life no doubt

\

Yes, there is more life....but it is not primarily due to infinite speed adjustment (although that helps a little).

The Digital Maximizer units use Pulse Width Modulation to control thrust. This would mean that 1/2 speed would have about 1/2 battery drain.

According to the Minn Kota HSOforum the non-maximizer units drain the battery at about the same rate for min and max thrust...at low thrust the extra juice goes into dissipation coils and disperses as heat.

So if you are using the low setting (1 of 5) you get about 5xs the battery life. I know that PWM is a far better for battery life but something does not jive with the Minn Kota explanation. See here for a test chart on the Endura. http://tufox.com/hobie/index.html

It shows a non-maximizer unit giving better performance on the low setting.

stint

[marine_man]

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota Stintman!

marine_man

[delmuts]

Interesting! I know my last two have the maximizer and battery life is very good.

Also! Welcome to FM.

[Northlander]

Real deal.

[hydro]

Stintman, Nice explanation. You hit that one perfectly.

Now, do you have a solution for the interference mentioned above, caused by the field collapse in the motor coils between pulses? Personally, I would try a MOV rated at about 1.5 X applied voltage and see if it helps. What do you think???