Hello everyone, first time posting and I’m desperate for help. I was recently gifted a Shakespeare 606 wondertroll. 6v or 12v. I believe it was made somewhere in 1960-1970 and is 18lb thrust. The problem I’m having is a complete power dump when switched into forward. Everything is operational and perfectly fine in reverse. When switched to forward, it stops, and will melt wires. Learned that through trial and error. I can’t find any info online, so I’m looking to anyone here with knowledge on this motor. I’m not very good at all with electronics or motors. I have replaced all the switches, there is a on/off a switch to control speeds (low, med, high) and a toggle for forward and reverse. The motor is good, it runs when I hook it directly to the battery. I also notice the prop spins in the same direction no matter if it’s hooked directly to the motor or through the wiring in reverse, it seems like it’s spinning in the forward position.

 

... Looking closely at the pictures posted above, but do not see any obvious signs of excessive high temperature or thermal distress. If the battery is shorting to ground, there should be some indication of discoloration on a heatsink or transistor, or maybe a melted wire, to provide a clue.

 

Welcome to AAC.

Are there any relays? Relays are just electronically controlled switches.

Not sure I understand your statement about hooking the motor directly to the battery and it running in one direction no matter which way you wire it. Please clarify.

You said:

The motor is good, it runs when I hook it directly to the battery. I also notice the prop spins in the same direction no matter if it’s hooked directly to the motor or through the wiring in reverse, it seems like it’s spinning in the forward position.

The underlined part of your quote is what confuses me. It's probably just me, but can the motor be run in either direction directly wired to a battery? I mean hook the positive to one of the two motor terminals (assuming two terminal motor) and it runs one direction, reverse the polarity and will it run in the opposite direction?

 

Welcome to AAC.

Are there any relays? Relays are just electronically controlled switches.

Not sure I understand your statement about hooking the motor directly to the battery and it running in one direction no matter which way you wire it. Please clarify.

You said:

The underlined part of your quote is what confuses me. It's probably just me, but can the motor be run in either direction directly wired to a battery? I mean hook the positive to one of the two motor terminals (assuming two terminal motor) and it runs one direction, reverse the polarity and will it run in the opposite direction?

That’s suppose to be the case but I have not tested this theory. It runs when the red motor wire is connected to hot on battery, and black with black. So that tells me the motor is good, reversing the polarity would make it run in reverse. I noticed after I posted that when the motor is wired and running in reverse, the prop is actually spinning forward, I believe. This could boil down to one of the wires being in the wrong terminal. I made sure to replace all wires to their Correct matching positions when Replacing the switches.

 

... Looking closely at the pictures posted above, but do not see any obvious signs of excessive high temperature or thermal distress. If the battery is shorting to ground, there should be some indication of discoloration on a heatsink or transistor, or maybe a melted wire, to provide a clue.

I melted the brown wire ounce already, and replaced. That was on first run. After that I haven’t tried to run it in forward long enough to melt it. Last night I swapped some wires around, and melted the wires to the battery. Tested the motor with jumper cables, everything still works except forward. I noticed that although the prop spins in reverse setting, i believe it is spinning in forward. I can’t afford to guess anymore and burn more up, removing the prop to open the motor housing has been impossible so far, so im trying to avoid having to replace anything down the tube.

 

something is shorted. never worked on a boat motor, speeds are stepped, not verable? you are prob limited in speeds in reverese and diff circuit. If everything else works, but fails forward, it has to be that circuitry in forward. You need ti ID the forward circuit and check. Could have DC solenoids for speed control

check your speed control and wires too, forward and reveres is diff. also, does the gearbox move in both directions?

 

something is shorted. never worked on a boat motor, speeds are stepped, not verable? you are prob limited in speeds in reverese and diff circuit. If everything else works, but fails forward, it has to be that circuitry in forward. You need ti ID the forward circuit and check. Could have DC solenoids for speed control

check your speed control and wires too, forward and reveres is diff. also, does the gearbox move in both directions?

I guess the speeds are stepped? There is a 3 way rocker switch that controls the speeds. Then a toggle for forward and reverse. And a toggle for on/off. I can’t access any gears or lower working parts at the moment

 

Since at full speed the motor is directly connected to the battery, I would try unplugging the motor from all the control switches and tap the battery directly to the motor wires. At best you should see it turn one way then the other when you reverse the battery wires.

If one way or the other makes the shorty thing happen you know the problem is the motor itself (and I am clueless for further help).

If the motor spins both ways then the speed/direction switches are at fault, and I would need better pictures to attempt a remote diagnosis.

 

Since at full speed the motor is directly connected to the battery, I would try unplugging the motor from all the control switches and tap the battery directly to the motor wires. At best you should see it turn one way then the other when you reverse the battery wires.

If one way or the other makes the shorty thing happen you know the problem is the motor itself (and I am clueless for further help).

If the motor spins both ways then the speed/direction switches are at fault, and I would need better pictures to attempt a remote diagnosis.

I agree. If motor can be run forward and reverse by simply swapping the battery wires then that proves the motor is good. It also gives a good clue as to where the problem will be. Likely, as @ErnieM said - in the control board. Again, I agree with this approach.

I doubt it's a gearing problem. Electric trolling motors shouldn't have a gear box for reversing the props. But I don't know that for a fact. I could be wrong. Again.

 

get a inexpenive clamp on meter for current draw reading. should help some. try diff on off settings, speed control, etc. watch load off battery. if you knwo how its wired you can chase down wiring connection faluts with a volt meter. anything over a .5v is usally suspect. now day there are many less expensive clap meters

 

As you say that reversing the polarity of the supply to the motor does not change it's direction it seems to rule out it being a permanent magnet motor. So it is likely to be shunt wound or series wound motor. I would therefor expect there to be 4 wires to the motor. It would help if you posted a picture of the outside of the panel that the switches are on so that we know the function of each switch by the markings on the panel. It would also help if you identified the wires coming from the battery and the wires going to the motor.

Les.

 

Get an inexpenive clamp meter for current draw reading. Should help some. Try diff on off settings, speed control, etc. Watch load off battery. If you know how its wired you can chase down wiring connection faults with a volt meter. Anything over 0.5v is usually suspect. Now day there are many low cost clamp meters. {some editing by Tony}

Clamp meters don't work on DC circuits. Wish they did, but they don't.

 

Hi Tony, You can get clamp meters that work on DC but they are more expensive than ones that work only on AC. So the cheap ones only work on AC. The ones that work on DC use Hall effect devices rather than just the current transformer principle.

Les.

 

Thanks LesJones I knew they're available but at substantially higher cost. The statement of "cheap" negates the hall effect sensor. I have a hall effect current sensor module somewhere in my stockpile. Requires a 5V source and gives readings (I think) as high as 10 amps.