Circuit Breaker 

A Speed Switch can be damaged by using the motor without your circuit breaker. When a propeller has debris caught in it, the motor requests more power from the battery to produce the same speeds. Without your circuit breaker to protect your motor, the increased power can damage the speed switch! If you open your motor’s head and see burn marks on the wires and speed switch, this is a clear indication that you should replace this part.

Water damage

This is another way you can lose speeds on your trolling motor. Occasionally, motors have fallen into the water and have been completely submerged. While the lower unit of the motor is waterproof, the top head of the motor is only water-resistant. Similar to a gas outboard, you are in trouble if the motor falls in the water.

The top head of the motor allows for air exchange via the space between the head and tiller handle to cool the motor. Due to this small space, water can get inside the motor and travel down the shaft into the lower motor unit. If water remains in the lower motor unit it can cause damage to the carbon brushes and other components. If your motor is submerged in water for any period of time this should be dealt with immediately.

If your motor is fully submerged, quickly remove it from the water and disconnect it from any power source. Then loosen your two thru-bolts, located behind the propeller, to separate the rear endbell from the motor unit in order to remove any trapped water. Then, hang the motor upside down for 24 hours to ensure all the water comes out.

Note: To remove the water from the lower motor unit, you need to loosen the thru-bolts just enough to open the rear endbell (part 32). You do not need to remove the thru-bolts to remove the water.  

Defects

From time to time, we have speed switches that have a manufacturing defect. In order to reduce defects, we have redesigned our switches to improve their longevity and durability. Specifically, we have updated the materials to create a higher melting point and increased the surface area for the electrical contacts to reduce resistance. 

Newport is able to produce motors with a less than 2% defect rate because of our attention to detail in manufacturing parts and assembling the motors to ensure all the pieces work well together. 

Could It Be The Speed Coil?

The speed coil (Part #16) is located in the lower-motor assembly and it is extremely rare that this piece is damaged. Considering this, we will have customers replace the speed switch first as this solves 99% of the cases. If a speed coil is malfunctioning, usually the motor will only run at full speed regardless of the speed you select in reverse or forward. If the problem persists we will troubleshoot the lower motor unit. 

To replace this part, you must purchase the Lower Shaft Assembly (Parts #14-22). This repair requires quite a bit of labor, and for this reason, these parts are not available on the website. We want to ensure customers understand the technicality of repairs and the amount of time it can take. Please contact us directly for more information.

If you have any additional questions about our motors, please see our Motors FAQ Page. For more in-depth articles, please visit our Motor Support Page. If you can’t find the information you need, give us a call (866) 721-0002 Monday to Friday: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm PST or reach out to us via email SUPPORT@NEWPORTVESSELS.COM.