Electric trolling motors

[TheCartBoy]

Electric trolling motors like Minn Kota, specifically the basic ones with brushed DC motors, the speed control is a set of 5 fixed speeds as you twist the handle. Has anyone taken one apart?

I'm curious how simple the mechanism is, or if it's actually a speed controller with little electronics in there.

Goal being, can I give it more volts and expect it to run or will I just smoke the handle.

[DaveTM]

I would (thinking out loud) think the wiring and circuitry is built to handle 12V. Pushing up the voltage to say 24V may juice up your power, but there's likely a "weak link" in the factory setup that's not going to handle a double voltage for all that long.

I could be wrong.....but that's my guess.

[TheCartBoy]

https://lakesidemarineandservice.com...sembly-2774037

I think so too. There is a controller board in there and it has some relays, cap, and what looks like a power FET on a heatsink. I imagine it's controlling speed by PWM of the motor. Without thoroughly analyzing the board I won't know if all the components could handle higher voltage, that said I could probably find an off the shelf DC motor speed controller and Macgyver that in.