Went on the water yesterday and loved the results.
1. About 5/3 Minn Kota switch. She is a funny thing. I guess Minn kota motor design is such that they connect more speed coils in parallel, to increase the speed. As opposed to using (admittedly more wasteful) method of having dedicated coils for each speed. So the switch behaves accordingly - as you rotate the knob, it engages more contacts
2. Since I have a lathe, I turned my own control knob out of 1.5" Delrin. Drilled a blind .250 hole, D&T 10/24 set screw
3. The whole thing is mounted inside of Lowes 4x4x4 watertight enclosure (look by electrical conduits, it is grey-ish plastic)
4. Watersnake, as opposed to Minn Kota, does use 2 coils, connecting only 1 at a time, for Hi and Low speed. Due to switch design, I had to hope that it wouldn't mind both coils connected in parallel when in High Speed. After measuring the current, it appeared to work (as tested by motor in a pail of water). Tests on the water confirmed the results. Top current didn't change. With some chop and wind, I am drawing 18A out of 24lb motor at Hi (with both coils in parallel).
One day I gotta take my GPS phone with me, to measure the top speed, but I am satisfied with it so far. Where I fish, I put on about 7 miles during average fishing trip and speed is fast enough for my needs.
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