Motor power-management protection method and circuit

A method of power management protection for a trolling motor, the method comprising:

• amplifying a drain voltage of a MOSFET;
• dividing the amplified voltage with a voltage divider such than an output of the voltage divider switches between an on and an off state;
• synchronizing the voltage divider with a PWM signal;
• delaying a PWM control signal to account for the MOSFET delay;
• averaging an outputted signal with an integrating circuit;
• comparing the averaged signal to a variable reference signal for a predetermined discharge time, and latching the MOSFET in a trip state when the averaged signal is greater than the variable reference signal for the predetermined discharge time;
• and
• resetting the MOSFET when a throttle control is set to an off position.

A power management protection circuit for a trolling motor, the circuit comprising:

• a voltage divider receiving an amplified drain voltage and outputting a square wave switch signal, and turning off a switch signal output of the voltage divider when the drain voltage has a high value;
• an integrator circuit receiving the switch signal and outputting an averaged voltage signal;
• a comparator receiving the averaged voltage signal and comparing the average voltage signal to a variable reference signal;
• a discharge circuit providing a predetermined time delay when the averaged signal is greater than the variable reference signal,
• wherein the MOSFET is turned off when the averaged signal is greater than the variable reference signal for the duration of the time delay;
• a throttle control, wherein setting the throttle control to an off position resets the turned off MOSFET;
• and
• a recovery circuit, wherein the recovery circuit requires the throttle control to be set to the off position for a predetermined amount of time before resetting the MOSFET.