Battery set up

[herefishy]

How can I tell what the best trolling battery set up would be. I'm trying to help a buddy out. He has a Stratos 18XL magnum. Im not sure if it has a 24 or 36 volt trolling motor and I'm not sure if it makes a difference other than the amount of batteries it has.

 

[chillerman69]

It's pretty important to know what your trolling motor voltage is before offering ideas. If your sure the choice is between a 24 or 36, I'd say 24. I would think the better either/or on that boat would be a 12 or 24 volt. Since batteries can be hooked up 2 different ways, counting them isn't a sure way to tell. Find the T/M model number and you should be able to get a better answer

 

[herefishy]

It is a 24 volt MinnKota Maxxum. Does that help?

 

[chillerman69]

The most common set up would be a total of 3 batteries in the boat. 1 start battery and 2 Deep Cycle batteries connected in series. Hooking the two 12 volt T/M batteries together in series gives you the 24 volts needed for your T/M. Ground/Negative (-) from battery A goes to T/M while the Positive (+) from battery B goes to T/M. Connect the positive (+) on battery A to the ground/negative (-) on battery B. If your wires going to the T/M are color coded, the red or red stripe will be the positive(+), while the solid black will be your ground/negative (-) Take nothing for granted, verify that on the T/M end, that color coded wires are matched correctly red to red/black to black. If both wires going to T/M from back of boat are the same color, you must use meter to verify which will be the positive (+) and which will be your ground/negative (-) This probably won't answer all your questions but is a start

 

[herefishy]

Thank you sir. It definitely gets us started in the right direction. We are going to search for some descent batteries reasonably priced.

 

[Hook1]

The Everstart Maxx at Walmart are doing well for me this year.

 

[Oldman]

+ 1 on everstart maxx

 

[herefishy]

Is there a way to tell what size battery would be best?