Straight 24 volt wiring question

[Daniel Tn]

PLEASE Help a poor ole dummy out on this. LOL.

Just got a good trolling motor from one of the CFF guys and it is a great trolling motor. Here is my situation:

I have an older boat that is wired 12/24 volt. When I got the boat it had a 12/24 trolling motor on it and I took it off and sold it. I replaced it with a 12 volt 55 pound thrust trolling motor and that didn't do a good job moving my 20' boat. So I just recently got a 74 pound thrust Minn Kota that is a straight 24 trolling motor. I got all the skematic sheets on how to do the wiring and went out and bought another battery.

I have two EverStart deep cycle trolling batteries, 115 amp hours.

Rigging like the skematic sheet said...I have taken the positive + wire and put it on the + terminal of battery A. Then I have taken the neutral - wire and put it on the neutral - terminal of battery B. And then of course I needed the jumper cable. So I went to Tractor Supply and here is where I get questionable.

The wires in the battery compartment of my boat are 6 gauge. I went after a 6 gauge cable and they had those BUT the terminal hookups were too small to go on my battery terminals. The only one they had that was big enough to fit was a 1 gauge cable and after talking to the salesman he said it should work fine. I got it and came home...hooked it up as follows. I took one end of it and put it on the neutral terminal of battery A and then the other end to the positive terminal of battery B.

I have power to the trolling motor...it works. BUT to me it seems very weak. It is a varible speed 74 pound thrust and I don't know if it would be any different in the water...but outside I have to turn it way up to 70-100 power to get anything much out of it. At 80-100 power it seems like the blade is rotating about the same speed as my 55 pound thrust on high speed. By my thinking it should be a lot more powerful than that.

So by what I have described, can you all help me out some? Did I need to get a 6 gauge cable like I originally went after in order to get my umph out of it, since my other wires are 6 gauge? If so...where do I find one with big enough ends to go over my battery posts??

Also....this boat actually has 4 six gauge wires...it has two reds and two blacks. I have yet to figure out what the other red and black wires are there for. I can't seem to find what they are linked to. Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[dryhorn2]

Home many wires do you have at your trolling motor female outlet on the boat ? My boat has four wires on female
side. Which would be 12 volts each leg. Its for either 12 or 24 volt. The male plug I have has three wires coming out of it. It can be used 12 or 24 volts. For 24 volt you would only use two wires from the plug. You will need a volt meter and see what voltage you have coming from the plug. Check the female as well to see what voltage you have.

 

[Buoy-Master]

Are you sure both batteries are working right? </p>

Mine did that once and I had a dead cell in one of the batteries...brand new too!</p>

 

[Triton4Bass]

I feel for ya bro, that stuff sucks! emoBang

 

[FishinMagician]

Some boats actually have the 24volt jumper wire in the plug in the bow panel.

 

[flip1up]

Sounds like its running on 12 volts, if thats possible. I agree that you need a meter to see if your getting all 24 volts to the motor.

 

[Buoy-Master]

flip1up - 4/25/2007 8:01 AM Sounds like its running on 12 volts, if thats possible. I agree that you need a meter to see if your getting all 24 volts to the motor.

</p>

Yep...you and I went through that. Found out it was a dead cell in a battery. </p>

You'll get it man...keep pluggin at it.</p>

 

[Flippen*1]

Hook up a red and a black to both batteries, that insures 24 volts. Try out motor and see how it runs. Then put your jumper on and try again. One of these will work.

 

[Liveliner]

The drawing that BBass posted is the exact way you want to connect your TM. What I did was to go to the only source to get the correct terminals. Get a section of #6 Wire and Four new #6 connectors with the thick and proper sized rings that are specifically made for Marine batteries. Crimp on the new terminals to the ends of your existing + and - wires and on both ends of the new wire you bought. Boaters World is the only place in or around town that you will find exactly what you need.

FYI - Many new trolling motors are now designed to not kick and take off as they did on the older models. That quick start would rip the bracket off the boat and they were also bad about throwing you out of the boat. When you are looking at the prop spinning out of the water you can not judge the pounds of thrust. An 80lb and a 15lb thrust TM can be running at the same RPM and appear to be the same.. You have got to get it in the water and put a load on it.

 

[ole blue]

if you cant figure it out you can always call john swallows he is cheap and honest to deal with 423-479-7816 home 423-413-8294 cell

 

[Liveliner]

There is one thing that you have not mentioned but needs to be discussed. On the drawing by Bbass is shows a circuit breaker on both the + and - sides. That is not necessary on the negitive side but by all means you should put in a 50 - 60 ampere circuit breaker on the positive side. There is one that is made by Buzz and either sold as Buzz or it is also sold under the name Minn-Kota. It is on it's own block and requires no box for mounting. That means you will need two more terminal ends. Still no problem.

I think I have a pic....???...

 

[fisherpal2k]

  Daniel, if you have a three prong plug on the front of the boat it will have a 12 and 24 volt pin in it. The boat was originally set up for 12 or 24 volt. Using the original two battery hook up and all 4 cables. (The cables should be marked BATT 1 and BATT 2)</p>

Use a voltage tester to find the 24 volt pin. usually if you look at the plug it will have a pyrimid look to it. Or a twist lock plug. The one that is to itself is the ground. Take a meter or tester and check the voltage. Then you should be able to use those two pins. If your motor plug has only two pins you may have to change the wire configuration on the boat plug.</p>

If you still want to use the two battery and one cable hook up with the jumper. Be sure that you get the same set of cables, (#1BATT or #2 BATT) Hook the batteries up like the drawing shows. Find which two pins out of the plug have 24 volts and either change the motor plug or the boats plug to match each other.</p>

  The motor is probaly trying to run off 12 volts as it is now. Just don't run it like that much as this can damage the motor.</p>



Be sure to tape the other cables up on the end in the back as the ground is sometimes connected to each other at the plug. Also the breaker or fuse system is a must for safety! </p>

 

[dawgfish]

Bbass' schematic is correct. If you hook it up with the negatives together and the positives together you are basically making one big battery. In other words you will still have 12 volts but at a higher capacity. This is called hooking the batteries in parallel. In order to get 24 volts you need you have to hook up the -from one battery to the + of the other. And do the same thing with the other battery(- to +). This is called hooking the batteries up in series. Bbass' schematic is correct.

 

[Daniel Tn]

Okay guys I was able to borrow a voltage tester and test my terminal connections at the female end of my plug. I think that I have that end of it hooked up right...I'm actually showing 25.2 volts up there on that end with two fully charged batteries.

Here is what my female plug looks like on the front:



And here is the wiring on the back side...I wasn't really following what you guys were asking me to check so I figured a picture is worth a thousand words. When I check the red and black wire together, it shows the 25 volts...not sure what that orange wire down there is for but it has voltage on it as well.



Could it be possible my male plug ain't wired correctly? When I took it apart I marked where my two wires were hooked up from my 12v trolling motor and just plugged the wires from the foot control of the new TM into the same two slots that held the wires from my other TM. The plug actually has three slots for wires but my TM only has two wires. Would one of those slots possibly be for 24 volt and one for 12 volts?

 

[fisherpal2k]

Daniel according to your pics the org wire that is tapped into the plug with the red wire is where you are losing your voltage.  The 24 volts is being split when it comes to the plug. As referenced before, find the ground to the plug.( the black wire.) Put one side of the tester in that plug and check the other two plugs to it. One should have 12 volts and one should show 24 volts. Move the wire in the male plug to the one that matches the 24 volt plug pin. You should have 24 volts to the motor then. </p>

  The org and red wire that goes to this terminal is the inside jumper that was talked about earlier. If the trolling motor only has two wires, ( which it should ). You need to  have the batteries hooked up for 24 volts(with the jumper at the battery) and only use one wire to the front you will show 24 volts at the pin that the wire coming from the battery is connected to. Put the wires in the male plug to that pin in the plug and you should be ready to go!</p>

 

[fisherpal2k]

Where are you located? If you are close to Cleveland I can help you or you can give me a pm and we can set up a time to call on the phone and I can tell you more about it while you are checking it at home.

 

[Daniel Tn]

Okay guys I'm not sure if I am losing any voltage or anything at all...or wasn't even doing so to begin with.

I am getting 25 volts at the female end and when I plug the male end in I am getting 25 volts there when I took my male plug apart and checked the connection there...on fully charged batteries.

I took it out to the lake and this thing really pushes my boat good. With it being set on 50-60 speed it pushes the boat faster than you can throw a spinnerbait or lipless crank and fish it back to the boat. On 100 speed it is almost redicules. LOL.

Does that sound about right or should I still check more in the wire hookups?

The problem I have now is that I had a big power loss...like my battery was really drained after just 2 1/2 hrs of fishing. I kept the motor on most of the time due to the fighting the wind so much but I wouldn't think it would drain the battery that fast. I got home and did check my individual batteries in the back. I have one battery that is a year old and one that is brand new. The brand new one still showed 12 and some odd volts. The older one was down to around 11 volts. Not sure if that small of a change would cause that big of a power loss but I do know that when I first got to the lake I sure was scootin' with the trolling motor and then after 2 1/2 hrs or so it was like I had to keep it on 100 power to get the same speed I was getting on 30 power before.

In relation to Cleveland and Delano, I'm in Riceville. So about 20 minutes north of Cleveland and just a little bit from Delano.

 

[dryhorn2]

I would get both batterys checked under load.. It sounds like you have one going bad... I had that same problem with my trolling motor after a few hours. IT WAS A BAD BATTERY

 

[fisherpal2k]

Daniel you can have the batteries load tested at any of the auto parts stores. You may have a bad cell in the older battery. It should not lose that much voltage that fast unless it is not a deep cycle rated battery.  I had problem with mine and it was a bad cell. Even tho the battery showed full charge and even held 12 volts.  I would test the batteries and go from there. </p>

 The trolling motor sounds like its working good!

</p>

 

[Daniel Tn]

Hey I just wanted to close this thread by saying a big thanks to you guys for all your patience and help. I think I got all the wiring figured out now...was rather simple once I figured out what you all were trying to tell me. I did figure out what the extra orange wire was to...evidently at one point or the other the boat had an onboard battery charger on it. If it is still there I am in the dark as to its whereabouts but anyway I disconnected the wire to the plug that wasn't even hooked to a battery.

I think you guys are right though about the battery going bad. I was beginning to notice when I had my 12v trolling motor hooked to it that I would get a full charge on it and then started noticing it losing power on the water after just a little while; where as before I could spend a good 6-7 hrs before I started noticing any dropoff in performance. I guess part of that could have been my fault, as I didn't keep a trickle charger on it or anything during the winter months.

I also ordered me a 3 bank charger yesterday since they were on sale at BPS. So I should be good to go on the trolling motor issue. Thanks guys for all the help...but now I gotta start a new thread about another problem.