Trolling motor

[jonathanr]

Just upgraded my old Johnson 12/24 trolling motor to a minn Kota maxxum 70 lb. I notice that I do not nearly have the thrust out of the minn Kota as compared to the Johnson. The Johnson trolling motor had the 12/24 switch on the foot pedal and the ohms meter showed 24 v coming to the 4 prong receptacle, so I figured it was already wired for 24 v coming to the receptacle. Given the minn Kota was only a two wire black and red, I made a jumper on the old four prong plug and thought I would be good. The motor works, but I don't seem to have the thrust that I thought I should have out of a 70lb trolling motor. Based on some research, it appears the old Johnson was about a 41lb thrust. My setup is a 88 ranger with the red/black wire coming from one battery and the Orange/white coming off the other battery to a four prong receptacle in the front panel. My batteries are new as well. Could I have messed something up with the jumper on the plug side? Really thought I would be moving at a better clip across the lake with a larger lb thrust TM. It just seems that I am moving at about the same speed with the minn Kota at full use as when I had my Johnson on the highest setting on the 12v side, meaning I think I am only getting 12v when I use the motor. If I were on the 24v side with the Johnson, it would be out performing the minn Kota by far as compared to trolling speed. emoScratch

 

[TNsnow]

Check the prongs coming out of the plug with a volt meter to see if you have 24.

 

[EricM]

I had the same thing happen when I upgraded and wound up on 12 volts. I just re-ran both wires all the way from the back with a heavier guage (6??) to make sure it would handle the amps. The increase in thrust is amazing.

 

[fischnrod]

Don't forget , the black wire is the ground . I made that mistake one time because I was so use to electrical work it just slipped my mind that I was dealing with D C voltage

 

[jonathanr]

Thanks for the feedback. Figured out that it had to go back to a two wire setup to the front instead of four. The jumper in the plug would not allow the motor to pull the need volts. Ended up making a 24 v series at the batteries with a jumper and I am in business. Taking it out in the morning to see the difference. It already is putting off a breeze sitting on the boat when you hit the pedal.