Help!New Trolling Motor

jasonfish320 · 01-17-08, 01:02 PM

Hey Guys,

I will be updgrading my bow-mount Motorguide 46lb 12 volt to a 70lb Minn-Kota Edge 24 volt. I am not an electrician by any stretch of the imagination and I'm most concerned about the upgrade in voltage..what do I need to be cautious of when installing..

My current trolling motor has a 3 prong female plug that comes out from under the foot control and plugs into a 3 prong male connection in a panel on the bow, which also has trim controls...my brother is a journeyman electrician and doesn't think that switching to a 24 volt would cause any problems...any advice? Does anyone have preference on Motorguide/Minn-Kota? I am also hoping to install an onboard charger...any suggestions on what to get would be great..looking for a 2bay charger..

zooker · 01-17-08, 02:26 PM

the plugs will likely have to be changed.. always go with a 3 prong job that locks in to the female. if you have 3 wires to your plug you should be set to go. if you have only two you will have to add a wire..

of course we all have an opinon i prefure moterguide..

one thing you may consiter is buying a removable troller mount. belive me it was the best idea i had when replacing my troller..

zooker

Rebbasser · 01-17-08, 03:25 PM

Jason, do you have 3 wires running from the female plug? If so, one is the ground, one is the 12V and one is the 24V. On my boat the ground is black, the 12V is orange and the 24V is red. Just hook up the wire not hooked up to the 12V and you should be good to go. You will need to get a jumper wire to connect the 2 batteries. Hook the 24V wire to the + on one battery, the jumper from the - on the first battery to the + on the second battery, and the ground to the - on the second battery.

Speaking of batteries, if you need to get a second one for the 24V system trade your current one in also and get 2 fresh ones. Otherwise hooking a new battery up along with an old one will shorten the life on both.

jasonfish320 · 01-18-08, 01:02 PM

Thanks REB & ZOOK! Yes I do have 2 newer batteries and they are set up as a series..but I don't have it set up like you mentioned REB, I've got a jumper from + to + and another from - to - and then I have my positive main feed to one positive and the maine negative feed hooked to the negative of the opposite battery (like I said, I'm a fisherman not an electrician)..this could be the reason that my new fish finder's keep telling me "low voltage, huh?"...I'm a friggin mess here!

I've also been thinking of getting the Optima's AGM's..the ones I have now only seem to last about 12 hours of fishing before I notice a huge difference in power reduction

Yes I do have a 3 wire plug for my trolling unit..but I would have to take out the panel to know which is which..I will do that this weekend..I will try to take some photos of what I'm talking about..might make things a whole lot easier...

Rebbasser · 01-18-08, 02:23 PM

Jason-if you keep the curent configuration of your batteries your TM won't work-at least the 24V won't. The way you have it set up now is for the 12V.

If you have the 3 wires before you take the panel off I'd just hook up the wire that isn't connected to the batteries-most likely it is the 24V wire-and hook it up TM + to + on battery 1, - on battery 1 to + on battery 2 and the TM - to the - on battery 2 and you should be good to go.

One ting I highly recommend is a circuit breaker inline on the + TM lead. Mine had an inline fuse that was a real pain to check. I switched to a circuit breaker and now if it trips it is simply a matter of flipping it back. I use one of these:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...aker&noImage=0

RetiredandFishin · 01-18-08, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

Jason, do you have 3 wires running from the female plug? If so, one is the ground, one is the 12V and one is the 24V. On my boat the ground is black, the 12V is orange and the 24V is red. Just hook up the wire not hooked up to the 12V and you should be good to go. You will need to get a jumper wire to connect the 2 batteries. Hook the 24V wire to the + on one battery, the jumper from the - on the first battery to the + on the second battery, and the ground to the - on the second battery.

Speaking of batteries, if you need to get a second one for the 24V system trade your current one in also and get 2 fresh ones. Otherwise hooking a new battery up along with an old one will shorten the life on both.

Wow, now I'm confused. I bought a used 92 ranger boat back in November and the 2nd battery was not hooked up at all. I bought an instuctional manual from the Ranger boat company and they show the red to + and black to - on one battery and the orange to + and the white to - on the other battery but does not say anything about connecting the 2 batteries together. Should I have connected these batteries? I have a 23 V Motor Guide TM.
Thanks for any info I can get here.

jasonfish320 · 01-18-08, 05:24 PM

HEY REB..I'm also planning on putting a 2/bank onboard charger in this winter. Will these batteries charge ok hooked up in this series or do I just use 1 bank to charge both batteries...thanks a bunch

barkelypup · 01-19-08, 05:03 PM

Hey,
I have a powerdrive 70 and it does not require a plug. Just has one cable with 2 hot and two ground wires at the end. You may want to check on this. I'm not sure if different models have different ends or not. it just has a male female plug if you want to disconnect the t-m from the boat. Hope this helps.

BP

Rebbasser · 01-19-08, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonfish320

HEY REB..I'm also planning on putting a 2/bank onboard charger in this winter. Will these batteries charge ok hooked up in this series or do I just use 1 bank to charge both batteries...thanks a bunch

One bank to each battery and no problem leaving them hooked up. I have 2 blue top Optimas-I love them, BTW-with an onboard charger. I plug it in when I get home from the lake and unplug it when I hook up the boat to go. Just set it and forget it.

Retired, welcome to the forum! Always glad to see a fellow Texan join the board-I'm guessing you mean a 24V motor

. Or maybe a 12/24V, which means it will run on both 12 or 24V. If only one battery is hooked up it is running on 12V. You can hook up 2 batteries to a 12V motor by hooking the + to + and - to - on each battery and then hooked up to the TM. For a TM to run on 24V you have to hook up both batteries in series.

zooker · 01-19-08, 07:36 PM

optima's are the real sh!t. i have used mine for three years with no problems what so ever...

reb's right on the series hook up..even though i run 12 volt only my self..

zooker

RetiredandFishin · 01-22-08, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

One bank to each battery and no problem leaving them hooked up. I have 2 blue top Optimas-I love them, BTW-with an onboard charger. I plug it in when I get home from the lake and unplug it when I hook up the boat to go. Just set it and forget it.

Retired, welcome to the forum! Always glad to see a fellow Texan join the board-I'm guessing you mean a 24V motor

. Or maybe a 12/24V, which means it will run on both 12 or 24V. If only one battery is hooked up it is running on 12V. You can hook up 2 batteries to a 12V motor by hooking the + to + and - to - on each battery and then hooked up to the TM. For a TM to run on 24V you have to hook up both batteries in series.

Hey Rebbasser
yep, my TM is 24 volt so I guess I'd better get the 2 batteries hooked up together.
Thanks

01-17-08, 01:02 PM	#1
jasonfish320 BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: MAINEIAC Posts: 585	Help!New Trolling Motor Hey Guys, I will be updgrading my bow-mount Motorguide 46lb 12 volt to a 70lb Minn-Kota Edge 24 volt. I am not an electrician by any stretch of the imagination and I'm most concerned about the upgrade in voltage..what do I need to be cautious of when installing.. My current trolling motor has a 3 prong female plug that comes out from under the foot control and plugs into a 3 prong male connection in a panel on the bow, which also has trim controls...my brother is a journeyman electrician and doesn't think that switching to a 24 volt would cause any problems...any advice? Does anyone have preference on Motorguide/Minn-Kota? I am also hoping to install an onboard charger...any suggestions on what to get would be great..looking for a 2bay charger.. __________________ "If at first you don't succeed; have another beer"

01-17-08, 02:26 PM	#2
zooker BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: denton nc Posts: 13,441	the plugs will likely have to be changed.. always go with a 3 prong job that locks in to the female. if you have 3 wires to your plug you should be set to go. if you have only two you will have to add a wire.. of course we all have an opinon i prefure moterguide.. one thing you may consiter is buying a removable troller mount. belive me it was the best idea i had when replacing my troller.. zooker __________________ the godfather.. aml in remission since 7-20-09

01-17-08, 03:25 PM	#3
Rebbasser BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 10,142	Jason, do you have 3 wires running from the female plug? If so, one is the ground, one is the 12V and one is the 24V. On my boat the ground is black, the 12V is orange and the 24V is red. Just hook up the wire not hooked up to the 12V and you should be good to go. You will need to get a jumper wire to connect the 2 batteries. Hook the 24V wire to the + on one battery, the jumper from the - on the first battery to the + on the second battery, and the ground to the - on the second battery. Speaking of batteries, if you need to get a second one for the 24V system trade your current one in also and get 2 fresh ones. Otherwise hooking a new battery up along with an old one will shorten the life on both. __________________ It's happened to the best of them: John 21:3

01-18-08, 01:02 PM	#4
jasonfish320 BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: MAINEIAC Posts: 585	Thanks REB & ZOOK! Yes I do have 2 newer batteries and they are set up as a series..but I don't have it set up like you mentioned REB, I've got a jumper from + to + and another from - to - and then I have my positive main feed to one positive and the maine negative feed hooked to the negative of the opposite battery (like I said, I'm a fisherman not an electrician)..this could be the reason that my new fish finder's keep telling me "low voltage, huh?"...I'm a friggin mess here! I've also been thinking of getting the Optima's AGM's..the ones I have now only seem to last about 12 hours of fishing before I notice a huge difference in power reduction Yes I do have a 3 wire plug for my trolling unit..but I would have to take out the panel to know which is which..I will do that this weekend..I will try to take some photos of what I'm talking about..might make things a whole lot easier... __________________ "If at first you don't succeed; have another beer"

01-18-08, 02:23 PM	#5
Rebbasser BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 10,142	Jason-if you keep the curent configuration of your batteries your TM won't work-at least the 24V won't. The way you have it set up now is for the 12V. If you have the 3 wires before you take the panel off I'd just hook up the wire that isn't connected to the batteries-most likely it is the 24V wire-and hook it up TM + to + on battery 1, - on battery 1 to + on battery 2 and the TM - to the - on battery 2 and you should be good to go. One ting I highly recommend is a circuit breaker inline on the + TM lead. Mine had an inline fuse that was a real pain to check. I switched to a circuit breaker and now if it trips it is simply a matter of flipping it back. I use one of these: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...aker&noImage=0 __________________ It's happened to the best of them: John 21:3

01-18-08, 05:24 PM	#7
jasonfish320 BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: MAINEIAC Posts: 585	HEY REB..I'm also planning on putting a 2/bank onboard charger in this winter. Will these batteries charge ok hooked up in this series or do I just use 1 bank to charge both batteries...thanks a bunch __________________ "If at first you don't succeed; have another beer"

01-19-08, 05:03 PM	#8
barkelypup BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: I'm a Hillbilly in Kentucky Posts: 223	Minn Kotas Hey, I have a powerdrive 70 and it does not require a plug. Just has one cable with 2 hot and two ground wires at the end. You may want to check on this. I'm not sure if different models have different ends or not. it just has a male female plug if you want to disconnect the t-m from the boat. Hope this helps. BP

01-19-08, 07:36 PM	#10
zooker BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: denton nc Posts: 13,441	optima's are the real sh!t. i have used mine for three years with no problems what so ever... reb's right on the series hook up..even though i run 12 volt only my self.. zooker __________________ the godfather.. aml in remission since 7-20-09

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)