HELP~ 24V trolling motor/wiring question??

[Scotteye]

I need some advise. I put on a 24V trolling motor and I wired it as follows:

- I have 2 batteries I have a cable tying the positive post from Battery one to a Negative post to battery two ( this is per the instructions and everyones advise). I then have 4 wires in my battery compartment from when I purchased the boat (it is suppose to be wired for a 24V motor). I have a black wire, a black & blue stripped wire, a red wire & an orange wire. I can get power running all combinations of wires; execept running the red on the pos. term from battery-1 and the blue/black wire on battery-2 (sparks fly everywhere when they are arranged together). When I do any other wire arrangement I get very little power. I hope this make sence.

[heartattack22]

what brand of boat is this for? I think you may have the wires hooked up in the plug wrong if there is more then one option there. You should hook the red up to the positive, the black up to the negative on the other batter and then a jumper between the positive on the second and the negative on the first. Then you only use the black and red wires at the plug. You may need to pull the socket on the boat side out to see where the black and red come in at. Then hook up your black and red in the plug so they line up with the socket. Hope this helps.

[Scotteye]

It's a Crestliner Sport-Fish (7-8 years old).

[Whoaru99]

When you use the boat's factory wiring (and it's a 12V/24V system), you don't jumper the batteries with your own wiring.

Using the factory wiring, the connections inside the plug that goes on the trolling motor are generally what determines 12V or 24V to the motor.

Get rid of that self-installed jumper....

The black and (probably) red go to one battery, the black/blue and (probably) orange go to the second battery. Usually, the proper combinations are taped together so you get the + and - of each pair to the correct battery.

[PierBridge]

I hope you have not fried your trolling motor board which can easily be done if you hook up the 12 volt power feed from the WRONG battery to your trolling motor plug.

If your trolling motor has or needs 12 volts like the Power Drives or Vantages the 12 volt feed MUST come from the positive post of the negative battery that feeds the Trolling motor.

What trolling motor do you have for starters?

[JDM]

Where do the factory wires go? Not every 24 volt system has the wire connecting the two batteries. In my boat, my 24 volt system runs 2 wires from each batter to a plug, which is made to connect with all four wires. The pug makes the necessary conversions. I run my bow mount this way, along with a Vantage on the transom. I am guessing you must have the same sort of system.

You should have a plug near the trolling motor. I would not hard wire the trolling motor to the batteries. If you don't, they are pretty easy to install.

[Scotteye]

I have a Minnkota Maxxum 74. I hooked everything up as Whoaru99 suggested, but it still runs will minimal power (fast, but more like a 36 lbs of thrust), and in the wind it is still worthless. Any additional suggestions? Would it still run if I fried the powerboard? Not that it probably matters, but I have two fuzes on the red & orange cable. Could this be a battery issue?

Thanks again everyone!

[Whoaru99]

Did you connect/configure the plug on the motor for 24V operation?

What does the plug that goes on the motor look like?

As for the fuses, if it's set up as a 24V system and either of the fuses blow, the motor shouldn't work at all because it would break the series connection.

Maybe it's time to plunk down $20, give or take, on a multimeter...

This link may help illustrate how configuring the plug works to select 12V or 24V. Of course, yours may be different in some respects but the general concept is usually similar.

[BoxMN]

Here is my two cents - wasn't going to chime in because you are getting good info - but I have a totally different thought that worked for us...

Disconnect the stock wiring and leave it lay where it is. Then go and get some 8 ga. wire (I get it at Menards in 100' foot spools, red and black, for a fraction of the cost of marine stuff. It is the same for how you will use it.)

Then rewire from battery area to the bow. The existing plugs can still be used, just use the 24v connections, not the 12/24. Then wire according to 24v directiosn, put a 40 or 50 amp breaker on the red+ (whatever your motor calls for) and you are set. 8 ga. is better than the little 12 or 10 that some boat companies use, and you know it is done right.

Only kicker is you may have cargo light up front that will no longer work. Just run that one back to your starting battery, and do the same with the bow locator. The bow locator should be wired on different batts than trolling anyway for best performance.

We have charger hooked up and did the wiring like above and it has worked great since we made the switch. IF you are not getting adequate thrust power from motor, and you have a charger hooked up, check the fuses in the charger leads. We had one blown (prior to doing the wiring our way) and it acted just as you describe.

Anyway, this is not saying any of the other advice on using 12/24 wiring is bad, just it is cleaner and IMHO more efficient to use bigger wire and go direct. (We also use the battery post protectant spray now, and it keeps those terminals perfectly clean.)

Good luck!

[PierBridge]

Sounds like your running 12 volts.

Good news is your in Bloomington so if your not comfortable using a multimeter take it to Motor Clinic they are a Minkota service center and have been very helpfull to alot of people in your situation.

6667 W Old Shakopee Road

Bloomington, MN

[Scotteye]

I am not sure if this makes sense, but my male-end trolling motor connection has an orange wire & a black wire connected to the thick gauge wire from the foot pedestal. There is a red wire that is not connected to anything (it is a 3-wire plug-in). The female-end (which I unscrewed to see what wire were running to the connection) has four wires running to it (black, red, orange, blue/black); which make sense since that is what is at the battery.

Thanks for any additional help!

[Whoaru99]

A multimeter sure would be helpful.... in about 20 seconds you would know if there is 24V available from any combination of those three wires on the plug...and to confirm which wires are + and - so you don't fry your motor when connecting it.

How do the wire colors on the boat side match up to the wire colors on the plug?