Trolling motor wiring

[Justfishing]

I have a 16' aluminum fishing boat. I need to run the wiring from the trolling motor in the front to the battery in the transom. It is a 12V Motorguide with 46lbs thrust. I will be adding about 10-12' to the wiring. What gauge wire do I use.

[JIM PAYNE]

you will need to use a good 8 awg. any boat store or gander mountain type store should have what you need. good luck and stayncharge.

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JIM PAYNE

[Justfishing]

Thanks Jim

Bye the way what is awg

[kslipsinker]

That is the gauge of the wire. American Wire Gauge.

[Justfishing]

I got the wire but I am haveing a hard time finding an inline quick connector. Does anyone have an idea where to find a quick connect that will work with 8 gauge wire

[Markley]

Did you try a marine dealer?

[Alphid]

Also try a small mom/pops hardware store. You will want to get a inline fuse put on that too to protect against any surges. Most warranties do not cover replacement without a fuse in place.
A

[Justfishing]

Do you have any idea on the fuse size?

[Guest]

You might want to check out Waytek. This company sells all sorts of wiring supplies and has anything you would ever need for wiring a boat, trailer or truck and they have online store at www.waytekwire.com.

[JIM PAYNE]

you can go to about any boat dealer and pick up a 30 amp circuit breaker. they are cooper bushman marine circuit breakers. you can go as big as a 40 amp but a 30 will work pretty well. you should also be able to go to your local dealer and ask them for a couple of 8 awg couplers and they should be able to help you. if you can't find it let us know and i will contact one of our local dealers and get you a couple sent out. good luck

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JIM PAYNE

[bigeyes]

You will want to use a relay instead of a fuse, and I would call motor guide to see what size they recommend. My guess is a 40 amp would do the trick. I run a 55 thrust and was told by Minkota that it may push as many as 43 amps out of it so I ran a 50 amp to be safe.

[Guest]

Go with a circuit breaker sized for your motor, check with a dealer if in doubt. The advantage of a circuit breaker over a fuse is that it will reset instead of needing to be replaced like a fuse. Over sizing it defeats the purpose and may cause damage to your equipment.