12V/24V I have a ?

[dfv87]

I have a 12V bow mount trolling motor.
Can I rig so that I have 2 batts to prolong the life of my motor? I think if I rig in parallel the volt and amp stay the same but in series they double or is that the other way around? Anybody got the answer?

[Guest]

+ to +, - to - you will be parallel 12v.
wouldn't prolong motor life but give you more run time.

[sandman469ss]

You'll want to wire them in series. + to -, - to +.
At least that's How I have mine wired, and the motor runs forever before needing a recharge.
Only bad thing about it is that with one bank charging 2 batteries, it takes a little longer.

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Takin it easy! & if it’s easy, I’ll take it twice!

[98prosport]

I am going to agree with drown minnow. The other guy has something different than you do.When you hook pos to pos and neg to neg you are really just making a bigger 12 volt battery with more reserve capacity.More storage space= more run time.

[JIM PAYNE]

do not wire them in series like the one guy said because it will burn your trolling motor up if it is a 12 volt. Just wire them + to + and - to - and you will be fine and you will have longer working time.

[Mr Special]

Here my $0.02,

Parallel: + to + and - to - increases Amperage, which increases run time.

Series: = + to - and + to - increase Voltage

Actually the way Sandman runs he's is in parallel.

Hope this helps

[Guest]

If you really want and expect 24-Volt performance you should buy a 24-volt motor--they are made with totally different internal components than the 12 volt motors, hence the longer life and less power draw on your batteries.

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Chells

[JIM PAYNE]

I think sandman meant + of battery one to trolling motor, battery one - to + of battery 2 with - of battery 2 to trolling motor.That is 24volt in series.Up until the year 2001 most boat manuf, wired all boats in parellel and let the trolling plug cross the cables to make them in series. It is very simple. Look at your batteries and if there is a jumper between the batteris you have 24 volts going to the trolling motor and if there is not a jumper then you have 12 volts.Maybe some of you guys know this and might think this is simple but you will find alot of guys new to trolling that this is hard for them to understand. I know because i talk to alot of new guys every day and i see they just do not understand. So here is the easiest way for the new guy. Use what you have and enjoy it until you understand more about it then you can decide what works for you. Just remember that + to + and - to - is parellel and the volts will be the same and anything else is series. Good luck

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JIM PAYNE

[wastewaterguru]

I keep seeing discrepencies and confusion in the above posts....

Parallel is + to + and - to -

Series is + to - and - to +

parallel adds the available amps at the same current (12V).

Series adds the voltage (24V).

You want your batteries in parallel if you have a 12 volt trolling motor.......

this means that the positive (+) from the first battery goes to the positive (+) of the second battery then to your trolling motor positive (red) lead. And similarly the negative (-) from the first battery goes to the negative (-) of the second battery then to your trolling motor negative (black) lead.

Some of the above posts are contradicting and just plain wrong.....

Guys....don't answer technical questions unless you have the right answer. If this guy blew up his trolling motor because of advice you gave him it would really irritate me. Use your common sense and check your information before posting the wrong answer!!!!

[dfv87]

I am looking to have "run time" sorry for the confusion on "motor life". I believe I need to be parallel as the motor is a 12V. Thanks for the info, I found a friend of a friend to help me out. Thanks for the input everybody.

[Guest]

wastewater
understand your concern about the wrong information but not all of the above post gave wrong information.

[MarkV]

wwg is correct. However, be careful when chemical (or mechanical) engineers start giving electrical advice. joke

[sandman469ss]

OK, sorry if I gave the wrong info. I'm trying to find the HSOforum that told me to wire it the way I did. I went from motor to battery 1s + to battery 2s -, then from battery 2s + to battery 1s - to the motor. I'm sure going to check now before I hook up the new one the same way.
Sorry if I mislead anyone. And thanks for setting me straight.

I don't know where the HSOforum is, but you learn something new everyday. I was totally wrong on my wiring and glad I found out before I wired the new boat. Just goes to show, No matter how much you research something, you can still be wrong.
Now I'm just wondering why I didn't have a problem the way I had it wired!

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Takin it easy! & if it’s easy, I’ll take it twice!

[This message has been edited by sandman469ss (edited 03-17-2004).]

[JIM PAYNE]

sandman do not be hard on yourself and if wired your the way it was and you got so much drive time out of it then your boat is probably wired the correct way for your boat. is your two batteries wired all the way up to the trolling plug? if so your boat is probably wired for 12/24 and your trolling motor plug is wired the way it should be. there are alot of different ways the can be done in the boat.

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JIM PAYNE

[sandman469ss]

Jim, it's a ranger, and the wiring diagram shows that it's the only thing on the circuit. It would make sense that they wire them all to support either 12 or 24, since they put a variety on the different boats and it wouldn't pay to wire each differently.

I noticed your other post for your charger, I may have to look into one. If I have 3 batteries for the troller, can it still be hooked to charge the starting bat as well?

I had a similar idea for an invention, but I don't know if it would fly or not. How'd you get started? [email protected]

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Takin it easy! & if it’s easy, I’ll take it twice!

[Fathead]

Hello all,

I have been looking at this very same subject the past week. I am thinking of adding a 2nd battery to my 12volt minnkota system. Here is what I found out about trolling motor performance/battery life.

To run a 12v motor using two batteries, you must connect the batteries in parallel. This means (which many of you have already pointed out earlier) + to + and - to - connections.

As far as increased performance between a 24v and a 12v comparison. I think you might be surprised that it is much closer than you think.

Example:
Minnkota Maxxum 74lb motor (24v) draws 45amps max
Minnkota Maxxum 55lb motor (12v) draws 45amps max

If you have two dedictated batteries for each of these two systems. Here is what your performance comparison equates to (using in this example a Resolution AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery from Fleet Farm).

The AGM battery is rated for 92 Amp hours. If you use two batteries for a 24volt system you series wire these units together. This give you 24volts, but the same 92 Amp hour total.

If you use these two batteries in a parallel fashion, you have 12 volts but your Amp hours double to 184.

The way you calculate run time for a motor is as follows...

Ahours/amp draw from motor = runtime

74lb (24v)--
92Ah/45 amp max draw = 2.04hrs runtime @ 100% or 74lb thrust.

or at 75% power (55.5 lb thrust)

92Ah/33.75 amps = 2.72hrs runtime @ 75%

If you compare this to a 12v system rated for 55lbs. that draws 45 amps at max draw but your battery(s) setup now gives you 184 Ah rating...

184 Ahours/45 amps = 4.08hrs runtime @ 100% or 55 lb thrust.

Your comparison shows that performance (motor run @ 55lbs thrust) are equal but runtime comparisons are in favor of the 12volt setup, when comparing a 74lb unit @ 75% to a 55lb unit @ 100%.

Obviously, The big advantage of a 74 lb unit is that it gives you an additional 29lbs thrust over the 55lb unit. But if you are using a 74lb motor on you bow, How often do you actually run your motor over 50% or 75%? I am not sure it is that often. If you are running at higher than 75% often, then it is an advantage using the 74lb unit.

If you calculate run time using the above formula (for a deep cycle battery) I think you will find the two minnkota motors that have the best overall performance are a 55lb 12volt and a 101lb 36volt setup.

Something to think about...