24 volt trolling motor

[minnesotamusky]

I currently have a 12 volt trolling motor but would really like to upgrade to a 24 volt. How difficult would it be to wire my boat for this upgrade? Is it just a matter of having two batteries or is there a lot more to it??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to be buying a new trolling motor soon.

[jigginjerk]

You should start with two batteries with the same age and size. Then wire them in a 24V series and you should be good to go. The current wiring you have will be fine to go to the motor. That being said one wire from the motor goes to positive on one battery and the other to negative on the other. Wire the positive and negative remaining on the two batteries together and you have 24V.

[hanson]

If you have room next to your current trolling motor battery, put the 2nd battery next to it and really all you would need is a 12-18" battery cable which will go from + of one battery to - of the other. Previous poster has the connection sequence right. Pretty simple really.

[Triple_D]

I was thinking about upgrading also...so you don't need to change the receptacle where the trolling motor plugs in or change any wiring, is that correct?

That would sure make it easier.

[bucketmouth64]

use circuit breaker instead of in-line fuse.

[Whoaru99]

I was thinking about upgrading also...so you don't need to change the receptacle where the trolling motor plugs in or change any wiring, is that correct?

That would sure make it easier.

No, I wouldn't necessarily say that. It depends on the type of plug and the wiring in the boat. Some are set up wtih 12/24V wiring and you generally would like to keep it to the appropriate standard for that boat so you don't fry something down the road because you forgot about non-standard wiring changes.

[aanderud]

These guys are right on, but the only thing I'll add is amperage draw of some of the bigger motors CAN get high, even though they are 24 volts. You gotta have thick enough wire, or it gets hot and can melt off the insulation, short out, and start a fire. You most definitely want to have a circuit breaker inline to help prevent a fire or battery explosion.

I haven't ever measured the 80 lb thrust 'kota that I run, but if memory serves me right, it seemed like the maximum was something close to 50 amps. Depending on the cable in your boat, this might be a bit much. It's also dependent on length of the cable run.

Here's a chart from Minn Kota that explains the voltage drop per foot of various gauges of wire. If you know how long your cable is and what the current draw of your intended motor is, you can calculate the voltage drop due to internal wire resistance (which ends up as heat). Keep it under 1 volt, following their recommendations:

http://www.minn-kota.com/Minn-Kota-faq/Minn_Kota_FAQ.htm#6

[minnesotamusky]

I want to thank everyone for all the very useful information they posted on here. It's been a big help in answering all my questions. Thanks again.

[hanson]

I had just wired my boat for a 24v Minn-Kota Powerdrive V2 70lb and used 6 gauge wire for all the wiring. Marinco makes a plug and receptacle to accept 6 gauge so you can unplug your trolling motor when not in use and I used Minn-kota's circuit breaker, think its a 50amp.

Here's a tip on the 6 gauge wire... you can get a handful of ring connectors (lack of a better word) from Fleet Farm that the 6 gauge will fit into. The connector will slide down over the small battery posts. When you solder this, you need to use a propane torch. Clamp the connector in a bench vise, fill it with flux, shove the wire in, heat it with the torch until the flux is bubbling out, then shove the solder in there until it fills up. Let cool. Solid connection that won't come loose.

[delcecchi]

If you are using plumbing flux, be sure to wash the excess off when you are one. It is sort of acidic.