Trolling motor curcuit breaker

[snowfighter]

Put a Minn kota Terrova 80, (24volt) on my new Lund that has the curcuit breaker in the positive line already. I see Minn kota makes a 60 amp circuit breaker are they needed or would the one with the boat be all I need?

[reddog]

I believe the 80 lb takes a 60 a breaker and the 101 takes a 50.

How big is the one currently on your trolling motor. As long as its a 60, I would say it is fine..

[snowfighter]

Thanks will have to check

[PerchJerker]

The 80 lb Terrova will pull 56 amps at max power, so you need a 60 amp breaker (unless you want to keep resetting it). A lot of times boats will come with 50 amp breakers in them, which are big enough to handle all/most electric motors OTHER THAN the 80 lb Terrova.

[snowfighter]

Thanks going to change to the 60 amp. You would think Minn kota would just include it with the Terrova and charge the extra instead of finding out on the water.

[clKiekhafer]

Not sure what brand boat you have, but when I put the same trolling motor on my Lund last year I found out that the wiring isn't rated for the 80# motor (60 amps). I ended up rewiring my boat with heavier wire to accommodate my needs. I can't remember what size I went with, but it was heavier. When I looked at new boats on the floor I found the same thing as with mine. The boats were there with 80# motors and not using a 60 amp breaker or heavier wire. When I questioned the dealer he played stupid.

[snowfighter]

Not sure what brand boat you have, but when I put the same trolling motor on my Lund last year I found out that the wiring isn't rated for the 80# motor (60 amps). I ended up rewiring my boat with heavier wire to accommodate my needs. I can't remember what size I went with, but it was heavier. When I looked at new boats on the floor I found the same thing as with mine. The boats were there with 80# motors and not using a 60 amp breaker or heavier wire. When I questioned the dealer he played stupid. I have a 2011 LUND 1775 Impact SS .

[snowfighter]

Not sure what brand boat you have, but when I put the same trolling motor on my Lund last year I found out that the wiring isn't rated for the 80# motor (60 amps). I ended up rewiring my boat with heavier wire to accommodate my needs. I can't remember what size I went with, but it was heavier. When I looked at new boats on the floor I found the same thing as with mine. The boats were there with 80# motors and not using a 60 amp breaker or heavier wire. When I questioned the dealer he played stupid. Just did a search and found a chart it showed it depends on lenght for 60 amp 10 gauge up to 10ft, 8 gauge 15 ft, 6 gauge 20 ft. My boat the lenght is under 10 ft so 10 gauge which I think I have should work.

[jmd1]

you can search google if you know the distance from the battery to the breaker and the breaker to the motor. The further away the heavier the wire is. If it were mine i would run 8 gauge in a split loom. Also the ground wire if going back to the battery or where ever should be the same size as the power. There will be people that say you don't need that but the way i look at it is that the power is going in and the return is the same coming out.

[snowfighter]

you can search google if you know the distance from the battery to the breaker and the breaker to the motor. The further away the heavier the wire is. If it were mine i would run 8 gauge in a split loom. Also the ground wire if going back to the battery or where ever should be the same size as the power. There will be people that say you don't need that but the way i look at it is that the power is going in and the return is the same coming out.

Just did a search and chart showed 10 gauge for 10ft and under

[Esox_Magnum]

I would got 6 ga no smaller than 8 for sure....

[snowfighter]

I would got 6 ga no smaller than 8 for sure....

The chart I found showed 10 gauge 10ft ,8 gauge 15ft, 6 gauge 20 ft this was for 60 amp.

[snowfighter]

Checked this morning my boat has 8 gauge in it the lenght near as I can measure is 7 to 8 ft so should be OK after changing to 60 amp breaker.

[kg2]

The notion of going to a thicker gauge wire for longer distances is all physics (voltage drop over the length of the wire: i.e. the longer the run or the higher the amp draw = the higher the potential voltage drop. Thicker gauge wire offsets the potential drop.)

If you get a little voltage drop then the motor is never seeing full voltage and reaching full thrust potential.

If you get a bigger voltage drop then the motor may not work correctly since it isn't getting adequate voltage. AutoPilot models will start wandering and steering erratically.

Also, most of those wiring charts are for full length of wire in the system. If your battery bank is 8 feet from the trolling motor then you have 16 feet of wire. (8 feet up the positive wire to the motor and 8 feet back along the negative wire.) If your battery bank is at the back of a 20 foot boat and the motor is a bowmount, then you have about 40 feet of wire in the system. 6 gauge wire is more critical in these situations.

I've seen a lot of guys use 50 amp breakers for the 80# motors and never have a problem. This is usually because they are having a voltage drop to the motor (the motor is not reaching full potential thrust or drawing full amperage.)

[ozzie]

Awesome info guys as I have been looking for this kind of info as I need to rewire my boat and am trying to decide what gauge wire I need.

[snowfighter]

Called Minn kota tec support told them what I had Terrova 80, 24 volt and that I was going to a 60 amp breaker. My boat wiring is 7 to 8 ft x 2= 14 to 16 ft with 8 gauge tec said I should be good to go.