24 volt vs 12 volt?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Thinking about a new bow mount. Currently have a PD55 12 volt motor. I don't need any more power then what the 55lb thrust provides, however are there any anvantages to a 24 volt motor over a 12 volt one?

[Savage Brewer]

running 24volt on my boat meant I can go on 3 to 4 day trips without recharging. When I ran a 12V before, I would be lucky to get 2 days of fishing on a charge.

Sometimes I will go on camping trips where there isn't electricity available, so being able to do that was important to me.

Downsides:

extra 75 pounds of batteries in boat, cost more, multi bank chargers cost more also.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I already have a second battery and a two bank charger. I use the second battery for back up on long trips too.

[Whoaru99]

Yes, there are advantages.

There is less voltage drop in the wiring because the 24V motor is only pulling 1/2 the current for any given thrust. The 24V motor is likely to be a little more efficient as well. Also, since the current draw is split between two batteries simultaneously vs using one 12V at a time (and changing to a second 12V when the first is low) you get more total power from the batteries.

All of which translate into more total run time with a 24V system vs a 12V system assuming same size motors and same total rated battery capacity.

[jac714]

I just put a 24 volt on my boat. Finding places for the second battery and larger charger was a nightmare but I worked it out and am glad I did. The extra power and endurance are well worth it.

[elkhornsun]

Biggest gain is with the new pulse mode type of motor. Minn-Kota states a 5x gain in run time and even if is only 2-3x it is still great. They can interfere with some finders if run on same battery. It should be easy to add an isolator but neither Minn-Kota nor the finder manufacturers bother to make them available.

A charger may not fully charge a 24v battery bank. I run two 12v in parallel to avoid that problem and use a pulse type motor which works very well.

I do have a future project as my trolling battery is not charged by the outboard's alternator so I need to run a couple wires and rig in an isolator so the trolling motor does not take down the starter battery.