wiring-trolling motor or what???

[alwayscatchineyes]

new to this site but would like some help!!!I have a 24 volt system in my boat and have a problem with my trolling motor not running very long before it drains one battery down to nothing, but the other one is at about 50%? I know that should not happen, at least I think it shouldn't. I have a 2000 1775 pro-v with the wiring already in place and I use the plug with the orange and black wires hooked to the trolling motor. Never had this problem with my old 65# minnkota but I do with this 74#. The only difference is this new trolling motor has 2 red and 2 black wires but I was told to solder them together and pretend they are one. Already ruined two batteries and maybe workin on #3 if I don't get this figured out. The 2 positive wires from the batteries read 12.6 volts at the outlet, same as the batteries read and when I plug the trolling motor in and run it, it shows 25.3 volts. Any ideas on what this could be would be greatly appreciated. Kinda a long post for my first one but can't take this aggrevation any more!!@#%$

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[JohnMickish]

First off when you need to replace one battery you really should replace them both. They should be the same make and size and purchased at the same time. One strong battery will suck the life out of the weaker one every time.

If you are reading 25.3 volts the wiring should be right (a wire from the pos of bat 1 to the neg of bat 2, black to the neg of bat 1 and red to the pos of bat 2).

What are you using for a battery charger? This is more than likely the culprit. Get a good 2 bank charger.

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It still beats workin'

[alwayscatchineyes]

I'am using a vector battery charger with the plug into my boat, charges both batteries at the same time. Both the batteries are at 100% when it is done charging. Also both batteries I have now are the same and bought at the same time and test the same with a load tester. I have trojan deep cycle's, but so does my brother and a good fishin buddy and they have good luck with them. Something tells me I think it is my trolling motor because I don't think this 74# lasts as long or has as much power as my old 65# did. I had the trolling motor tested at scheels late last summer and they said it was good but I think I will have it looked at by Bob at Bob's trolling motor service I have heard that he is good and he is also a authorized minnkota tech.

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"the quicker you give up the less you will catch but some days you have no other choice"

[JIM PAYNE]

On the first reply on the board was not correct on the factory boat in the year 2ooo was not wired in series unless it was a late in the year model. Ok first thing you need to do is find out if your batteries are in series or parrellel in the boat. That means do you have two wires or four wires to the trolling motor plug. After you check the batteries we can help you walk through the problem on the trolling motor. Good luck

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JIM PAYNE

[alwayscatchineyes]

Thanks for the reply. There are four wires running to the plug, red, orange, black, and black with tracer. The batteries were checked and they are good. I can get about four hours of runtime at around 1/4 to 1/2 or 25 to 50 on the variable speed dial before one battery shows zero charge. I checked it with the gauge in the boat and with a handheld tester after fishing. When I test the batteries with a load tester they both show good with the one that shows a little less, but still far in the good, seems like the one that goes first, no matter if I switch the wires from one battery to the other. I would not think that since the batteries are both good that one would be that much weaker to make it drain down to zero like that. My old 65# 24 volt would run a good fishing day, 7 to 8 hours on about half throttle or sometimes a little more or less and still show half or better charge when I got home. I do remember that when I first got this motor, of course it was the first day of the Cormorant Fall Classic, It blew fuses all day when I would turn it up to 3/4 or full throttle. After that I put in-line circuit breakers that are automatically reset and now it will run all the time, but not for very long, 3 to 4 hours tops before one battery is completly gone. Maybe these trojan batteries just don't last as long as my interstates did? My buddy has one new trojan and one old interstate, 3 to 4 yrs. old with his 65# and don't have this problem. I was wondering if maybe the maximizer on the trolling motor does not work right or at all?

[waterwolff]

The plain black (-)and red(+) go to one troll battery. The orange(+) and Black/blue(-) go to the other troll battery. They have to be paired that way for the sytem to work. This gives you 2 batteries @ 12V each running up to your troll motor receptacle. The jumpering is done inside the male plug which attaches to your 12v or 24v troll motor. The male plug has three wires coming out the back of it. One red, one orange, one black.
For 12v ..hook your troll motor positive (red striped on MinnKotas) wire to the red on the troll motor plug. Then black to black. Do not use the orange... just tape it up.
For 24v..hook your troll motor positive (red striped on MinnKotas)wire to the orange on the troll motor plug. Then black to black. Do not use the red...just tape it up. I would say the problem lies in the trolling motor it self

[JIM PAYNE]

I have one more battery wire question. Are the batteries hooked up in series or in parrellel in the boat? You do not have the batteries hooked up were the positive of one to the negative of the second?

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JIM PAYNE

[JIM PAYNE]

waterwolf is abseloutley correct and you need to make sure yours is wired that way.

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JIM PAYNE

[alwayscatchineyes]

I have the red wire to pos of #1 with the black to neg of #1, the orange to pos #2 battery and black with tracer to neg of #2 battery, after that they run to the receptacle. My trolling motor has two red wires, which are now soldered together and soldered to the orange wire on the male plug. Trolling motor has two black wires soldered together then to the black wire on the male plug, so it is wired correctly and like I said before when the motor is wide open, the wires before the receptacle show 12.5 volts on the red and orange, and after the male plug, which would be the wires from the trolling motor, read 25.3 volts, so the power is there. I would think that is about right? The place where I bought it tested it last year and said everything on the motor is working correctly, but I have my doughts. If it is the trolling motor, and nobody can pinpoint that except for me and maybe with the help of you guys, how do I go about getting it replaced. It has already costed me the money of replacing two batteries and possibly more, not including the headaches and time I have put into it. I'am not saying it is for sure the motor but it is looking like the only possible answer.

[WaveWacker]

What kind of trolling motor do you have? I have the same exact boat that is pre-rigged with the wiring so all I had to do is hook up the batteries as explained above, mount the trolling motor (I have two Minn-Kota's, a 74lb vantage on the transom and a 64lb auto pilot on the front), and plug them into the existing outlets. No soldering of wires at all, not sure where that would come into play????

[alwayscatchineyes]

Replaced the outlets in the boat to see if that was the problem, that is where the soldering is. I have a 74# maxxum transom. How many of hours can you get out of your batteries with your vantage? Plus my motor has two red and two black wires coming out from it so in order to hook them to the plug I soldered the reds to the orange on the plug and the blacks to the black on the plug

[This message has been edited by alwayscatchineyes (edited 04-12-2004).]

[This message has been edited by alwayscatchineyes (edited 04-12-2004).]

[WaveWacker]

When the batteries where new I literally could run for two days of moderate fishing in relatively calm water and have plenty of power. Just replaced my batteries this year after 3 years of use. In the end I would have no problem running for most of the day but most of the time ran in the morning and recharged and then could go at night.