24V vs 12V

[Bigeye30"]

Looking to see what the main differences are here, currently the boat I fish in runs on 24V, at least I think, theres two batteries for components etc that hook together via wiring and another battery on its own for starting. The problem I'm noticing is that our trolling motor is a 12V. (Brother Bought the cheap one) and I;m looking to troubleshoot why I can't get the trolling motor to operate on the factory installed plug. Hooked directly to a 12V the trolling motor powers fine, do you think this is an issue with the wiring since I can't get power to through the 24V system or will a 12V troliing motor not run on a 24V system. Any input is great. Thanks

[Northlander]

Are you sure you arent running a 12 volt system with 2 batterys just hooked together 12 volt style not 24 volt. Parelel?

How are the wires hooked up to the batteries.

Look on the electrical female plug on the front of the boat and see if it says 12 volt or 24 volt. Sometimes they say what type they are.

[EricD]

( Note from Admin,please read forum policy before posting again,thank-you.)

[swanlakebud]

This might seem trivial , but you might have a blown fuse in line.

[Bigeye30"]

Northlander, I'll check that out, now that you mention it, I think it might be ran parallel, so 12v. Which probably means some sort of wiring issue, ugh, gonna have to go further than what i was hoping, Oh well.

Eric D, I saw your post earlier just wasnt signed on, so I'll google that diagram out, that looks very informative, thanks for putting that up, even though they took it down,

Swanlakebud, ya I checked all the fuses and there all good, even the inlines. Oh well know I get to probably run some new wires, or figure out where the bad connection is coming from.

Thanks for the posts, that's why I love this site so much.

[marine_man]

Figure out first what voltage you have at the trolling motor plug (that comes from the battery). If you only have a 12V trolling motor that's all you should be giving the trolling motor. If you connnect it to 24V you won't get the output of a 24V trolling motor and will damage a 12V trolling motor.

Look behind the trolling motor plug (pull it out if you have to) and measure the voltage with a multi meter - one probe on the pin that has the black wire connected to it and one probe on the red - what do you get there? Then, touch one probe to the black pin again and to the pin that's connected to the orange wire if there is one.

marine_man

[menomax]

If you gave your trolling motor 24v, you may have smoked the motors processeser. I have seen this before. Some of the cheaper trolling motors don't have internal over current protection. Check the voltage like marine_man says. Also the plugs may be configured differently if they are the 3 pronge 30amp type. You may have to switch the terminations from one pronge to the other until you find which ones are correct. Good luck.

[menomax]

oh, don't forget to check the polarity as well. + to + and - to -, if these are switched the motor will not run, and if it does it runs in reverse.

[Bigeye30"]

Hey guys, thanks for the added info, I pulled everything out today and ended up having to wire in a new plug, or socket thing, looked like some water got in there and corroded the connections, so I installed a new one, and redid some other wiring as well, everything is good to go, oh ya I found out for sure 12v system, it's good to learn something new today. Thanks again