wiring up a trolling motor

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billy boater

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hello there i am brand new to the site and need some help with a trolling motor. i have a 17 foot open bow and im trying to install my new trolling motor. well it isint exactly new but new to me. its a motor guide beast 775 with foot pedal control. i got it from a buddie so there is no install instructions or anything like that. im not sure how to hook it up its a 24/36 volt and has 3 wires that all look to be 8 gauge or so a red a black and a white. i know the red and black is power and ground but im not sure what the white wire is for. i also know i will need 2 deep cycle batt. but have no idea how they are sapose to get hooked up to the batt's. or if there is more parts i need to get. any help would be greatly appriciated. thanks......
 

Silvertip

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Re: wiring up a trolling motor

36 volts takes three batteries -- 24 volts takes two.

If you are going to run on 24V only, the diagram below is what you need. You tape off the red wire. The black wire is 24 volt and connects to the POS terminal of the battery (the one with the circuit breaker). The white wire connects to ground (the battery on the left.)
24VTrollerWiring.jpg


If you run both 24 and 36V, you need three batteries connected as shown. Forget the two pin plug as you will need a three pin. For 24 volts you wire the black and white wires exactly the same as you did in the first example (on the left and center batteries). The red wire is the 36V connection and is connected to the POS terminal of the third battery (the one with the circuit breaker.

36VWiring.jpg
 

billy boater

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Re: wiring up a trolling motor

thanks alot for the info. so just so im understanding this right i am only runnning 24v so i wanna link the two batt's together by hooking the pos from one batt to the neg on the other batt then tape off the red wire. and hook up the white wire to neg and the black to pos? what gauge wire should i run and what amp breaker do i need?
 

Silvertip

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Re: wiring up a trolling motor

Right! Just follow the diagram. The black wire in the diagram is the white wire for your setup. The red wire in the diagram is the black wire for your setupl. The gauge of the wire depends on how far the batteries are from the motor. The longer the run the bigger the wire needs to be. 6 gauge should do fine. I don't know what the current draw is on that particular motor but a 24V Minnkota draws 56 amps at 24 volts so the minimum size would be 60A and it needs to be placed right at the battery not at the motor.
 
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Re: wiring up a trolling motor

Hi, I am new to this forum and website.
I have been reading tons of responses to rebuilding and repairing aluminum boats.
I have recently been given a 14'1968 Lonestar v hull boat and the gears are turning in my head on repairing and going fishing.
I have an old minn kota troll motor 40 lb thrust wiring cut on ends.
I need help with wiring this thing up . I know little about electrical and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris.
 

Silvertip

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Re: wiring up a trolling motor

It is impolite to hijack someones thread. You should have started a new one. You have a 12 volt motor. It needs one deep cycle battery (you can't use a car battery). Connect the red wire to the POSITIVE terminal on the battery. Connect the black wire to the NEGATIVE terminal on the battery. Add a 50 amp circuit breaker on the positive line at the battery. Use the first of the two diagrams I showed earlier. Just eliminate one of the batteries.
 

billy boater

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Re: wiring up a trolling motor

thank you for ur help i think i got it now! if i have any probs i will post on here thanks again!!!
 

dioggio

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Jul 24, 2011
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I know this is an old post but I was concerned with the advice given in post #2 above so decided to take the base off my motorguide beast 775 and check it out.
The black wire in the black/white/red cable goes to the motors negative. The red and white wires go to the 24/36 swicth the center of which goes to the motors positive. So black wire should go to battery1 negative (-), positive(+) of this battery should be linked to negative(-) of battery2. Positive(+) of battery2 should be linked to the negative of battery3 and also to the white wire via a circuit breaker. Lastly the red wire should be connected to the positive(+) of battery3 via a circuit breaker.

Post #2 suggests connecting white to negative(-) and black to + 24v. In the 24 switch position the motor would receive -24V (ie be wired in reverse) and motor would be off in the 36 position. If you then connected the red to +36v then in the 24 switch position the motor would receive -24V (ie be wired in reverse) and in the 36 switch position the motor would be wired across battery3 so only receive +12v not 36v (but polarity would be correct).

If just using 24v, as suggested: tape off red, connect Black to - and White to +24v via circuit breaker. If using 36 need a circuit breaker in both the red and white wires.
 
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