Re: Start Battery vs Deep Cycle (What should be connected?)
OK -- here goes again. A 12 volt ONLY, 24 volt ONLY,, 36 volt ONLY and 48 volt ONLY motor can run from a two wire system where the batteries are wired in series back at the batteries and only TWO wires run up front to a TWO terminal connector to which a TWO terminal trolling motor attaches to feed power to the motor via TWO wires.
If you want to parallel batteries the same situation applies and the system does not change from back to front.
Back in the good old days the trolling motor manufacturers decided that it would be cool to make a motor run on EITHER 12 or 24 volts. That meant the boat manufacturers needed to change the wiring to accommodate that capability and those who already owned boats needed to modify their wiring. So some manufacturers made a three wire system having various color coding but the most common (in my view) was red, orange, and black. The red and orange went to the POSITIVE terminal on each of the two batteries. The jumper between the two batteries was still needed. Black went to the NEGATIVE terminal on the battery that served as the system ground. So red to black = 24 volts, orange to black = 12 volts (unless folks turned these two around). A THREE terminal plug was used at the bow. The troller may have had a three wire power lead with a switch on the motor (stern mount or tiller bow mount) or it may have had the 12/24 switch on the foot pedal.
Enter the FOUR wire system. TWO batteries, no connection between them, so TWO PAIRS of wires going up front. Going to what??? a) directly to a FOUR wire receptacle that feeds a FOUR wire plug that may or may not have a jumper strap in it. b) to a panel that has a FOUR wire receptacle AND a 12/24/RUN/CHARGE switch. The receptacle feeds a FOUR terminal plug that feeds a foot pedal with a 12/24 selector switch. The logic of the run/charge switch was that in the CHARGE position the batteries were paralleled so both batteries could be charged using a single output 12 volt charger connected through the trolling motor receptacle or connect the charger to one battery and charge both. In the RUN position the parallel connection was open so the 12/24 switch (wherever it was located) could function. Since most motors today are ONLY 12, 24, or 36 volts, AND are electronically controlled is it worth the risk to willy-nilly connect stuff and hope you don't muck up the electrics? Again, understand what you have before you re-engineer a system and you will likely save yourself grief and possibly lots of money. These three and four wire systems have been messed with by so many people who try to make things work that you have no idea just how or how badly they have been rearranged.