12/24/charge-runs slow on 24v-white and orange wires?

Hi my names Casey and Im new on here, but have been reading the threads for some time. I've searched all over and although I've found some helpful things, I have'nt have what I've been looking for. I recently bought a 1980 16ft ranger with a 50 merc. Bought it for 600 bucks so you can be sure there where things wrong with it. Cant beat it for 600 bucks though.

I recently bought an older 42lb thrust trollin motor 12/24v with foot control. I hooked it up 24v and the trolling motor works but it just seems way to slow! A good buddy that I bought it off of isnt sure but assured me it worked well and would push that little 16fter around. If I cant figure it out he said he would take it back, but for 50 bucks Id like to figure it out!

I bought a 3 prong plug for it at true value to fit in the front console. Everything in the front console seems to work including, battery test, tilt an trim so on and so forth.

I followed the wires from up front to the rear and there is a red, black, orange, and white that i believe are in conjunction to the trolling motor. I hooked up the red and black one 24v with 2 batteries with a jumper. This works when the switch is on 24v or 12v with the foot control switch on 24v. So I assume that I wired it right but it is just way to slow! I have brand new deep cell marine batteries so im stumped.

Im not sure what the orange and white wires are for and as of now they are left unhooked. This being my first boat Im not even sure what the charge mode is for on the console, Im guessing so you can hook up a battery tender on and not screw up the trolling motor while charging.

Im stumped and Im kinda short on cash so I cant afford to take it any where. If someone could help me out or get me in the right path, that would be great.

Thanks for taking time to read,

Casey

Re: 12/24/charge-runs slow on 24v-white and orange wires?

Let's talk about what the Charge/Run and 12/24 switches are for first. Your boat has four wires (red & black must be connected to one battery and Orange & white connected to the second battery). There is no jumper between batteries in this configuration. The RUN/CHARGE switch makes this series connection in the RUN position. The CHARGE position breaks the series connection and parallels the two batteries so you can charge both of them simultaneously with a standard 12 volt charger connected through the trolling motor plug. Use both sets of wires as intended and the unit will work fine.

Next question: Is the 12/24 switch on a separate panel at the front of the boat or is it on the trolling motor foot controller? In the 24V position you should measure 24V across the red and black wires on the MOTOR. In the 12V position you should have 12V on the orange and black wires on the MOTOR. If you don't you have some wiring issues.
Since you added the trolling motor receptacle at the front, what did you wire it to? You also need to make sure the three terminals in the receptacle match with the proper terminals on the plug for the trolling motor.

Re: 12/24/charge-runs slow on 24v-white and orange wires?

Wow that really opened up my eyes. Sounds like a really cool feature. So I would just hook up red and black wires to battery #1 and orange and white to battery #2 and this includes no jumper? Then the switches do the rest on the front panel?

My front panel has the charge/12v only/12 or 24v and my foot control has a 12/24v switch on it.

I wired a 3 prong up to the 3 prong receptacle and the wires match. So I think Im good there

Another question, how and where would I go about getting a plug for a 12v charger for the front panel? Would I just buy another 3 prong plug and hook in the positive and negitive wires then hook it up to the 12v charger or would this not work because there wouldnt be a ground or the neutral wire?

Thank you very much for taking time to reply back and helping me on this. Sorry that Im not very informational. Im not to savy when it comes to all this haha, but Ive learned a lot and hopefully I will be able to help someone else out when I figure it all out

Re: 12/24/charge-runs slow on 24v-white and orange wires?

The same place you bought the receptacle will have matching plugs. Yes, you connect the charger to the new plug leads and plug it in. To make sure which terminals to use, (obviously ground is one), set the boat switch to CHARGE 12V. Now measure between ground and the red terminal on the receptacle. If you measure 12V plug there, use those two pins. Then measure the Orange and black wires. If you get 12V there use those two. In a four wire system there is no jumper at the batteries. Since you have two 12/24 switches, you need to leave the 12/24 switch on the boat panel in the 24V setting. Use the switch on the motor to select 12 or 24 volt operation. The reality of this is I see no reason whatsoever to EVER use 12V as you will bet better battery life and more power from 24V.

Re: 12/24/charge-runs slow on 24v-white and orange wires?

Thanks for the advice. Im going to work on it today, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks a lot , you sure know your stuff!