trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

gjk5

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May 9, 2013
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8
stupid question, but I bought this boat (2003 Hurricane SD237), is equipped with a MinnKota Copilot motor, no batteries in it. Has two trays and looks like two seperate battery leads, (no "bridge").

How do I determine if it is 12v or 24v?

Bonus question: has an on board charger, one bank goes to starter batteries (which should charge both of them right?) and the one that goes to troller batteries is taped up, not sure why this would be, and if it IS a 12v troller, how do I get the charger to charge both trolling batteries (ordo I have to manually flip the leads?)
 

NYBo

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Oct 23, 2008
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7,107
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

Welcome to iboats!:welcome:

Are there any other markings on the trolling motor? The panel into which the trolling motor plugs? Between the size of the boat and the battery leads, it's probably a 24V, but let's see if we can figure out for sure.
 

gjk5

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May 9, 2013
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8
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

well.......yeah.

While I was busy jacking around in the bilge and looking at the trolling motor from the tongue of the trailer, I neglected to look at the top of the "head" of the troller. It is clearly marked 24V.......

next question is what gauge does the "crossover" wire need to be and I will stick my head in and look for the fuses, should a single set of leads from the charger to one of the trolling batteries charge both? If not that is likely why they taped them over and hooked up one bank to the starting batteries.

I already blew the big fuse on the starter when I put in one of the starting batteries, trying not to screw anything else up before I take the family to Powell next week.....
 
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186
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

Your better off charging one battery at a time cause if one battery charges faster it will keep charging on a high amp when the amps should go down as i charges you can order a 24 volt charger online you want one like 1 amp or lower milamps the slower the charge the better for your starter just use the 1 bank it shouldnt need charged much i use a razor scooter charger for mine it puts out like 28.5 volts the marine batterys will put out like 13.6 volts when regelar car battery might put out 12.8 if your luckysince you will already have batterys hooked 24 volt look on ebay for any 24 v charger that has light lets you know when charged the electric scooter ones work good u just have to put clamps on wires and there only like 20 bucks
 
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186
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

Another thing dont know if u already know make sure both batterys are ecatly the same ah and amps same brand and i would use biggest wire i could get for crossover like 4 gage may even be good to put a fuse inbetween like 40amp
 
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Feb 17, 2012
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2,906
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

stupid question, but I bought this boat (2003 Hurricane SD237), is equipped with a MinnKota Copilot motor, no batteries in it. Has two trays and looks like two seperate battery leads, (no "bridge").

How do I determine if it is 12v or 24v?

Bonus question: has an on board charger, one bank goes to starter batteries (which should charge both of them right?) and the one that goes to troller batteries is taped up, not sure why this would be, and if it IS a 12v troller, how do I get the charger to charge both trolling batteries (ordo I have to manually flip the leads?)

i have never seen a charger that can do 12v on one bank and 24v on the second bank so please list the charger name and model so we can find you a manual. Most people use either a 3 bank charger or use the dual on the trolling motor batteries only as there no need to realy charge the starting one

batteries can explode when wired wrong so we have to know what you have on the boat before we give any real advice. How many wires do you have in the battery compartment that goes to the trolling motor (is there a breaker installed in the positive close to the batteries). How many pins are on the trolling plug.

pictures realy help if thats possible
 

gjk5

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May 9, 2013
Messages
8
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

it is definitely 24V, went and got the second battery today, exactly the same as the other I bought last week. The charger is a 12V charger so that is likely why they have the leads taped off to the trolling batteries.

I will stick my head down there shortly and confirm, but the wiring does not seem right for the diagrams I have seen online for rigging 24V?

I did buy a 4gauge crossover today as well, but I swear there are two pos and two neg leads down there?
 
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2,906
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

yep 4 leads sounds like most boats. Im not sure about your boat so you will have to work with me on this.

is there a switch up front near the trolling plug that says charge/run ...... or 12v dual / 12v / 24v (not on the trolling motor but on the boat)

If there is no switch you will have to gain access to the rear of the trolling receptical and look at how its wired.

important do not use a jumper on a 4 wire set up.

How many terminals on the plug 2, 3, or 4

p.s you have to understand that when they built the boat people wanted to choose what voltage they wanted on the trolling motor so they came up with this idea that they could run 4 wires to the front then either use a switch (attached to the boat) or a jumper in the trolling motor plug to change the wiring to suit the need. This is a 5 minute job if you have a meter and understand voltage but its a major fire hazard if you dont.
the best way is to locate both ends of the wires and get pictures.
 

gjk5

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May 9, 2013
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Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

Thanks for the info, did not have a chance to dive in there tonight, other crap needed to get done to facilitate a 5 day Powell run.

There is no switch though, I can pull the receptacle on the bow tomorrow and take pics and some of the battery tray/lead setup too.

One of my concerns is that the access to the two trolling motors is **** poor, it is on the starboard side of the engine compartment, no real access from main engine hatch, only full access is by pulling a built in tackle locker out completely.

Is it possible to put some charging leads on EACH of the two troller batteries that would hook up to my Battery Tender and run them over to the engine hatch to make charging and maintaining easier? If it's wired the way you think I can charge in 12V right?


ETA: have a meter and a relatively poor knowledge of it's workings....
 
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2,906
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

I still need the name and model off the on board charger and how many pins on the trolling plug.

pins on the trolling plug and receptical are important. If it has 4 pins look around the boat for a plug that looks like a trolling plug but has no wires attached to it (normally red in color)
 
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Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

If you can find a exact plug that you have on troller you can rig the plug to your charger that way you can plug your charger in the same place you plug in yout troller or you could get a female doulble plug to hook to that way you never have to unplug your troller.
 

gjk5

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Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
8
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

OK, on board charger is a "Dura Charge DC 206", it is clearly marked 12v 6A.

Trolling motor is a MinnKota AutoPilot 65 ft lb 24V "65 AP"

Trolling motor plug is a four pin, in a square pattern.
 
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2,906
Re: trolling motor question, is it 12 or 24v?

ok
your trolling motor voltage is selected by the trolling plug. As we have never seen it run we will go start from scratch by testing.


1/ on a piece of paper draw the trolling plug and number the terminals
2/ connect one battery at the rear to the larger cables (make sure the other wires that go to the second battery do not touch anything, the battery wires should be cut to lenth so it should be easy to see which battery they use to go to. make sure you connect red to positive black to negative) then using a volt meter (set to volts. red probe in goes in the socket marked V. black probe goes in the socket marked common turn the dial to dc). Test the trolling receptical for 2 terminals that have 12v on them (push probes in the holes where the trolling motor plugs in until you find 2 holes that gives you 12v on the meter). Check the meter reads 12vdc not -12vdc if it does reverse the volt meter probes and you should then read 12vdc.
3/ mark on the paper battery one + where the red probe is - where the black probe is
4/ unhook battery one make sure leads are not touching anything then hook up battery 2
5/ test for 12v at the receptical
6/ mark on the paper battery 2 then mark where the + and - is
7/ check results. each pin should only be used once
8/ open the trolling plug thats attached to the trolling motor there should be 2 wires and a jumper inside the plug
9/ check the jumper is connecting one of the batteries + to the other batterys - (as we dont know which battery was original number one it could be either way around)
10/ if everything has has gone correctly. No terminal on the trolling receptical is used twice, the jumper connects a + to a negative and the trolling motor is connected to a + on one battery and negative on the other battery then and only then can you finnish the job (while you are there mark on the paper which battery the negative of the trolling motor is attached to)
11/ attach both batteries (if you can get hold of a inline fuse holder from a auto parts store you can test by stripping the wire and pushing it into the terminals of the receptical that the jumper in the plug uses to connect the batteries together, then test the other 2 terminals and you should have 24vdc)
12/ plug in trolling motor and test
13/ unplug trolling motor after test.

If every thing went ok

14/ connect the charger spare leads to the battery that was connected to the negative of the trolling motor (step 10) connect the charger using the + and - off the same battery (the charger only puts out 12v so it goes on one battery)
15/ buy a extra trolling plug of i-boats in red
16/ inside new trolling plug jumper + to + and - to - then seal up the end where the wire would attach
17/ when you store the boat remove the trolling motor from the receptical and plug in the red plug that will act as a jumper for the charger (it will tie the 2 trolling motor batteries together to make a 12v bank and as the charger is attached to one battery it will charge both)

got to go to work if you run in to problems STOP and tell us what is not testing correctly. If you do not understand how this works STOP and call a friend.
 
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