Evinrude Trolling Motor Wiring

[aMeyers11]

Hi everyone, I recently got a old evinrude 12/24 volt trolling motor from my buddy that came on his stratos bass boat. The motor is in excellent shape and it has everything with it. I tried to do some research and found that this is the high output model given away by the larger prop. I read that it is 55 lb? Would it be 55 lb in 12 and 24 modes? Or is the thrust less on just 12 volts? From what I understand there are 3 wires from the foot pedal(red white black) white and black to be used on one battery for 12 v and then just connect red to pos on a second battery for 24 volt. The wire is not that thick coming out of the footpedal. Maybe 10 awg. The wires will proabably run about 15 feet to the battery as my batteries are in back and It needs some slack so the pedal can be moved. . Does this mean I need really thick wire? Maybe thick wire could be used to the plug from the battery and then thinner wire from the foot pedal to the plug? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[gm280]

Obviously the highest output will be with 24 volts on the highest setting. Yes, you will need heaver gauge wire(s) to run that long to get the maximum current it will need to work at the highest setting. For that length probably 4 gauge wires. Otherwise the 10 gauge will heat up and could catch fire when you are on the highest setting going full bore. JMHO

 

[aMeyers11]

Alright thanks for the help. I'll talk to my buddy and see how it was setup by the factory on his boat. I'll proabably run thick wire to the plug(at the front of the boat) from the battery and then from the foot pedal to other side of plug with 10 gauge? Or do I have to go that thick throughout? And I'm assuming I should use a big fuse like 60 amp or something? Thanks

 

[gm280]

The shorter the wire length, the smaller gauge you could use. That is why the trolling motors themselves don't have 6 gauge wire in them. However, when you run long runs like the 15 feet you are talking about, and the trolling motor requires 40 or 50 amps, you have to use very heavy gauge wire or you will burn something up. And yes use a fuse or circuit breaker that is about ten amps more then the trolling motor requires. If you use one that is exactly the size of the current requirement of the trolling motor, it will be popping a lot. Because in-rush current will exceed the max current for a short period of time. Again, JMHO!