10 guage wire?

[redbuster]

i will soon be adding a 24 volt trolling motor in place of my 12 volt. the boat has the factory wiring for the trolling motor which is 2 sets of pos. and neg. 10 guage wire going to the female plug with 1 red 1 blk 1 orange so i guess it was wired originaly for 12 or 24 volt use. <br />i understand how to run batteries in series and from what i have read i should use 6 guage wire. i guess the question is instead of replacing the 2 sets of 10 guage for 1 set of 6 guage can i just double them up and still use what i have or will it really hurt the performace of the trolling motor.<br /><br />thanks bert

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 10 guage wire?

#10 doubled up is equivalent to about #7 wire. Pretty close but not there. If the wire run was not long, I myself would probably use the #10 doubled up and plan on replacing it. How far are you running? Which trolling motor and lbs?

 

[redbuster]

Re: 10 guage wire?

thanks for the reply paul,the wire run is about 15ft the trolling motor is a motorguide 62lb thrust 24 volt.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 10 guage wire?

The difference between doubled up #10 and #6 works out to about 0.5% voltage drop over that distance. Not a big deal IMO.<br />That is if I'm reading you right. You have four wires in total, and you'll double up both right? That is to say, a doubled positive and a doubled negative.

 

[redbuster]

Re: 10 guage wire?

yes that is correct 2 pos. and 2 neg. all 4 are 10 guage. i will also be adding a big foot on off floor swith which is single 10 guage and are safe for 12 or 24 volt. <br /><br />thanks

 

[jlinder]

Re: 10 guage wire?

Bert,<br /><br />I am a little confused. If you are replacing the 12 volt with a 24 volt motor, and it is the same power, you should be cutting the current draw in half.<br /><br />While everyone is right that 2 #10 wires equals a single #6 wire, I would ask a different set of questions:<br /><br />1. What is the current draw of the motor? (any and all specs you might have would be helpful)<br /><br />2. How are the batteries connected? (2 in series, right next to each other, with what wire?)<br /><br />3. How long is the wire from the batteries to the motor?<br /><br />With that information you can get much better answers.

 

[redbuster]

Re: 10 guage wire?

jack thanks for the reply, i removed a motor guide magmun 740 12 volt 34 lbs thrust using a single battery. i am replacing it with a newer motor guide great white 24 volt 62 lbs thrust. the boat came wire from the factory with 2 set of pos./neg. wires going to a 3 wire female plug with 1 red,1 blk,& 1 orange so i guess it was wired to be used 12 or 12/24. i will be using 24 volt only. the wire length is roughly 15ft from battery to trolling motor plug.<br />thanks again!

 

[jlinder]

Re: 10 guage wire?

The motorguide.com web site lists a number of models, but none with a 62 lbs. thrust. Perhaps you are talking about 82 lbs.?<br /><br />As for current draw, I checked the website but they say nothing about the draw. Just a wiring note to have a 50 amp breaker in line. Really poor data sheet. I think people buying their product deserve real numbers on current draw and stuff.<br /><br />Why not call them? (920-929-5040)<br /><br />6 guage wire is rated for 60 amps, so if you have a 50 amp breaker you are good from that aspect.<br /><br />As for current draw, at 40 amps, with 6 guage wire, and a round trip of 30 feet (has to go out and back), you have a 1 volt drop or about 8.4%<br />(from http://www.ls.net/~windyhill/Calcs/linedropcalc.htm) <br /><br />40 amp is probably high, and you may decide this 8.4% is OK, but just keep in mind that is where part of your battery power is going to waste.<br /><br />Let us know what the company says for current draw and we can get real figures.

 

[markvictor]

Re: 10 guage wire?

If you go to www.ancorproducts.com<br />they have an excellent wire size chart set for both 3% and 10% voltage loss...

 

[swist]

Re: 10 guage wire?

I do DC electrical work in my job and under some conditions we would use two number #10s (30A each) instead of one #6 (60A). There is no electrical difference. I don't know where the "equivalent to #7 wire and not quite making it" came from.

 

[redbuster]

Re: 10 guage wire?

thanks for the reply! everyone's help has been great.

 

[--GQ--]

Re: 10 guage wire?

Originally posted by swist:<br /> I don't know where the "equivalent to #7 wire and not quite making it" came from. <br /><br />I fell to the floor and laughed for half an hour when i read that. "Help i'm fallin and I can't Get up"? Man you kids are funny. I will speak no more.<br /><br />Jack L, you are one smart fella. Your logical reasoning is keen. I bet you have a Chaparral sittin in your drive way. Let me know if i'm wrong.<br /><br />Mr. Bert this infos. is probably too long and a little too late. When feeding a load at high current, it is best to use many smaller wires than a larger one at the same rating. Smaller wires will discipate heat faster due to thier smaller cross section. Inaddition many smaller wires packed together have larger cooling surface area than a single large wire thus minimizing the I square R loss.<br /><br />Inconclusion, less I square R loss means less wasted energy. Your batteries will last a bit longer.<br /><br />Note: When increasing the voltage(E) to a load (R), the current(I) is less since load(R) is constant. Also your trolling motor should have a tag or stampted name plate somewhere showing the Voltage rating, Running current, and Lock rotor current. It's much easier to caculate your wire size using those datas as suppose to converting from thrust to horse power to electrical unit.