1998 Tracker PT185 - Which wire for 12V trolling motor

[schlep]

1998 Tracker PT185 with 75hp force.

Four wires are run to the battery compartment for a 12/24V trolling motor.

I use a 12V - 48# Minkota.

My problem - I took the trolling motor battery out about 3 years ago and havent use the boat since.

Now that I have time, I dont know which wires to hook up for 12V motor

Choices: Orange with white stripe, Red, Black and Black with a stripe.

Also, has anyone ever heard of charging your batteries off of you vehicle while you are moving down the road?


Thank you,

Ben

 

[NYBo]

Re: 1998 Tracker PT185 - Which wire for 12V trolling motor

Welcome to iboats!:welcome:

Chances are a pair of those wires aren't heavy enough for your new trolling motor. Doubling them may work (orange/white and red for positive, black and black/white for negative). You would double them at the battery and the receptacle at the bow. The best thing would be to replace the wires with ones of the appropriate size.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1998 Tracker PT185 - Which wire for 12V trolling motor

DO NOT remove or cut any wires for the simple reason the next owner of your boat will thank you and if they don't do their own work, the service facility will know what's what. Those four wires are for two separate batteries and both pairs run to the panel at the bow. There is likely a RUN/CHARGE switch on that panel as well. As much as I hate this system, you can use what you have. Set the RUN/CHARGE switch to CHARGE. Hook both pairs of wires to a single 12 volt deep cycle battery. Now -- use a hand held voltmeter (a multitester set to read DC volts) and probe the receptacle to determine which two terminals provide 12 volts. Make sure the trolling motor plug wiring matches those two terminals and go fishing. Once you have this set up there is no reason to EVER switch to RUN as that tries to put the system in 24 volt mode.

This situation gets much easier if there is no run/charge switch. Pick one pair of wires and follow them directly to the receptacle. Those are the two terminals the troller must match up with. Connect that pair of wires to the battery and go fishing.