Charging Trolling Motor Batteries

[bjarnold1]

I have a 2007 Seaswirl 175 Fish n Ski equipped with a Minn Kota Powerdrive 65lb bow mount trolling motor. The boat has two 12 volt batteries dedicated for the trolling motor and one 12 volt for the outboard/accessories. The only access to the trolling motor batteries is completely removing a built in tackle storage box to gain access for charging. Can I wire a Battery Tender to a trolling motor plug and plug that in the bow?.

 

[alldodge]

Don't see why not

 

[Silvertip]

There isn't a simple yes or no answer to this. A 65# thrust motor requires 24 volts -- hence the two batteries in series. If you intend to charge them through the troller receptacle you need to know how the receptacle is wired. If there are two separate pairs of wires (one set from each battery) running to the receptacle, you would need a four prong plug and you would need a two output charger wired to the plug. So you need more than a battery tender -- something with at least two 5 amp or more outputs. Remember -- you have two batteries. Each one requires a separate pair of charging leads.

 

[alldodge]

You can wire a tender thru the plug. Most plugs have 12/24 wiring. Will a tender recharge a bat no, but can be used as a tender.

You can also use one charger wired thru the plug if 24V only, using a 24V charger

 

[bjarnold1]

Both trolling motor batteries were wired with their own + and - battery cables and not linked together to 24V that I'm aware of. There is a built in battery gauge in the bow that goes from 10v-16v and a momentary rocker switch marked battery 1 and battery 2 that shows the volts on the gauge.

 

[Silvertip]

OK -- then the plug & receptacle must have four terminals and the trolling motor plug MUST have a jumper to form the 24 volt series connection. A 65# thrust motor requires 24 volts. Nevertheless, you still need either a 24 volt charger or a dual output charger.