Wiring Up A Trolling Motor

[Dylan Peiffer]

Im going to apologize ahead of time. Im not electrically savvy and I dont mess w/wires. I have a new MK Maxxum trolling motor I am trying to hook it up and I have a wiring problem. the wire harness that run from the front of my boat to the battery has 4 wires (a red, orange, black w/blue stripe, and a black wire). My new TM has the traditional 2 wires (red and black). I know the black is ground, but what are the other 3 wires? Why 4 wires? Can I buy a male and female adapter and just hook up the red/black wires? What do I do with the remaining 2 wires if I dont use them? Thanks for the help!!!!!

[topwaterrob]

I did the exact thing with mine. the four existing wires are setup to run the batteries in parallel which you are probably not doing.  if you are currently using a 24v wired in a series then two of those wires arent connected to a battery.  cap the dead wires and then attach the red and black to the respective places on the harness and you should be good to go....  Hope i didnt confuse you but i was in the same situation a few months back.

[Dylan Peiffer]

I guess I forgot a few details. The new trolling motor is 24v. The old trolling motor was 24v too. To make matters worse, The old owner had the wiring harness hooked up to an aftermarket breaker he installed. When I had the boat upholstery redone earlier this yr, the marina took the breaker out.

[topwaterrob]

maybe you can post a pic of what youre looking at when you get a chance.... 

[Traveler2586]

I guess I forgot a few details. The new trolling motor is 24v. The old trolling motor was 24v too. To make matters worse, The old owner had the wiring harness hooked up to an aftermarket breaker he installed. When I had the boat upholstery redone earlier this yr, the marina took the breaker out.

 

IMHO, You should have a breaker on the red wire at the batteries, if you don't you should have one installed.  Also, the Red and black wires should be 6 gauge, ONLY feed the trolling motor, and have as few connections in the circuit as possible.  Unless you remove the TM from your boat at the end of the day for storage you don't need a plug & receptacle in the circuit, they're needless connections and a maintenance issue.

 

If as you say "not electrically savvy and don't mess w/wires" have a qualified marine tech do the work for you, it'll be money well spent.  But I would question why the marina took out your breaker; was it undersized or something wrong with it???  What safety did they leave you with?  If nothing, don't go back to that marina. IMHO

[Team_Dougherty]

The 4 wires are for a 12/24v motor.

[Christian M]

IMHO, You should have a breaker on the red wire at the batteries, if you don't you should have one installed.  Also, the Red and black wires should be 6 gauge, ONLY feed the trolling motor, and have as few connections in the circuit as possible.  Unless you remove the TM from your boat at the end of the day for storage you don't need a plug & receptacle in the circuit, they're needless connections and a maintenance issue.

 

If as you say "not electrically savvy and don't mess w/wires" have a qualified marine tech do the work for you, it'll be money well spent.  But I would question why the marina took out your breaker; was it undersized or something wrong with it???  What safety did they leave you with?  If nothing, don't go back to that marina. IMHO

X2, Always have a breaker installed at the battery(s). I made the mistake of running my bow mount 12V w/o a breaker & I fried my control board. Luckily I was able to contact Minn Kota & they sold me a new control board for $70.00 & installed it myself. If not I would have been looking at at least $500 to replace the motor.