trolling battery help

[1fast68]

On the trolling batteries, if I have them connected in series for 24v. Do I connect both the connections from the 2 bank charger to each + and - on each battery? Also can I connect the Main panel wiring up to just one set of + and - leads to either batt 1 or 2 or do I need to connect everything else to the cranking battery?

Thanks,

Shane

[Long Mike]

I would recommend that you get a three bank charger so that you can charge your cranking battery while you are charging the TM batteries.  Yes, you can hook up the two banks to the TM batteries.  All main panel wiring should be tied in to your cranking battery in such a manner that when you turn the key off, all the other electrics are off as well.  The only electrics that should be tied in to your TM batteries would be the bow-mount depth finder.

[1fast68]

So it will be ok to connect the bow mount depth finder to either batt 1 or 2's + and - ?  Also is the connection suppose to spark when you first connect the + of batt 1 to the - on batt 2?

[frogtog]

Why the bow mount depth finder Long Mike?

[Long Mike]

Frogtog, the only reason I made this recommendation is that it would allow the use of the bow depth finder and the TM while the main electrics were turned off, i.e. the key was turned to off.  Since the LCD unit and the transducer are located up front with the TM, and since the electronics draw very little power, it seems logical to me that one should tie in the power to one of the TM batteries.

MY IDIOT LIGHT JUST STARTED FLASHING.   :-[ :-[ :-[  Shane is running his batteries in series, so 24 volts are being provided to the TM.  The electronics need 12 volts.  Options:  Run a pair of wires back to one of the TM batteries, or tie in to the cranking battery circuit.

Despite my red face, I would still recommend that the electronics up front be tied to one of the TM batteries.  With the advent of dual GPS/Depth systems, having the ability to navigate from up front could prove very important in the event of a systems failure with the big motor and its electrics.

[1fast68]

I dont understand boat electronics very well, but as long as the panel has 12v it doesn't matter which battery, it's still only going to power up when the key is turned on, right? Also, should the 12v hook up's spark when connected to one of the single batterys connected in series?

[jim payne]

You really do need to conect all those electronics to the boat running battery for a bunch of reasons. And no you should not see sparks hooking up any electronics. It could of sparked just because the unit was turned on before wired too.

[Jig Man]

Run your accessories off the engine battery not the trolling motor batteries.  Hook them up so that the main power switch (NOT the ignition switch) can turn them off.

[1fast68]

OK this is going to be long so please hang with me.....The main panel is connected to the cranking battery, with the key off I can turn that main panel on and the accesaries work. That should be right. My trim switches, 3 of them, work no matter what, on the cranking battery.

To the trolling motor:

I have a 3 potion switch that has charge, 12v, and 12/24v potions. I have a 3 prong TM connecter, I have a cig. lighter type connecter on the same panel as the 3 way switch and plug in for TM. I have 4 wires comming from the 3 postion switch back to the batteries, I have a blue + and - and a white + and - (I will refer to these as the blue and white wires).

The top of the 3 way switch is the charge it is bridged to its + and -.

The middle is the 12v setting, it is connected to the red on the TM plug, + on the blue set and the + on the cig. lighter plug. The - side of the 12v setting is connected to the - of the white set only.

The bottom is the 12/24v setting, connected to the + on the white set only, and the orange of the TM plug. The - side is connected to the Blue sets neg, black wire on TM plug and - of the cig. lighter plug.

If I have the batteries connected in series the TM runs full speed on all 3 postion settings if the Blue + and - are connected. If connected to just one singe 12v batter it only runs at half the speed and if I try to connect the white set of wires to the other 12v battery they spark when touching them to either of the post on the other seperate battery.

With the White set connected in series (24v), the TM only works on the charge setting, not at all on the 12v setting and trips the breaker on 12/24.

This make no since at all to me. The TM shouldn't work at all on the charge postion, correct?

On the TM plug: looking at the plug the top is the black wire, left is the red wire and right is the orange wire. I sure hope someone can help out with this one.

[Jig Man]

One of us is smoking too much weed.   8-)  For 12v you need a + and a -.   For 24 v you need a + on battery 1 and a _ on battery 2 with a jumper wire from - 1 to +2.   Somewhere in the mix you have completely lost me.

If you have a camera, some pics would help this poor tired mine.

[1fast68]

I'll try to draw a diagram and post it tomorrow. I figured it would confuse someone. I'm confused. The same place that wired the TM wired the trailer with no ground. (fixed that). Thanks for the help so far, hopefully a diagram will clear some things up.

[1fast68]

This is the best I could figure out to do, sorry. Thanks again for taking the time to help me figure this out.

[1fast68]

After looking at it agin, take it that I don't know what the difference between the orange and red TM wires are for. If I swap the Blue and White negatives and connect the blues to one battery at 12V and then connect the whites to the middle pos and neg to make 24V. Would that fix the problem? And then add a jumper between the Negatives?

[1fast68]

Sorry, This is how I think it should connect (with maybe the orange and red from TM plug switched, depending on which is the 12v or 24v). Does this look right? Also, the charge selector would just be "off".

[jim payne]

Are you using a 24 volt motor all the time? And you are using a two bank charger corrct?

[Jig Man]

Your system must be a 12/24 with both parallel and series wirings.  You can simplify the whole thing by going 24 only.  You would need a + from battery 1 to the + trolling motor lead.  You would need a - from battery 2 to the - trolling motor lead.

The connections for the charger are a bank + to battery +,  a bank - to battery - then the same procedure with the other bank and other battery.

[1fast68]

Thanks for all the imput. The two bank charger is not working correctly so I am going to have to replace it. But I believe someone just didn't know what they were doing when wiring this. The red and orange wires from the TM plug are tied to the single red/black wire comming from the TM. So I believe the TM is a 24v only. 74# Maxxum. So I wired it up today 24v to the bottom postion (run 12/24v). The TM still comes on in all switch postions even though it has only power to the bottom 2 prongs on the switch. So the switch may be bad but doesn't matter at this point. So thanks for all your help.

[kbkindle]

kb here   i have interstate batterys in boat know but there getting weak  there is not a interstate battery place in town that sells them   what do you guys think about the best wallmart trolling motor batterys.  worth  it or have to go out of town   kb

[fishfordollars]

If the trolling motor is straight 24v. this is how it should be wired and is on my boat. Red(Positive cable) should be attached to battery one  positive post,  black(Negative cable) to the negative post of battery two, battery cable three should run from battery one - to battery two +. Other than my onboard chargers this is the only thing attached to my trolling motor batterys. Everything else is attached to my cranking battery and includes two depth finders and one soner/GPS combo.