TM plug-in

[skillet]

Couple of weeks ago I started a post about what size wire needed for TM. Got some good answers and decided I needed no.6. Went to the closest Ranger dealership and the only plug-in for TM they sell has no.8 wire . Wouldn't this cancel out any good I did by pulling no.6 :-/...

skillet

[cart7t]

If you open up a typical TM, the wiring inside is only 8 or 10 gauge wire.  The same goes for the wiring guts of a typical foot control pedal assy.  Using 6 gauge is advantageous when you're talking about long runs of wire from the back to the front of the boat.  At some point though the wire gauge must be scaled back due to the extreme thickness of 6 gauge wired and it's stiffness.  

[nick76]

Skillet,

Did you already purchase the 6 gauge wire?  Can you post a little more specifics on the type of TM and the info on it?

Here are a couple of options that hit me just now.

1)  shorten the distance from the battery to the motor

2)  remove the 8 gauge wire from the plug and resolder in 6 gauge

3)  double check and make sure you really need 6 gauge wire

I am going to link your other thread.....I had to hunt a little to find it.  If you can give me a little more info I would be glad to help.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1230068530

[Wayne P.]

The purpose of using the 6 gauge wire is to reduce voltage drop over the distance of the boat length. Once the end point is reached (plug) then you have the max voltage available at the plug minus the small loss of the 6 gauge wire. Using a smaller gauge wire (8 or 10) for the run from battery to plug will result in a higher voltage loss.

A wire larger than 6 gauge will be even better- like welding cable, but may be cost prohibitive.

The short 8 or 10 guage wire on the receptacle will not result in any more voltage loss to the trolling motor plug.

[hipster_dufus]

bps has the male and female plugs that u can buy an adapter for that will take 6 gage. i went thru this a couple of yrs ago. ended up buying some 6 gage jumper cables, cutting off what i needed to make the run and then making some new jumper cables.i went to an auto audio store and picked up an inline fuse holder and some 50 amp fuses. i ended up with a nice clean setup and probably didnot spend 50 bucks. i will try to post some pics

[Way2slow]

These are the best. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0001110011811a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=connectors&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 BPS also has them, as well as Graingers and several other places. They also come in different colors.

Heres you a little guide for your wire and why TM don't come with huge wire guage sizes, they are not needed.

                             Length of run (in feet)

Current 0-4 4-7 7-10 10-13 13-16 16-19 19-22 22-28

     0-20A 14 12 12 10 10      8      8      8

20-35A 12 10 8      8      6      6      6      4

35-50A 10 8 8      6      6      4      4      4

50-65A      8 8 6      4      4      4      4      2

65-85A      6 6 4      4      2      2      2      0

85-105A      6 6 4      2      2      2      2      0

105-125A      4 4 4      2      2      0      0      0

125-150A      2 2 2      2      0      0      0 00

Also remember, when figure the lenth of cable in your boat, if you have a 12/24 system and four cables (two neg and two pos), you have to quadrauple the lenth of one cable when running 24 volts. So, if your TM cables are 25 from battery to TM, you need to figure a 100ft, and you double the length for 12 volts so you figure 50 ft.

When running a straight 24 or 36 volt motor, on a four wire system, I always connect the two positive together in parallel and the two negative together in parallel. That gives you the equivalant of a larger wire guage and cuts the length in half from what it would be if you used it the way it's installed in the boat.

[skillet]

Thanks, my friends! (and I thought they made that black electric tape for covering up outlets to keep the electricity from running out :-[) I've already got the 6ga wire and a 50amp manual reset circuit breaker, that hooks up at the battery. The fella that runs the parts dept said the only time that Ranger goes larger is for a 24 or 36 volt system. My TM uses 43 amps and the boat is only a 14 1/2'. If the OCD kicks in I could run myself ragged thinking in circles and spend too much money. For what I'm working with, I think going any larger would just be overkill. Again, Thanks for your help ...

skillet