PawleysDude Posted March 6, 2023 Posted March 6, 2023 I recently bought a used Tracker and trying to figure out some of the wiring changes made by the previous owner. Would anybody venture a guess at what the gizmo is with the red cap(?). It is attached on one end to the outgoing terminal of the trolling motor circuit breaker. The other side is attached to the positive wire leading to the trolling motor receptacle. I assume the red piece is a removable cap, but it does not remove easily and I have not yet forced it. I thought it might be some type of a fusible link, but if so I don't understand its purpose since the circuit breaker is there. Any reason why the trolling motor wire should not be attached directly to the circuit breaker terminal? Thanks. Quote
GPtimes2 Posted March 6, 2023 Posted March 6, 2023 No, but I would take the red cap off and google search what numbers/letters I could. 22aj 24 volt didn't come up with anything like that. 1 Quote
Dogface Posted March 7, 2023 Posted March 7, 2023 Could that be an adapter to give you more terminal posts for mounting accessories? 2 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted March 7, 2023 Global Moderator Posted March 7, 2023 I don’t know but my boat has them too 1 Quote
Super User Solution WIGuide Posted March 7, 2023 Super User Solution Posted March 7, 2023 The little grey box is an auto reset circuit breaker. The red caps look like something they found to cover up the terminals. 2 Quote
PawleysDude Posted March 8, 2023 Author Posted March 8, 2023 23 hours ago, Dogface said: Could that be an adapter to give you more terminal posts for mounting accessories? I wondered about that, but it takes up more space than it frees up. The only other item on the circuit breaker terminal is one accessory wire, and it's there because the previous owner also used the circuit breaker as a master cut-off switch. 8 hours ago, WIGuide said: The little grey box is an auto reset circuit breaker. The red caps look like something they found to cover up the terminals. Thank you.? I thought that might be true, but however he put on the red cap, he made sure it would not fall off. Considering it is immediately preceded by a manual circuit breaker, you do know of any reason why I might want to keep it? The only thing downstream of it is a trolling motor. Thanks for your help. 1 Quote
Super User WIGuide Posted March 8, 2023 Super User Posted March 8, 2023 16 hours ago, PawleysDude said: Thank you.? I thought that might be true, but however he put on the red cap, he made sure it would not fall off. Considering it is immediately preceded by a manual circuit breaker, you do know of any reason why I might want to keep it? The only thing downstream of it is a trolling motor. Thanks for your help. Well when it comes to boats, I've seen so many things that make you scratch you head and wonder what the previous owner could have possibly been thinking. Great example, on my previous boat, the small switch panel up front didn't work. The buttons were the type you push in and they'd lock down to stay on and press again and they'd release to turn off. They were all stuck down so before even pulling the plate I knew they needed to be replaced. When I opened it up though, I found the previous owner instead of pulling the female ends off the male posts to disconnect the panel, which would make the most logical sense, took a pair of side cutters and cut off every single wire. With you setup there, maybe it was installed before the previous owner bought it and he didn't know what it was either. Or he couldn't get the red caps off either. One reason that would make more sense is the manual breaker allows you to cut power when you're not using the boat so nobody can accidentally turn it on. The auto one is always on unless tripped and when it cools it reconnects again. The other possibility is the auto breaker may be rated for the amps the tm is specified for, and the manual one might be more. Leaving the auto connected would protect the tm where the manual one might not, but still offers the disconnect ability. Either way, you could put together a better, cleaner setup with the correct parts. 1 1 Quote
PawleysDude Posted March 9, 2023 Author Posted March 9, 2023 18 hours ago, WIGuide said: ...The other possibility is the auto breaker may be rated for the amps the tm is specified for, and the manual one might be more. Leaving the auto connected would protect the tm where the manual one might not, but still offers the disconnect ability. Either way, you could put together a better, cleaner setup with the correct parts. Thanks, that makes sense. A better, cleaner setup is the long-term goal, but at least I have a better idea of what I'm dealing with. I appreciate your help. Quote
Super User WIGuide Posted March 9, 2023 Super User Posted March 9, 2023 @PawleysDude no problem! Glad I could be of assistance! Quote
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