Fuseable link on trolling motor battary

[Mike Humpal]

About once a year my fuseable link melts on my trolling motor battary. I have a 1775 lund pro V. Today it cost me an hour of fishing at Red Wing. Need some help.

[Nofish]

Hey Mike,

Without sounding too idiotic, something is wrong. :P
Short term solution, carry a spare link. However, you should not be frying them like that.

Did you make sure you have no loose connections on the trolling motor end? All the clips and splices on the trolling motor are tight? (Factory wiring etc..) Have you made sure the wiring on the boat is okay? No loose connections, rubbed through wires etc? While these sound obvious, they can cause all type of trouble.

The next step would be to contact the Mfr. direct and talk to a tech. You may need to get to a repair center and have it tested. You could have a bad part in the top of the motor, or something goofy in the bottom end.

A while back, a partner of mine was having all manner of trouble with his motor. From poping fuses to the fusable link etc. Occasionallt the motor would not run at all. One day I noticed water dripping out of the inside of the prop, from the day before.

Long story short, his rear seal had been compromised from mono line and let water, ever so slowly, and more over time, into the motor. It was junk.

Good luck....R

[Team Alto]

I replaced mine with a circuit breaker. My trolling motor got accidently turned on while in the stow position - motor couldn't turn.

[REW]

Replace the flexible link with a 60 amp circuit breaker. If there is something seriously wrong - the circuit breaker will trip - otherwise you will keep on trucking.

Because of a myriad of possibilities - the flexible links can pop with no warning and leave you stranded. If you have a circuit breaker - if it trips - clear the motor overload - and you will be back to running the motor in a heartbeat.

Take care

REW

[RIVERRUNNER]

I,m running a 96' moterguide brute on a 96' pro v lund,lots of problems.The moterguide is on the way for it's 3rd curcit board, last time I used it for 2hrs no problem, then, out of the blue gone ,no power.My dealer is out of business and no one in my area does marine elec.Had a friend,electrician,look it over and says 2 batts running at 12 volts.Does this sound right or should I go to a 24 volt system.I've had no problems with anything else electrical.Maybe I have a bad moter, having lot's of trouble getting moterguide's ##.Anyway, one more time,if it blows again,I'll try a new minnkota.oh ya I've blown a lot of fuses, usually 5-8 per year even went a size larger on the fuse,still happened.Maybe I,ll check for a water leak.Let me know how you make out mike and I'll do the same . GOOD LUCK & GOOD FISHIN

[Big Red]

I had a simmilar problem. My auto guy said that I should run all new wiring. I have a Maxxum 74 and it has 8 or 10 gauge wiring but the boat is a three wire system. He said that the 2 hot 10ga wires would not hold up to the load when using almost 100% power and thisn is when i was having proplems. Like in other posts he recomended aa circut breaker. The only thing is if I rewire where will I find a plug in that will take that much power because on big water trolling the Maxxum comes off.

[REW]

If you are running 10 gauge wire for the length of your boat - you have a problem.
10 gauge is rated - for only 30 amps of power. You start getting fairly significant voltage drop across this wire for larger current draw.

I would go with 6 or 4 gauge wire.
For the plug - Maxom puts out a very nice marine plug that is rated for 50 amps. You won't have any problem with this plug.

Another alternative that you can use - if you don't want to spend the money for a $40 plug - is to simply make a small hole in the bow - run your trolling motor wires through the bow - and use wing nuts and terminal lugs to hard wire the connections together. this is actually a better system - compared to a plug. There will be no current loss through the lugs and you can insure that they stay tight.
simply mount the lugs in the corner of a storage box - out of the way of any metal and you will be fine.

Take care

REW

p.s.
Another thing that you can do for the plugs is to use a 4 prong plug - and wire each of the two battery connections to two prongs of the plug. this way - if you have a plug that is rated for 30 amps - by paralleling the connections, you now have a plug that will actually be rated for 60 amps.

A good way to check - if your plug is ok - is simply put your hand on the plug after using your trolling motor - wide open for about 5 minutes. This is the condition where your trolling motor will be drawing maximum current. If there is a problem with your plug being under rated - or defective - it will be hot. If it is just slightly warm to the touch - this means that you are only getting a very slight loss in the plug. However, if the plug and or wiring is hot to the touch -- you need bigger wire or a better plug or both.

Heat means voltage drop and power loss. The battery voltage is being dropped across the resistance of the plug and or wiring - much like an electric toaster - toasts your bread on an early morning. Except in this case - you don't want any thing in your boat - toasted.

Take care

REW

[chrism]

What type of circuit breaker are you reffering to? Are they made for this purpose or will a regular one suffice?

[Scott]

REW, what if I am only running 4 feet of wire from the batteries to the trolling motor? Can I get by with the smaller wire that you spoke of with a 74lb thrust motor? Once it gets from the batteries to the plug, the wire on the TM are the 6GA, Does it make a difference? It's not like the other boats where it runs from the back of the boat to the front. My batteries are in the front of the boat. Thanks

[REW]

The 6 ga sounds correct.
If I read your post correctly - you are saying that the trolling motor cable to the trolling motor itself is 6 gauge???
If so - and it could be that that is the case - then you should have at least 6 gauge to go the 4 feet to the battery.

A battery connection is no different than a chain. i.e. any weak or downsized wire - will potentially get a voltage drop and cause overheating and power loss.

Take care

REW