Another Battery Question

[JerryA]

I have a 12V marine starting battery for my main motor and two 12V deep-cycle trolling batteries wired in series for my 24V trolling motor.

Question: in an emergency, can I jump start my main motor from my trolling motor batteries? What is the correct way to hook up the jumper cables? OK to use regular auto jumper cables? Any other special considerations?

Thanks for sharing your know-how. Better to know the correct way to do it when(not if) it happens.

PS: There's gotten to be too many Jerry's, so I'm switching to JerryA

[Jawbone]

Depends on how many cranking amps your deep cycles will provide. I don't think you would be able to do it while your batteries are connected in series becuase of it being a 24V system. I think the motor may require 12 v. If that is the case, just disconnect the batteries from one another and pick a battery to use.

I bought one of those for powerpack things to take with me. Pretty neat and works well. 500 cranking amps and it's really light.

[MK]

I'd say probably yes, ok to use trolling batteries. Be sure to have a good set of jumpers especially if the trolling batteries are at the front and the main battery is at the rear. Wire size is real important so have a set of jumpers with #4 or #6 wire, no smaller. BTW, smaller wire is larger number. #10 wires for jumpers is too small.

You should be ok if you hook directly on one battery. It wouldn't hurt to disconnect the two but it shouldn't be absolutely necessary.

[RANGER]

JerryA,

Yes, in most cases you could use your trolling batt to start your engine. It is dependent on the cranking rating as already stated.

You can eliminate the series wiring at the batts by buying a plug that is 12, 24, 12/24 volt that utilizes jumpers in the plug head itself to bring both batts together for 24v at the motor, leaving your batts as stand alone 12 volt batts in the well. Facilitates charging, too! Cabelas, BPS, Marinas etc. sell them.