trolling motor batteries

[Dave Autio]

My son just ordered a 24 volt Pinpoint trolling motor and now has to up his wiring from 12 volt to 24 volt. He has a Lund Explorer with a transom mount 12 volt Minkota trolling motor. All electronics, two pinpoint locators, a garmin 162, trolling motor, and the rest of the boats electrical system is connect to an Odyssey PC1700 deep cycle battery. His marine radio is hooked up to a smaller lawn tractor type battery.

We have a few questions we'd like some help with.
1.What would be the best way to hook up the 24 volt system. He has room under the front deck for another battery.

2. Will we be able to use two battery chargers to charge each battery if we isolated them from each other using an on/off switch beteen the two. I know some one will say to get an onboard charger but weights a concern.

3. In a perfect world we'd buy another PC1700 for the front but at about $200 we were hoping to use a stowaway or some other deep cycle battery.

Thanks Dave

[Dutchman]

It's been my experience with a 24 volt system to keep the batteries matched. What I'm implying is you should buy 2 new 12 volt deep cycles, (or one the same as the old one, if it's fairly new) then the amount of cycles will be the same for both battery's. Having 2 different battery's is not a good idea IMHO. The weakest battery will soon destroy the stongest battery. As far as placement, under the front deck is a good choice, although you may lose a couple mph with the extra weight up front. As far as electrical connections Bass Pro Shops or Cabellas or West Marine will have everything you need. My choice is the Marinco/plug/receptacle model. Remember to use marine grade wiring, the heavier the better, or at least make sure the wire you install is the same size as the existing wire. Charging both at the same time should not be a problem, and they will charge faster with 2 chargers, or you can charge both at the same time with one charger(very slow not recommended). If you've got it wired up right you shouldn't need a switch between the 2 batteries for they will remain seperate 12 volt units until the trolling motor plug. At least that how I have mine wired. This may be a Marinco feature??? All my boats have used Marinco trolling motor plugs so this may differ from one manufacture to another. Hope this helps...


" Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope "

[Dave in Mpls]

I agree with Dutchman.

To use a 24V bow mount and a 12V transom, go with the Marinco 12/24V recepticals and plugs. These require four wires to the bow and four wires to the transom. However, the switching to 24V (if needed) occurs at the plug, not at the batteries. In other words, how you wire the plug to the motor determines if you will draw 12V or 24V. Most manufacturers use black and red for one battery, and black/blue and orange for the other. Use a marine grade 6 ga wire for this. The instructions on the plug/receptical package will explain all the connections, etc. If you run into probs, feel free to send me an email. I also agree that the batteries should be matched (same age, power, etc), as Dutchman says. Finally, you can use a red Marinco charging plug on a battery charger which plugs into the recepticle. This will charge both batteries.

Regards