Motorguide Trolling Motor Problem

[Bigmarv58]

I recently purchased two new batteries for my 12/24 volt Trolling Motor and when I went to hook them up I only get 12 volts to my motor. I hear one of the circuit breakers tripping and the wire is hot. If I disconnect that positive wire and the negative wire I get 12 volts to the trolling motor and it runs fine. Is this a sign of a problem with the Trolling Motor on the 24 volt side or could one of my circuit breakers be bad?
Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Barnacle Bill]

You have something wired wrong. It depends on whether you have a 3 wire or a 4 wire system.

[Bigmarv58]

I hate electrical problems, they are sometimes the hardest things to figure out. I have a 4 wire system, but there is not a wire connecting the positive lead and the negative lead between the two batteries. I have a 12/24 volt switch on the receptacle panel at the front of the boat and also a 12/24 volt switch on the foot control. When I push the switch on the foot control to 12 volts I get nothing, but when I push the switch to 24 volts I get 12 volts of power.

[PanMan_VA]

You may have the two ground wires reversed. That would tie the positive terminal and negative terminal together causing a short. This would get the wires very hot and the breaker would pop. Swap the ground wires on the batteries and see if that fixes the problem.

[Bigmarv58]

PanMan - Thanks that fixed my problem. I'm glad it was just a simple matter of crossed wires.

Barnacle Bill - Thanks for the wiring diagrams, I'm saving those for future reference.