12/24 Trolling Motor Question....New to this so PLEASE Help

[Crappie Buster]

I just bought a used boat a few months ago. The trolling motor that came on it is a 2005 Motorguide Pro Series 12/24 Volt. There are 4 wires from the trolling motor (2 pos with fuses, and 2 negs) I've been just running 12v by stacking the positives and negatives on one battery. When it starts dying I just switch to a newly charged battery.

I want to run it 12/24, but I'm not sure how to wire it so i can use the switch on the front deck. The switch is three way, 12/24 Run, 12v, and 12v charge....can somebody explain what that means?

Also what is the best way to wire the batteries. Someone told me to stack the two positives on one battery #1 and stack the two negatives on battery #2 and run another cable from the negative of battery #1 to the positive on battery #2. Is this correct? I don't want to risk burning the motor up. I tried it this afternoon and there is a BIG difference in the prop RPMs....speed 1 is faster than speed 5 hooked up the old way. Is this normal?

[sac-a-lait]

na man the pkug should allow you to hook up 4 wires. 2 pos and 2 neg. The wires should come from the 2 batteries. There shoud be a red and black from each batter run to the back of the plug. Just charge each individual batt unless you have a 2 bank charger. Can pOle probably has a diagram on here already

[Crappie Buster]

So you are saying just use hook the batteries up as I normally would, without a jumper cable? Just a pos and neg connected to each battery.

What should the power difference be between running it off of 1 battery versus 2. Should there be a BIG change in prop RPMs?

[PanMan_VA]

So you are saying just use hook the batteries up as I normally would, without a jumper cable? Just a pos and neg connected to each battery.

What should the power difference be between running it off of 1 battery versus 2. Should there be a BIG change in prop RPMs?

No change in rpms but running in 24v mode will draw less current from each battery so they will run longer.

[Crappie Buster]

So, I obviously had it hooked up wrong.

So whether you run a 70 lbs thrust trolling motor off of 1 or 2 batteries you still get your 70 lbs thrust. There is no power difference between running it 12or 24v? The only difference is how long the battery will hold up before needing a charge.

Basically I can keep doing what I've been doing and when one battery dies, just switch to a freshly charged one.

Am I understanding this correctly?

Thanks for the input

[PanMan_VA]

So, I obviously had it hooked up wrong.

So whether you run a 70 lbs thrust trolling motor off of 1 or 2 batteries you still get your 70 lbs thrust. There is no power difference between running it 12or 24v? The only difference is how long the battery will hold up before needing a charge.

Basically I can keep doing what I've been doing and when one battery dies, just switch to a freshly charged one.

Am I understanding this correctly?

Thanks for the input

If it is a 70 lb thrust TM, then there will be a speed increase by using 24V as the current draw on a 12V battery will be too high to reach 70 lb thrust. A battery can only provide about 40-50 amps which equates to about 55 lb thrust in modern TMs.

It is always more efficient to use 24V.

For your setup, both batteries provide 12V to the plug. Those two 12V inputs are combined in the TM to make 24V when that is selected by the switch. There should be four wires at the batteries. Just hook the pos and neg from each wire set to a battery and you should be good to go.

[CatFan]

If it is a 70 lb thrust TM, then there will be a speed increase by using 24V as the current draw on a 12V battery will be too high to reach 70 lb thrust. A battery can only provide about 40-50 amps which equates to about 55 lb thrust in modern TMs.

A battery can easily provide over 1000A. The CCA rating is the current the battery can produce and still maintain 10.5V, and the battery can produce a lot more current.

You aren't limited to 55lbs thrust by the single battery, you are limited by the large amount of current required to operate the motor at low voltage, which would mean a very large motor to withstand the heat. Increasing to 24V cuts the current draw in half, which allows the motor to be reasonable sized.

[PanMan_VA]

A battery can easily provide over 1000A. The CCA rating is the current the battery can produce and still maintain 10.5V, and the battery can produce a lot more current.

You aren't limited to 55lbs thrust by the single battery, you are limited by the large amount of current required to operate the motor at low voltage, which would mean a very large motor to withstand the heat. Increasing to 24V cuts the current draw in half, which allows the motor to be reasonable sized.

Thanks for clearing that up I should have indicated the current I was referring to is a constant current draw.

[Crappie Buster]

Well I got it hooked up and I can already tell a major boost in power. Running it on speed 1 on a 24V system is pushing the prop faster than speed 5 of the 12V system. Does that sound right? I'm pretty sure speed 5 on a 24V system could possibily dump me out the boat

Is there anyway to fry the trolling motor by hooking it up wrong in a 24V system?

[PanMan_VA]

Well I got it hooked up and I can already tell a major boost in power. Running it on speed 1 on a 24V system is pushing the prop faster than speed 5 of the 12V system. Does that sound right? I'm pretty sure speed 5 on a 24V system could possibily dump me out the boat

Is there anyway to fry the trolling motor by hooking it up wrong in a 24V system?

Only if you hooked the poles backwards depending on the electronics in the motor.