Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

[NakedDog]

During the winterizing, I took off the battery cables to clean the battery terminals, and when I was putting back the cables I inadvertently mixed up the pos & neg cables for a few minutes. I didn't get any power to the trolling motor or other accessories. I didn't think much of it and disconnected everything and brought the batteries inside for the winter.

Now, I'm hoping no damage was done. Did I blow any fuses anywhere? I have a Crestliner sport fish that I am not familiar with, does it have a fuse box somewhere?...or are there inline fuses somewhere easily accessible? Note: I have a 3 battery system with a 24v trolling motor.

Any thoughts are appreciated.....

 

[lrice01]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Now that you have the cables hooked up correctly, why not give it a try and see if all is well?

 

[NakedDog]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

I would, but everything is wrapped and tarped down tight. It's -30 here right now. I was just looking for a heads up on what I might expect in the spring, and if it doesn't work, where to start looking for the solution, i.e.: fuses.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Possibly popped the voltage regulator/rectifier in the engine. Possibly popped the main circuit breaker at the the starting battery. But since you have a trolling motor, which POS and NEG cables did you reverse -- those on the starting battery, the troller battery, or both. When you make mistakes like this it's always hard to tell what happens until you get the cables hooked up properly and actually "see" what happened. There should be a circuit breaker on the 8 or 10 gauge red wire on the POS terminal of the starting battery. There should also be a fuse panel at the console. If there are little white buttons beneath each switch on the console those are circuit breaker reset buttons and in that case you would not have a fuse panel. For those reading this -- RED = POS and BLACK = NEG. The terminals on a battery are clearly labeled POS (+) and NEG (-). Pay attention. Yes -- I'm preaching as you are dealing with electricity and it can cause fires.

 

[NakedDog]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

My mix up involved the cable from the neg on 1 trolling battery to the pos of the other trolling battery. I believe I put the lead from the pos to the pos. The cable mix up did not involve my starting battery.

p.s.: I appreciate ANY 'preaching' involing the do's & don'ts that will keep my boat healthy and happy. Much appreciated Silvertip and others!

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Don't feel bad, those kinds of things do happen. Do you have a selector switch? Is there a possibility it was turned to OFF? If so, you may have nothing to fear. However as Silvertip mentioned, you almost need to have access and see just what the damage may be...good luck!

 

[surge006]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

if you didnt turn key on or have any power on to anything than i would say you did no damage to anything. best of luck

 

[Bass Tracker TX17]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

My mix up involved the cable from the neg on 1 trolling battery to the pos of the other trolling battery. I believe I put the lead from the pos to the pos. The cable mix up did not involve my starting battery.

p.s.: I appreciate ANY 'preaching' involing the do's & don'ts that will keep my boat healthy and happy. Much appreciated Silvertip and others!

MMMMM if you kept the second ground off then there would no problems.
neg of one to pos of another starts to make a 24 volt circuit.

If you didn't turn anything on then you should be fine. A lack of major sparks or meltdown means you have a good shot at being ok.

don't ya just hate it when that happens ??

Might want to put some plastic ID TAGS on those cables to help keep them inline.

 

[radioguy]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Sounds like you have a 24v trolling motor. If you just went + to + with the cable you did no damage. Depending on what you did on the ground side you might have cut the 24V down to 12V by hooking in parallel, no harm done. Even if you reversed the polarity to the trolling motor it is not likely to hurt anything. Only exception might be damage to the onboard charger if you have one.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Only way to hurt anything would be to connect BOTH terminals of the starting battery in the wrong direction. The service manual has a trouble shooting guide for determining the problem, but the easiest test is to:

1. Insure that the battery is connected properly.

2. Measure and record the terminal to terminal voltage of the battery.

3. Crank the engine and redo the measurement in #2.

4. If all is well, the battery voltage will be a volt or so higher in #3 than #2. If lower, replace the rectifier; you fried it.
--------------

On what you did, as mentioned, probably all you did was to put your trolling motor batteries (completely separate circuit) in parallel (putting out 12v but at twice the current capacity) rather than in series which produces 24v. You'd have plenty of 12v capacity, but no 24v performance. No harm done. Just put them back like they were and forget it.

Mark

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Might want to mark the cables with colored electrical tape so you don't mix them up again in the future.

 

[NakedDog]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Thanks gang for all the info and advice, which I will be sure to follow when I open up the boat in the spring. Hopefully all will go well.

 

[bkwapisz]

Re: Mixed up pos/ neg cables on batteries

Might want to mark the cables with colored electrical tape so you don't mix them up again in the future.

My boat's 24V system used a black, a red, and 2 white cables. I marked them all with a sharpie before I pulled them because I knew if I didn't I would mess them up. Marked the cables and also the battery posts.

Just another method I guess.