12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

bassbumca

Cadet
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
10
Any one have a schematic of the wiring on a 12/24 switch? I have Motor Guide and the DPDT switch fried after about 6 months due to excessive current. I changed out the trolling motor to an 82lb thrust and now it will not run in the 12v mode.

Also on the recptical that feeds the trolling motor what voltage and current should you actually see supplied out to the trolling motor.

12v and 12v + gnd in 12v mode?
24v and 24v + gnd in 24v mode?

Thanks
 

rndn

Commander
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
2,323
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

Welcome to the forum!!:):)
Are you sure the new motor is supposed to run on 12 volts? I was under the impression that anything over 55# thrust was strickly 24 volts.
 

beman

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Jun 9, 2008
Messages
6
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

i had just bought a w75 motor guide and it says you can run 12 or 24.just remember that volts and amps are inversly proportional. e.g volts up amps down,volts down amps up.so i would probably have two batteries and run 24.its better and your motor will probably last longer.remember wire in series + on one bat to the - of the other then the remaining +and- to the motor.it's easier on switches and motor.
 

bassbumca

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Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
10
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

i had just bought a w75 motor guide and it says you can run 12 or 24.just remember that volts and amps are inversly proportional. e.g volts up amps down,volts down amps up.so i would probably have two batteries and run 24.its better and your motor will probably last longer.remember wire in series + on one bat to the - of the other then the remaining +and- to the motor.it's easier on switches and motor.
24v only is probably the way to go, but before before I start changing stuff I wanted to get some referece points i.e. a wiring diagram of exactly how the 12/24 switch is supposed to be wired...this switch should not melt in an 82lb thrust application.

I also need to know what voltage to look for at the twist lock in 24v mode on all three post.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

When it comes to explaining 12/24V switch wiring you need to provide a little more information about your boat battery wiring, how many wires are running from the batteries to the receptacle, how many terminals (3 or 4) in the receptacle, whether three or four of them are used, and whether you have another switch panel with a CHARGE/RUN switch. There are many wiring schemes so you need to help us understand what you have. And yes -- an 82# motor very likely is not intended to run on 12V. I can help but I'm not going to post a whole bunch of diagrams hoping one of them is right. Tell us what you have.
 

bassbumca

Cadet
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
10
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

When it comes to explaining 12/24V switch wiring you need to provide a little more information about your boat battery wiring, how many wires are running from the batteries to the receptacle, how many terminals (3 or 4) in the receptacle, whether three or four of them are used, and whether you have another switch panel with a CHARGE/RUN switch. There are many wiring schemes so you need to help us understand what you have. And yes -- an 82# motor very likely is not intended to run on 12V. I can help but I'm not going to post a whole bunch of diagrams hoping one of them is right. Tell us what you have.
Thanks for responding. The set up is... both batteies have their own circuit breakers and are not jumpered in the battery bay. There are 4 wires running to the front of the boat to the twist lock (3 teminal), with 12/24 switch patched in. It looks like in the orignal configuration there was much smaller thrust trolling motor that would support 12/24. The 12/24 switch is a DPDT 3 positon with the 12v on one side, neutral, then 24v on the other side. I can eliminate the 12/24 switch all together by jumpering the cables inthe front of the boat, but need to know how to wire the plug and what I should see voltage wise going to the motor before I fire that puppy off.
I would like to know how to wire the switch in anyway as I would like to know if the switch melting is due to incorrect wireing or some other problem. I would hart to burn up a new trolling motor.
 

Silvertip

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Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

Well -- I follow your description up to the point where you are trying to make this 12/???/24 switch work. Why you would even consider running an 82# motor on 12V is a mystery to me but then so are lots of things. The next question is where, physically is this switch? Is it mounted on the motor or foot pedal, or is it mounted somewhere at the front of the boat? Is it installed between the batteries and the receptacle or after the receptacle?

The next question is how many wires are there in the power cable for the trolling motor. If there are just two, you have a 24V ONLY motor, not 12 OR 24. If there are three wires in that cable, then there should be a switch ON the foot pedal or motor. Anything other than that is a cobble-job of sorts.

As for what voltage you measure at the plug, if you have two batteries in series you will measure 24 volts at the plug. If you have two batteries in parallel, you will measure 12V. If you have only one battery you can only measure 12V even though you have a switch set to 24V. With a three prong connector, one terminal is ground, one is 12V and one is 24V measured to the ground terminal in either case. You can't measure amperage unless you have an inductive meter and are running the motor under load.

Here is one wiring scheme. This setup would provide 12V from just one battery, not both. Depending on the switch, you could configure it for 24V series operation or 12V parallel operation. I just don't happen to have that diagram in my archives.

12-24VWiring.jpg


The simplest 24V only scheme, and the one you should be using for an 82# motor is this one:

24VTrollerWiring.jpg


Here is the one you need if the motor has a 12/24 switch on the foot pedal.

12-24Vwiring.jpg
 

bassbumca

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Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
10
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

Silvertip you are the Supreme Mariner. Your common sense, made me say screw it and get rid of the 12/24 switch all together, jumper the + and - in bow and wired 24v directly to the receptical. I have no idea why anyone would have done this any differently so once again you are right it was a cobble job.
I jumpered this configuration up and the metered the 24v out of the receptical, revomed all the other unnessary wiring and the motor ran fine. I have to clean it up and get it santiary looking but it works thanks to you and you your help...
 

fdmsiv

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
283
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

I have no idea why anyone would have done this any differently so once again you are right it was a cobble job.

I was thinking about a similar system. I would like to have all of the goodies run off a deep cycle batt and have a 24v trolling motor. I did not want to have 3 batteries if I could avoid it.

I think the 3rd diagram solves my problem.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

So what are you going to start the engine with?
 

fdmsiv

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
283
Re: 12/24V Trolling Motor Switch

I will have 1 or 2 separate starting batteries. Four batteries is a little much, 5 (2 start + 3 deep) is way over the top.
 
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