"extra wire" on my trolling motor wiring... what to do?

[aggiedave98]

I've got 2 questions. I took my trolling motor batteries out to charge them and now have some questions.

I've got a Minn Kota Riptide trolling motor. It has no pedal or anything. Just the handle that twists and goes from 0 to 10. There is a red and black wire going to the motor from the plug, but the plug has 3 wires. I know it's for 24V and 12V, but why does it have that if there's only 2 wires actually going to the motor? I'm more just curious about that.

My bigger question is that I've got it hooked up like reply #5 (the diagram there):

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=187256

BUT the red 24V wire that goes to the plug ALSO has another wire connected to it (at the battery). I'm not sure why I need that or what it's for. Would it go to the positive terminal of the other battery and if so, why?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: "extra wire" on my trolling motor wiring... what to do?

Let's get some terminology stright first.

1) The trolling motor cable has a PLUG on it. (Does it have two, three, or four terminals)
2) The trolling motor RECEPTACLE is part of the boat. Does it have two three or four terminals?
3) The number of WIRES and the number of TERMINALS on a PLUG or RECEPTACLE do not need to be the same. It all depends on the what the boat manufacture put in the boat and what the trolling motor requires.

A straight 12 volt, 24 volt, 36 volt, or 48 volt motor only requires two wires which are normally red and black. Those wires run from the trolling motor to the PLUG at the end of the cable. It doesn't matter if that plug has two, three or four terminals -- only two of them are needed. Obviously to insert that PLUG into a RECEPTACLE the receptacle must have the same number of terminals (can't put a square peg in a round hole so to speak). You said the motor had two wires but the plug had three terminals! Someone apparently installed a three terminal plug but just didn't use the third terminal -- no big deal as it isn't used.

Your motor is a straight 24 volt style (not a combination 12 volt OR 24) so the diagram you showed is not correct for your current system. The diagram below is what you need. All you need to do is make sure the two wires from the battery match up with the same two terminals on the trolling motor plug (red to red and black to balck).

As for the extra wire at the battery, I have no idea what it's for. It may have been used to power some 12 volt accessories but a ground wire would also be needed off of that SAME battery. That is also the wrong way to get 12 volts for accessories from a 24 volt system. The 12 volt connections should be from the same battery that has the 24 volts system ground on it (the left battery in the diagram) or as shown below. This avoids a potential problem of applying 24 volts to 12 volt accessories because of an accidental grounding issue.

Motors that operate on either 12 OR 24 volts need either a three or four terminal RECEPTACLE in the boat and either three or four wires from the batteries. Your motor does not have this capability so you can ignore extra terminals (provided they are not connected to anythingt).

 

[aggiedave98]

Re: "extra wire" on my trolling motor wiring... what to do?

Thanks. What you're saying is exactly what I expected. Sorry for messing up the terminology. The recepticle and plug are 3 terminal (and I think the red (24V), black (ground), and orange (12V) go there. Actually I can measure that and do get 24V and 12V there. I do have the orange connected to the battery with the system ground. I don't think any of it goes to other accessories. They all run off the starting battery. I was confused why the recepticle and plug had 3 terminals, but there's only 2 wires going to the motor. So it obviously must be a 24V only motor. I just didn't get why it didn't just have a 2 terminal setup.

That extra wire on the positive terminal that is the system positive for 24 volts is the confusing part. It actually has a label on one end of it saying battery one and on the other end saying battery two. It's not just a random wire that somebody put on (I'm the 2nd owner, but the first owner barely used the boat and I don't think he messed with it. I think it came like that from the factory).

Anyway, I'll just ignore that part for now... Thanks!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: "extra wire" on my trolling motor wiring... what to do?

You are still confused. Just because the motor has two wires does NOT mean it is 24 volts. Two wires can be used for 12, 24, 36, 48 or any other opeating voltage. You really need to determine what motor you have (12 or 24 volts). If you know the thrust, most motors under 55# will be 12 volts. Over that are usually 24 volts. ONLY "combination" 12/24 volt motors need three or four wires. Boat manufacturers put three and four terminal RECEPTACLES in boats to accommodate the various combinations of available outboards. For example, if they installed a two terminal receptacle, you would have to replace it and the wiring to accommodate a combination 12/24 volt motor. Again, just because a connector has three or four terminals does not mean all of them need to be used. Look at your fuse panel at home. Chances are it has many more slots for fuses or breakers than are actually being used. Same principle applies with your car. If you poked around under the hood you would find many connectors with empty slots, or more wires going in one side of the connector than coming out the other side.