Need Boat/Trolling Motor Wiring Help

[Devin]

I'm trying to wire a 24v trolling motor. I already have a 4 pin aux port in front of the boat wired as shown below. I'm replacing that 4 pin port with a 3 pin Minn Kota port to fit the TM.

Here's how the boats wired now:


Here's how the boat manufacturer shows to wire it:


And, here's how the Minn Kota port shows to wire:


How do I wire it?

[Ironman]

Try this.

https://www.trollingmotors.net/trolling-motor-wiring-diagram

[TexMax]

Jumper Black --> Red stripe

Black stripe -->1
Orange -->2
Red -->3

[Devin]

Jumper black/red stripe at battery?

[TexMax]

Yes, going off your boats diagram. Not catching on to your drawing real well


edit: scratch that part

[Devin]

My drawing just shows how the wire color changes from batteries to port because of a couple if splices. Why do all the 24v diagrams show a - to + battery jump, but doesn't seem to occur with your diagram?

[TexMax]

With my diagram or your boats? Mine says black to red stripe jumper. As for your boat i have no clue, it looks like they're wired in parallel and some kind of shenanigans happens in the plug.

[SaltwaterSlick]

The other thing you need to be sure and check if you are putting the batteries in the back of the boat and the troller is bow mounted... Those commercial plugs won't work well for you as they won't allow you to put a big enough wire to carry the current/voltage that far without over-heating... If batteries and troller are both up front, no problem.

[TexMax]

Yeah, that too ^^^ Your going to double the load on your wiring and the gauge might not be adequate. If you don't want to pull new wire (assuming that's the case) you might run a fuse block or barrier strip at the front of your boat.

[Devin]

The wiring does look to be decent sized.... ~ 11 gauge. Can I measure the current drop with my volt meter to see if it'll be a problem?

Any more ideas on the proper way to wire this?

[Richard M.]

I would wire it like the middle pic (on left) of your trolling motor manual. Put a jumper from battery #2 + (orange) to battery #1 -(black). You won't need the black wire at the plug anymore.
New plug will be:
1. Black/red stripe
2. Orange
3. Red

With this configuration you can switch between 12v and 24v on your trolling motor. Or you could do straight two wire 24v all the time.

[Old Bald Guy]

The wiring does look to be decent sized.... ~ 11 gauge. Can I measure the current drop with my volt meter to see if it'll be a problem?

Any more ideas on the proper way to wire this?

Most boats come with 8 gauge which is barely adequate. 6 gauge marine duplex is much better and not that expensive on Ebay.

[Richard M.]

It never hurts to go with bigger gauge wires, but if you were running a 24v trolling motor before you may be ok. A higher thrust motor will pull more current though. You could measure the current with a meter and an amp clamp, but to get a true reading you would need the boat in the water and motor on high to get a full load reading.

[Devin]

Never have had a trolling motor on this boat. Think I'll move the batteries up front and run a new plug.

Thanks for the info!