boating, need advice?

kevin booth · **Posted:** Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:47 pm

hi all,iam buying new 16 ft boat and iam looking for advice on trolling motors.i was thinking of 12 volt and 2 batteries with a single stage charger,thinking this will be enough for the hole day running.with 2 batteries fully charged and switching batteries once one is drained to the next.this will save a good amount of money on the charger and as well as the troller.or do i go with 24 volt and spend the extra money.just looking for some feed back as i dont want to spend any more money then i have to and go over kill for nothing,but at the same time i want to have enough for the hole day.thanks for any response.

wayne · **Posted:** Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:52 pm

Your best bet is go with a 24 volt motor you won't be sorry.

hookemhard · **Joined:** Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:17 am **Posts:** 188

Your volts don't matter what drains your battery is amps the more amps something uses the faster the battery will drain same goes for your charging system the more amps per battery you have on a charger the quicker it's able to charge that battery aka a 2.5amp trickle charger is that. It will charge your battery in a full day where as you go up in amps to 10-15-30amps it only takes couple of hours. If your going to haul two batteries go with 24V units they will not drain more of the battery but if the cost is to much then go with the 12V but get two 6V batteries and place them in series then they will give you 12V but longer lasting time than a single 12V and you don't need to stop fishing to switch them and they will last you the whole day plus more.

BATMAN · **Posted:** Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:58 pm

Kevin,

A standard setup would include the following:

1. 24 Volt trolling motor
2. 2-12 volt deep cycle batteries (in series = 24 VDC)
3. permanently installed 2 battery 10A marine waterproof charger
4. 2 position % charge meter

You should end up with a 24 V plug/receptacle at your bow where you plug you trolling motor in.
You should use #6 gauge Marine conductors if you do the wiring yourself.
You should use good quality electrical connectors, heat shrink wrap connections, and always use SS fasteners.
You should consult an expert to check your wiring.
You should have the battery charger permanently connected to the two 12 volt batteries.
You should charge you batteries after every use.
You should know the state of your batteries, so do the next item.
You should install a battery monitor, such as a two position % charge meter by Altus.
You should have a 30A breaker feeding the trolling motor power. It should be accessible, if it ever trips, in heavy slop.

Hopefully, you have the room to hide all this stuff. Oh ya, neatness counts.

Good fishing,
BATMAN

chasineyes/everywher · **Posted:** Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:07 pm

i run a 12 volt system,,-2 6volt batteries,connected, 55lbsminnkota terra/co0pilot system,i do have a duel bank charger,my batteries will last 30-35 hours on full-charge,they were done by battery expert in bowmanville,worth the extra money,on full draw it draws 4.2 amps per hour,each battery is800 amps ,i think,anyways it does me an entire weekend..!!!!Ed

kevin booth · **Posted:** Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:22 pm

great info guys, thanks so much iam going to price everything out both ways and see how much its going to cost both ways,as the boat comes wired for 12 volt,i will need to look at that as well.

shepherd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:06 am

Hey Kevin: Check the guage of wire that is already on the boat. If it is 6 guage you do not need to upgrade. Connect Positive terminal from one battery and negative terminal from other battery to the trolling motor and the other positive from the second battery to the negative terminal of the first battery and voila 24 volts. Every Trolling motor I have ever had required at least 50amp fuse. Check the manual first. If you decide on 12volt system and want to use 2 batteries connect both positives and both negatives together and this will give you extended life and you wont be messing with the batteries half way through the day. Another thing to consider is the series of batteries. Don't go any lower than 27 series deep cycle batteries. If you have room use 31 series. I use a 10amp dual onboard charger and it works great. Good luck with your choice.

nickyneb · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:16 am

Kevin,

Batman /Sheperd hit the nail on the head. I will add my .02cents.

Try and really think what type of fishing you plan on using the trolling motor for. Like cruising along a rock wall or up a weed line or do you plan on trolling all day with it. If you do troll all day are you going to use your main motor/kicker motor to help push you? How heavy will your boat be? Try and do some real math and add up your hull weight, people weight, gear, gas, motor, and whatever else you try and take in the boat with you. The online calculators for thrust and boat length / weight are just guidelines. They don't take into account things like fishing in a current/river, the boats height above the water line (think pontoon), fishing in unusually windy areas or fishing in the slop all day.

As far as thrust for an average 16ft tin boat with average load under average conditions I wouldn't go below 55lbs of thrust ever. It would be my starting point. I would then build on that with more thrust or batteries or bells and whistles for the trolling motor. I can personally attest to running two 6v batts. I use them in my camper and if you do the research esp. on RV sites you can see why so many people do this. POWER is KING! One huge word of caution though-6v batts are Super Heavy and come in some weird shapes and configurations. Make sure your battery boxes will fit them and if you have a lid it will be able to close on top of them before you go that route. If your boat is already wired for 12v throughout then it should be no problem to run the entire boat from a 2batt- 6v setup. But if you go the 24v route then you have 2 batts wired for 24v for trolling motor and THEN you will need a seperate batt for 12v stuff like -aereator, bilge, engine start, sonar, lights, radio, etc. After you add a third battery to the equation how much more does it weigh and do you have the space to put it somewhere?

Rembember its always nice to have the extra power when you REALLY need it. Problems arise when you have plenty of juice and not enough thrust or plenty of thrust and not enough juice! It is a fine line and like I mentioned before the type of boat, how/where you fish, and your pocketbook should be factored into your decision. I have seen some pretty nice boats with some pretty underpowered trolling motors but I have yet to see a boat with too much battery power or too much trolling motor.

hookemhard · **Joined:** Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:17 am **Posts:** 188

Kevin one last thing like shepard mentioned about the gauge of wire your going to need to run your power not only does it effect how much current your putting through it but a mistake that allot of people miss is what's the actual distance between your battery and trolling motor. Your going to need to upgrade according to length the longer the distance the larger (smaller gauge) of wire your going to need to allow the current to flow with out heating and burning through and creating fires and blowing fuses.

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boating, need advice?

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