Minn Kota powerdrive trolling motor power socket wiring?

[ShoestringMariner]

Hey everyone, I picked up a 50 pound thrust powerdrive that I’d like to put on my boat this week. I don’t have a manual and would like to know how to wire this thing up if anybody could be so kind to offer advice.

The plug socket has two red and two black leads. One of each has a blue stripe. I’m hoping to suggestions as to why there’s two and what they do. This is an early 2000’s first generation (V1?) as far as I know

thanks in advance

 

[alldodge]

It can be hooked up for 12 and 24V

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Mucho awesome, thanks

 

[Silvertip]

That motor is not likely capable of running on 24 volts. It is very likely a 12 volt motor. It doesn't matter how many wires are in the receptacle. How many wires are on the plug for the motor? If the motor was indeed 12/24 capable it would have three wires and there would be a switch on the controls that selects 12 volt or 24 volt operation. I doubt that motor has such a control. 12 volt and 24 volt motors would have only two wires. In your case, you need a single deep cycle battery. Positive and Negative run to the receptacle. You can use either pair of red/black wires. But you MUST use the pair with the stripe or the pair without the strip. The plug wiring must match the receptacle wiring.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

That motor is not likely capable of running on 24 volts. It is very likely a 12 volt motor. It doesn't matter how many wires are in the receptacle. How many wires are on the plug for the motor? If the motor was indeed 12/24 capable it would have three wires and there would be a switch on the controls that selects 12 volt or 24 volt operation. I doubt that motor has such a control. 12 volt and 24 volt motors would have only two wires. In your case, you need a single deep cycle battery. Positive and Negative run to the receptacle. You can use either pair of red/black wires. But you MUST use the pair with the stripe or the pair without the strip. The plug wiring must match the receptacle wiring.

I have it hooked up and running on 12v. I found the plain black and red leads are for 12v, so 2 wires only. The red and black with blue stripes are used when going to 24v

I wanted to run 2 batteries in parallel for extra range. I will need the 2 battery setup when I upgrade to a 24v system, so I figured it made sense to go dual batteries now...BUT I'm reading that doing that comes with some caveats. The batteries have to be matched (new & same specs). My charger will not be able to charge both as connected adequately, so for now I'm just running one battery until I can figure out what I'm doing.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Does anyone know what size fuse I should be using? Will three amp be enough?

I found a V2 powerdrive manual. Which apparently uses a three amp fuse. Assuming these systems aren’t much different

 

[alldodge]

Do not know for sure but 3 amp seams small for a trolling motor.

Have a look here
https://www.minnkotamotors.com/support/compatibility/battery-selection-and-rigging

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Do not know for sure but 3 amp seams small for a trolling motor.

Have a look here
https://www.minnkotamotors.com/support/compatibility/battery-selection-and-rigging

Great resource, thanks. Looks like 60amp at 2v

 

[Silvertip]

Forget using a fuse. Use a circuit breaker. You had better take another look at the chart. A 50# thrust motor can draw 42 amps worst case so a 50A breaker is required. Batteries do not need to be identical in size or capacity. Good health yes. The only problem with differing batteries in parallel is the "better" battery will equalize with the smaller so you won't get the run time advantage of two identical batteries. Bujt -- why not run on the one bigger/better battery and then switch to the other IF needed. As for the charger, charge one battery at a time (disconnect one lead) if you don't have a switch. You are making this way more difficult than it needs to be. There is little to no advantage running two batteries in parallel vs using one at a time..

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Forget using a fuse. Use a circuit breaker. You had better take another look at the chart. A 50# thrust motor can draw 42 amps worst case so a 50A breaker is required. Batteries do not need to be identical in size or capacity. Good health yes. The only problem with differing batteries in parallel is the "better" battery will equalize with the smaller so you won't get the run time advantage of two identical batteries. Bujt -- why not run on the one bigger/better battery and then switch to the other IF needed. As for the charger, charge one battery at a time (disconnect one lead) if you don't have a switch. You are making this way more difficult than it needs to be. There is little to no advantage running two batteries in parallel vs using one at a time..

You know, you are right. I am totally over thinking this. Thank you for bringing simplicity back to the table