1997 minn kota 48 AT bow mount

[hardwater fisherman]

I bought a 1997 minn kota 48 AT bow mount motor. I asked over the phone if it was 12 or 24 volts and he told my 12 volts. But while looking at wiring diagrams it shows 1 battery for the 42 AT and 2 batteries for the 48 AT. He said he has owned it for 7 or 8 years and ran it as a 12 volt. I did read from a minn kota FAQ page that running older cable steer and hand steer 24 volt motors on 12 volts will not hurt the motor. But the power output will not be good. Testing it in a barrel of water it does not seem to be putting out 48 lbs of thrust.. I would like to know if there is anywhere I can find out which voltage it is? I do not mind using it as 24 volts but I would like to know before trying it. It is a MKJH model 48 ALL TERRAIN. Thanks for any help.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

The reason I asked is because the wiring diagrams I saw were not from an official Minn Kota website. I called the guy I bought it from and he said he thinks it has been run as a 12 volt motor since new.

 

[Silvertip]

The information I have says its a 24V motor. You need two batteries in SERIES for 24 volt operation. Yes, it will not perform well with just one battery.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Okay thanks. Looking more closely at the schematics it shows the differences in the switch boards and motor armature, between the 42at and the 48at. The 48 is listed as 24 volts. I was just a little worried because I could not find anything written by Minn Kota.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

I bought a second battery from my neighbor last night and charged it overnight. They are both group 31 walmart batteries. Mine is a little older than the one I bought. The second battery held about 1/2 of a volt less when fully charged. The combined voltage was 26 volts when I hooked them together. And the motor has much more power then with only 12 volts. I ran it in a barrel at 40 percent for quite a while. The voltage dropped to 25 and stayed there. When I turned it off it went back up to 25.5. I know pushing the boat will tax the batteries more.. I did notice that while running one of them dropped to 12.3 volts and the other stayed closer to 12.7 volts. Will this difference cause some problems?