Am I Series or Parellel

[dstallman1]

My new boat, lowe 170 wv has trolling motor which is listed as 24 volt, however by the look of the two trolling motor batteries and the way they are wired it looks like a parellel setup to me. Both batts. have a red cable coming off the + post and running up to a connector plug in, and both batts have black cables coming off the - post and also running up to thi connector plug in. Once all four wires go into this plug in modual I cannot tell how all wires are linked. Is this plug in modual somehow make the output to the trolling motor a series hookup (24 volt) or just running it in parellel (12 volt). Anyone with a lowe boat with similar setup, my dealer is too far away to take the boat to and won't answer question over phone, besides gave me some bad info when I bought boat so don't have much faith in what he would say anyway. Thanks for any help

 

[Cookiemonster]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

Put a voltmeter across the negative (-) terminals of your batteries. <br /><br />If you get 0 volts.. you have a parallel connection.<br /><br />If you get 12 volts.. you have a series connection.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

Might be helpful to list the make/model of the tm. There are folks here that know oodles about tm's...me not being one of them. My idea of a tm is a Cat diesel.<br /><br />Btw, welcome to the iboats forums!!!<br />

 

[OBJ]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

The set up sounds more like a set up for a 12/24 trolling motor. Would be nice to know what TM and model.<br /><br />Cat diesel for a TM?????? I gotta' see dat!

 

[jlinder]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

I would connect everything up and turn the motor on (low should be fine).<br /><br />Next read from pos on bat 1 to neg on bat 2. Reocord readings.<br /><br />Now read from pos on bat 2 to neg of bat 1. Record readings.<br /><br />If both readings are 12 volt, you have parallel connection.<br /><br />If one reading is 24v, and the other is 0v, you have serial (series) connection.<br /><br />This assumes no diode steering in the motor to prevent these readings from happening.<br /><br />BTW - if it is 24 v you should be able to run a wire directly from the neg&pos terminals that had 0 volts on them. This would eliminate a run from the batteries to the motor where you lose some voltage (search forum for "voltage drop" for explaination).<br /><br />WARNING !! - I do not know if this rewiring idea is accurate for your motor. While it makes perfect sense, I would definately check this out and be 100% sure before I rewired.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

This setup is a 12/24V configuration. If the motor has a 12/24 Switch leave the wiring alone. Its correct. If its a straight 24V only motor then some wiring changes probably need to be made to create a series (24V) feed. Another check is to see if the motor has two three or four power wires. If it has only two, its EITHER 12 or 24 (not both). If it has three or four its a 12 AND 24V. Technically your batteries are not wired in parallel since they separately feed the connector. They are merely feeding two individual 12V circuits to the connector.

 

[dstallman1]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

I have a Motorguide model 71, book says 24 volts. The plug in at the trolling motor has 4 female holes, the wire running up to the plug has only 1 black and 1 red wire. I don't have any test equipment. This batts are wired in parellel fashion unless the main connector next to the batts somehow make it a series.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

If you have only two wires from the motor to the plug you have a 24V only motor. Going back to the batteries -- you said you have a pair of wires each of which runs separately to the female connector. This is not parallel -- and it isn't series either. Check the wiring on the back side of the female connector, if you see some jumpers there (I'm betting you won't), they did the series wiring there. If not, you need to do the following:<br /><br />1. Determine which terminal on the female connector matches the +12V (usually red) on the trolling motor plug. Leave that wire as it is but follow it back to the batteries. Connect it to BAT #1 POS.<br />2. Determine which terminal on the female connector matches the -12V (usually black) wire on the trolling motor plug. Leave that wire as it is and follow it back to the batteries. Connect it to BAT #2 NEG.<br />3. The two wires that are left from the female plug MUST be disconnected from the batteries and will not be used.<br />4. Connect a jumper between BAT #2 POS and BAT #1 NEG.<br />5. You now have a 24V ONLY system so Go fishing.<br />Leave the two unused wires in place. You may sell the boat sometime and the next person may want to use the 12/24V feature.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

To answer your question. <br /><br />Series is 1+1=2. 12v + 12 v = 24v<br /><br />Parallel is 12v but twice the current capacity.<br /><br />Mark

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Am I Series or Parellel

DST -- your system is two separate 12V circuits feeding that connector. There are a couple ways to do 12V only, 24V only and 12 OR 24V wiring. As pointed out over and over, wiring this way was done so you could charge both batteries simultaneously through the motor plug using a 12V charger. It's now rather dated technique since there are 24V chargers avaialable. Tell us more about what you have an I'll get you straight. 1) how many wires are there coming from the motor (answer is 2 or three and identify colors). 2) is this a 12V only motor, 24V only motor, or 12 AND 24V. 3) Does it have a 12/24 switch on it. 4) Does it have a 12/24 switch on the connector panel? Verify again that you have one pair of wires running from each battery to the connector panel.