Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Stopping at the store after work. Going to pick up a deep cycle Everstart for the Trolling Motor (Johnson Bow Mount) It says it's a group size 27dc, but it sounds like as long as it's deep cycle it'll work for atrolling motor.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

For a trolling motor do I want a 12 Volt Deep Cycle? Hoping someone answers the last few questions before I head to the store.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

For a trolling motor do I want a 12 Volt Deep Cycle? Hoping someone answers the last few questions before I head to the store.

Yes, that's what you want. The Everstart you cited is such a battery and will work fine.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Yes, that's what you want. The Everstart you cited is such a battery and will work fine.

Got a marine ever start deep cycle. Got the smaller 24 group. Got that and a box from Sqlmart for 90 otd.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Got a marine ever start deep cycle. Got the smaller 24 group. Got that and a box from Sqlmart for 90 otd.

Uh oh. There's a bunch of wires for everything hooked to a black bundle to the positive and a negative. I can indie them, but I'm confused. When I look at the front of the three prongs that plug in the trolling motor there are three prongs and skinny wires. However, when I follow them under the boat they go from the two skinny wires and I only see a thicker black and red one. Is this right?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Depends on the size of the trolling motor a.d the gauge of the wires.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

That sounds right. TM receptacles will often come with short small gauge pigtails like this:

Of course the test would be to hook up those two wires to the new battery and see if the TM works!

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

That sounds right. TM receptacles will often come with short small gauge pigtails like this:

Of course the test would be to hook up those two wires to the new battery and see if the TM works!

This requires beer. I'll report back soon.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Didn't go well. The main wire for the engine that plugs to the batter broke off at the connection point. I'm taking it to a mechanic and having it done right. I suck at this stuff.

 

[drlamar]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Good idea to have a pro do anything with which you are comfortable. But, not all so called pros are equal, so maybe this will help:

You want two batteries, a MARINE cranking battery to which everything except the trolling motor will be connected, and a deep cycle RV / MARINE battery. The EverStart is OK for the deep cycle; I typically get 6 years of use from them. You do need a quality, automatic charger made for the deep cycle batteries to keep the battery charged which will extend its life. Deep cycle batteries rating for capacity is its amp hour rating. Your EverStart should be a 115 amp hour rating. If your trolling motor is a 12 volt, do not try to save $s on wiring, and go big and go with all marine rated components regardless of the motor's voltage.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Update: went to a marine mechanic that is very reputable. His shop rewired and bundled the the two batteries. Mounted the battery cases to the floor, put in new spark plugs, greased the bearing buddies, and rewired the lights to work with the original switch (didn't work before). $100 total.

My question is, I've never had two batteries. He hooked up everything to one and the trolling to the other. Can I check the main battery by turning on the fish finder and checking power to make sure it's at least at 13 and not charge that one if its good? But then charge the trolling each time?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

You need to charge the trolling motor battery immediately AFTER each use. Failure to do that will mean an early death to a good battery. The starting battery should not need to be charged separately since the engine does that -- provided the charging system is working. You can see that on the depth finder when the engine is running.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Yes, you can use the voltage readout on the fish finder to determine whether the main battery is charging (motor running, 13.2 volts at least) and whether it's charged (20 - 30 minutes after motor shutdown, should be 12.6 volts at full charge). Again, remember, your outboard doesn't put out much charging amperage, so you may need to charge the main battery after your trips, depending on motor and accessory usage. As Silvertip said, you need to charge the trolling motor battery as soon after each trip as possible.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Yes, you can use the voltage readout on the fish finder to determine whether the main battery is charging (motor running, 13.2 volts at least) and whether it's charged (20 - 30 minutes after motor shutdown, should be 12.6 volts at full charge). Again, remember, your outboard doesn't put out much charging amperage, so you may need to charge the main battery after your trips, depending on motor and accessory usage. As Silvertip said, you need to charge the trolling motor battery as soon after each trip as possible.

Thanks to both of you. So when the boat is out of the water, with the fish finder, it should read at least 12.6. I think the outboard has been charging it okay so far. Reason we got second battery was the we trolled for approximately 25 minutes and the low battery alarm went off on fish finder.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

You should NEVER power a trolling motor from an engine start battery. As we explained earlier, troller can draw a huge amount of power and quickly discharge a starting battery to the point where it won't start the engine. In your case, even if that happened, you can rope start the engine.

With the engine turned off the fish finder voltage display should read in the 12.6 volt area. With the engine running at anything above 2000 rpm the voltage should rise to over 13 volts. If it doesn't, the battery is not being charged.

 

[Ki Ki]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

You should NEVER power a trolling motor from an engine start battery. As we explained earlier, troller can draw a huge amount of power and quickly discharge a starting battery to the point where it won't start the engine. In your case, even if that happened, you can rope start the engine.

With the engine turned off the fish finder voltage display should read in the 12.6 volt area. With the engine running at anything above 2000 rpm the voltage should rise to over 13 volts. If it doesn't, the battery is not being charged.

Yep, the second battery is brand new and dedicated to the trolling motor now. When we are moving the fish finder reads a voltage of about 13.5. In fact after the low battery alarm went off (12.4 set at) , the engine charged it back up immediately.


Off subject, but I Know the engine can't be started out of water. However, would it hurt the motor to turn the key for 1/2 second to see if the battery was dead one time? Not even turn it over. ?

 

[NYBo]

Re: Buy a second battery and hook what to what?

Off subject, but I Know the engine can't be started out of water. However, would it hurt the motor to turn the key for 1/2 second to see if the battery was dead one time? Not even turn it over. ?

No problem doing that.