How do I wire a 12/24 volt trolling motor?

[jm526]

Hello, I'm new to this so please stay tuned. I bought a storm bass boat and it came with a 12/24 volt trolling motor but is not mounted. The trolling motor has a Marinco 3 prong bass plug and the boat has the receptacle. The wiring on the boat is trash so I have rewire the whole thing. My question is, there are 4 wires coming from the trolling motor (2 red and 2 black). I understand that this was done back in the day and its a older trolling motor. Do I have to run it 12/24 volts or can i just run it 24 volts. If so how do I do it. I was thinking running both red wires together and both black, I just dont want to burn up the trolling motor. Thanks inadvancee for any help and everything will be appreciated.

 

[gm280]

:welcome: aboard jm526...

First of all, YES you can wire your trolling motor for just 24 volt setup and ignore the 12 volt option if that is what you want to do. However, you didn't specify the trolling motor make and model so I have no idea how yours is actually wired. So until you verify where the two red and two black wires go in the trolling motor, I would wait to wire it up. We need the make and model of the trolling motor to explain how to wire it up properly.

However, there is one way to figure this out if you want to follow this check out procedure. Take one pair of wires (one black and one red) and connect them to a 12 volt battery (not a 24 volt battery setup). Then see how the motor runs. If it doesn't run, swap one of the wires (either the red or black) with the other same color wire and see if that makes it run. If it does. then you now found one pair that works. Now take the other pair and remove the first pair of wires from the battery and connect the second pair up to the 12 volt battery. If it run faster, then those wires are for the 12 volt setup and you need to use the other two wires. If it runs slower, those are your 24 volt wire pair. You could then connect those up to the positive and negative wires to the 24 volt battery set up and there you have it. You are now wires for 24 volts. JMHO

 

[jm526]

:welcome: aboard jm526...

First of all, YES you can wire your trolling motor for just 24 volt setup and ignore the 12 volt option if that is what you want to do. However, you didn't specify the trolling motor make and model so I have no idea how yours is actually wired. So until you verify where the two red and two black wires go in the trolling motor, I would wait to wire it up. We need the make and model of the trolling motor to explain how to wire it up properly.

However, there is one way to figure this out if you want to follow this check out procedure. Take one pair of wires (one black and one red) and connect them to a 12 volt battery (not a 24 volt battery setup). Then see how the motor runs. If it doesn't run, swap one of the wires (either the red or black) with the other same color wire and see if that makes it run. If it does. then you now found one pair that works. Now take the other pair and remove the first pair of wires from the battery and connect the second pair up to the 12 volt battery. If it run faster, then those wires are for the 12 volt setup and you need to use the other two wires. If it runs slower, those are your 24 volt wire pair. You could then connect those up to the positive and negative wires to the 24 volt battery set up and there you have it. You are now wires for 24 volts. JMHO

Thanks for the info, I will try that when I get home from work. Also is a Minnkota Riptide 74 pound thrust. It's really older because it's black with a white head and all the new ones are all white.

 

[alldodge]

Minnkota has all their manuals online. If we knew which model it was the install manual could be downloaded