Trolling Motor wiring

[Guest]

OK...I screwed up. I am in the process of running the wiring from my front deck to my rear mounted battery for my Minn Kota V2 40. I am ready to hook up the battery terminals and noticed the tag I put on the positive wire is gone, so I don't know which wire is which. Tracing it back now would be a nightmare. My questions are...what happens if I wire the motor backwards, wrong polarity? If I do it wrong, will I hurt the motor? Will I be able to tell if it is the wrong polarity other than seeing smoke or something else not catastrophic like running backwards?

Please help!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Trolling Motor wiring

yes you can hurt the motor. what i would do is connect the wires. to the battery, then with a digital volt meter,set on 12 volts DC, get a reading, touch each wire with the probes. if it shows 12 volt positive the wire your red probe is on is the positive wire. if 12 volt minus, swap the probes. also installed a circuit breaker on the positive side at the battery, now mark both ends of the wires, red tape wrapped around the wire quiet a few times.

http://www.iboats.com/Rig_Rite_Mfg_...05076564--**********.313404913--view_id.47142

 

[-1boat]

Re: Trolling Motor wiring

Can you get to both ends of the wires in question??

If you can, take another wire, long enough to reach from one end to the other, and an OHM meter or continuity tester and identify the ends of the same wire.

Or you can hook up the battery ends of the cables and take a volt meter and check the polarity. This would be the easiest providing you have a meter.

Otherwise , I don't know what may happen if you get it hooked up backwards, you may let all of the smoke out of it. Once that happens you may have to send it somewhere to get the smoke put back in it = $$$$.

Good luck.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Trolling Motor wiring

don't let the smoke out, it expensive to put back in.

 

[Paul DuLaney]

Re: Trolling Motor wiring

Putting the smoke back in will cause cancer and will stop working!