What is going on with these wires?

[gospelcanada]

I currently have a 12V trolling motor hooked up and it works great. I noticed on my 1996 Crestliner Pro 1800 the trolling dashboard it has a Charging option and a 12V option and a 12/24 volt option. I noticed a orange cable taped up with the 12V red/black wire. The orange wire leads to nothing. I opened the battery compartment and noticed an orange and black wire also taped off. I'm wondering what would happen if I added ring connectors to the orange and black wires and added another trolling battery. Is there a reason for this setup or what is the proper setup so I can get the biggest benefits out of the original setup. I uploaded some pictures to assist.

 

[nfisherman]

I'm just guessing, but perhaps the orange wire is for an optional 24-volt trolling motor.

 

[Silvertip]

Unless you have a 24 volt motor, OR a motor that is selectable between 12 and 24 volts the orange wire is not used. If you have a straight 24 volt motor is would also not be needed. The 12/24 setup on the troller panel is so you can charge the batteries through the troller plug using an external battery charger. I would not bother with that. Install a permanent mount onboard smart charger and connect it permanently to the batteries. You then plug into shore power at the dock or at home. For a straight 12 volt motor, what you have is best -- with one exception. Adding another battery in PARALLEL with the existing battery requires no wiring changes except for the jumpers between the two batteries. You do NOT wire in SERIES for a 12 volt motor. If you don't understand this, do your research and understand it so you don't ruin a perfectly good motor (or boat for that matter).

 

[gospelcanada]

Thanks guys for your feedback. Make sense and started the research for a good onboard smart charger.