TM battery charging question

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dkuster

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Is it OK to charge a battery while the trolling motor is still connected to it?

The TM would be switched off, of course.

I'm thinking it should be fine, but wanted to check...
 
Good to know.

Thanks for the reply! 8)

cali27 said:
I have always charged my TM well it's still hooked up. Just ensure it's off. Never had any issues, get a full day on an electric only lake.
 
You'll be fine unless there is any kind of short or other issues. The current could follow the line up and do bad things to the trolling motor. So my advice would be to unplug/unhook the TM for charging.
 
I have a 36V trolling motor and have the batteries charging while hooked up all of the time. Once this past summer we fished literally sun up to after dark on a 20hp limit lake so we were limited to electric only. We ran hard all day and were still able to pull 3.5mph on the way back with three guys in the boat. I would make sure you have an inline fuse setup so if there is anything wonky that happens you have some protection.
 
My tm's are always disconnected when the boat is not being used, and that's mostly done as a safety issue. Never know when one of my young adventerous grandkids will venture out to the garage, climb in the boat, and inadvertantly turn one of the tm's on by accident if they were constantly hooked to the batts.. Hate to think of one of them being severely injured by the props.
 
My trolling motor is plugged in with a 12 volt plug. When it's time to charge the batteries I unplug the motor, plug in another plug that I've added two round crimp connectors to, then connect the chargers to these.

IMG_3036.jpg

IMG_3035.jpg
 
Some trolling motors like the Motorguide Wireless do not have a specific on/off switch and they recommend disconnecting while charging. Some chargers do not create the cleanest DC. That, along with the higher voltage to charge, is not always the best for electronics.

When the charger is plugged in, any AC transiets and spikes can get through to the boat electrical system. A switch will usually prevent anything outside of a lightning strike from damage. FF and GPS units just turned off, but power still at the head unit can be more succeptable to those spikes. Most people don't leave those in the boat, more for theft reasons. But, it is something to consider, if you do.

I unplug my trolling motor and FF/GPS when charging.
 

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