CMC Tilt and Trim PT-130 Hotwire Test

The Rezerend · Mar 12, 2015

So I'm looking at buying a used CMC. The guy said that it just has a couple wires sticking out of it and he's not sure if it works. He was given it. I was wondering if I could just hotwire it off of a 12V car battery to check if it works. I'm not sure if it would mess something up without the solenoids. I understand that if it hook it up one way it should go up and if I flip the wires it should go down. Just don't want to cause any undue damage. Thanks.

kofkorn · Mar 13, 2015

No issue hotwiring it from a battery. Just make sure that you don't force it against the stop for too long. Quickly try it one way and see if it moves. If not, then flip the polarity and try it again. If neither are working, then you've got a bad unit.

Don't forget, these things pull some serious juice (~30A), so your going to need some heavy wire to run it. Jumper cables will be fine. If not, don't use anything less than #12 wire, #10 would be preferred. Also, you're going to get a healthy spark when you first connect the wire to the battery.

Good luck!

DaleH · Mar 13, 2015

IIRC there are 3 wires on the pump unit. Black for common ground (-), blue for UP or 'sky' (connect to +) or green for DOWN or 'grass' (also to +, but only ONE AT A TIME!)

See link: https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/woeimages/howtos/Large/1097a.jpg

kofkorn · Mar 13, 2015

Looks like that pump motor is for a different unit. My CMC unit is a two-wire. Blue and green. You reverse polarity to run in different directions. The only place on the CMC website that I see referencing a three-wire setup is on the switch wire, prior to the relays (Up, Down, 12V). Out of the relays are two power wires that go to the motor. The relays are reversing the polarity to run the motor in differing directions.

Installation manual here: https://www.cmcmarineproducts.com/userfiles/file/PDF%20manuals%20and%20fliers/CMC%20PT-130%20Owners%20Manual.pdf

So if you are running the motor without the relays, then swap the polarity to change directions.

If you have the relays in the system, apply the 12V+ to each leg (Up & Down). You'll also have to attach the relay 12V+ & Gnd connections to the battery.

Good luck!

The Rezerend · Mar 13, 2015

Thanks everyone. Yep it was a two wire and we just hooked it up to a battery charger and then plug it in. Went both ways so I gave the guy 100 bucks. Now to decide if I'm going to buy the harness or wire it myself.