Electrical wiring help with diagram

[Chaser0721]

Hi Tinboats.net. New member long time lurker here. I'm modding a 14' Sears aluminum boat with a little 5hp evinrude from the 60's. I'm so excited to finally have my own boat I haven't slept a full night without waking up and thinking about my boat. I've got pretty much everything going how I want with the prepping and decking and all that, but I am pretty bad when it comes to electrical. Here is a diagram I made. I really need all the suggestions I can get so I don't burn my boat down.


Going to have a deep cycle marine battery wired to this 6 way fuse box (with a 30A inline fuse by the battery): https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-Blade-Block/dp/B001P6FTHC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464234469&sr=8-2&keywords=fuse+box , with the fuse box wired to my bilge pump with 14/3 AWG marine wire, my fish finder, and my electric anchor winch with 8 AWG marine wire.

My question is how should I wire my 40lb thrust trolling motor? I will have 8 AWG marine wire for that as well but can I wire it to my fuse box just like the other stuff?
What else do I need to do?
I will be removing my battery after each use to plug it into a charging station.

Thanks for reading!

 

[TNtroller]

IMO, no need for the 30 amp fuse from the battery to the fuse box. Use the appropriate size fuse in the fuse box for each item (bilge, FF, anchor winch) as the FF usually requires just a 3-5 amp, same for bilge, and no idea for a anchor winch. You should wire the TM directly to battery posts using the appropriate size breaker w/in 12-18" of the + battery post.

If you have the room in your boat, I would use a size U1 (lawnmower battery $30) to power the FF and bilge, and use a Grp 24/27 for the TM and anchor winch. Most people don't connect the FF and TM to the same battery as interference from the TM can show up on the FF. The U1 could run the anchor winch as well but I've never used one, so others will join in later.

 

[fishmonger]

I doubt a 30 amp fuse is big enough for your TM. I would install a larger breaker 50-60 amp.and wire that to a trolling motor plug. Check out this link for the Minn Kota chart, it has the info you need.

file:///C:/Users/Dennis/Documents/Condutor-Gauge-and-Circuit-Table_9-11-14.pdf

 

[perchjerker]

wire the trolling motor direct to the battery with its own fuse (or breaker) I would go with a 60 amp maxi fuse

nothing wrong with the 30a fuse between the fuse box and the battery, I would want to protect that circuit and that would do it. If there is a short in the lead between the fuse box and the battery and you don't have a fuse the fuse box wont protect it. You would need to put it as close to the battery as possible to provide the best protection to that circuit

I would rather have one there then not

 

[richg99]

Good advice...but...too large a fuse/breaker can be worse than too small on your trolling motor. Go to the TM website and find the appropriate size for your TM. It will probably be 30/40/50/60. Use the recommended size. You want the breaker to blow BEFORE the wire insulation melts. richg99

 

[perchjerker]

Good advice...but...too large a fuse/breaker can be worse than too small on your trolling motor. Go to the TM website and find the appropriate size for your TM. It will probably be 30/40/50/60. Use the recommended size. You want the breaker to blow BEFORE the wire insulation melts. richg99

good advice

Minn Kota recommends 50 amp for that motor

thanks for the correction

https://www.minnkotamotors.com/Support/Battery-Selection---Rigging/

 

[Chaser0721]

Thanks everyone for the great replies.

So it looks like I should wire everything just like my diagram but with a U1 lawnmower battery, and then hook the trolling motor up alone to the deep cycle battery with an inline fuse.

I'm looking to buy this battery tender: https://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1464277966&sr=1-4&keywords=battery+tender

Does anyone have any other suggestions for a different battery charger or does this one look good? And would I just need to use the same charger and switch both batteries back and forth on the charger or are there other options for the lawnmower battery charger?

Thanks!

 

[richg99]

That is a1.25 amp TENDER, not a Charger. You will need a charger that puts out 6 to 10 amps. richg99

 

[Chaser0721]

Thanks for the clarification rich, I found a 6A charger for about $40 on amazon.

It looks like I am going to just have the fish finder and bilge pump hooked up to the small U1 battery, and the trolling motor and anchor winch hooked up to the deep cycle 12v battery with inline fuses to all of them. Not as clean a setup as I wanted but it should work seeing as though I only have 4 devices.

And I'm going to use the same charger for both batteries unless anyone knows of a different charger I should use for the U1 lawn mower battery.

 

[perchjerker]

that's the way I would do it.

 

[TNtroller]

Unless you want an onboard charger, WM has some Schumacher chargers for fairly cheap compared to the onboard chargers which are high $$. Get one in the 6-10 amp range and it will charge both batteries w/o issue. I would charge the U1 battery 1st as it will take the least amount of time after a trip, then hook up the TM battery and let it charger overnight, will be good to go the next day. Find a charger that will "maintain" the batteries after charging, or a "smart" one that will help charge the batteries correctly, and then charge them up as needed as long as they are hooked up to the charger.

If you still put a 30 amp fuse on the + wire that feeds the smaller fuse box, and you don't put individual fuses of the correct size/amp in for each item, you could damage/burn the FF/bilge pumps. I've got a similar set up but use a grp 24 to power my FF's, with the grp 24 wired straight to the fuse box, then 3amp fuses in the appropriate slot for each FF connected.

 

[Catch Release Repeat]

I run a tractor battery for FF and bilge pump, starting battery for my f25 Yamaha. And have a noco genius 8amp mounted on board. They're only about 100 bucks on eBay and they're the cats ass man. Liked mine so much I bought my pops one for this coming Father's Day. Saves you from disconnecting wires and lugging them in and out of the boat. And for another 17 bucks on Amazon you can get your ac power plug to keep everything looking even more clean.

Two pics, first for size. Second, In the pic with the cover on the black circle I. The middle is the ac power plug that I can plug an extension cord right into.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chaser0721]

Thats an awesome setup. I've been looking at those Genius chargers I'll have to check it out!

 

[DaleH]

IMO, no need for the 30 amp fuse from the battery to the fuse box.

Other than it could be the cause of a FIRE and directly violates ABYC, USCG and US CFR marine electrical standards ... :roll:

Please nobody follow that advice ...