Ok, i have a trolling motor. Now What???

[ddupre]

I had a trolling motor given to me and now i need to know what to do to get the thing running. I have a 1999 Motorguide 67lbs Brute. It is a bowmount with foot control. It has a switch on the foot control in which you can change between 12v and 24v. what do i need. What battery, i really want to buy 1 battery not 2. How long will it run, on average. what kind of extras i need to charge it, circuit breakers, etc. As you can see i am clueless.

Thanks in advance

 

[bassnbrent]

you neen 1 battery for 12v and 2 batterys for 24 volts you need a jumper cable from negative to positive then your cables from your motor negative to negative and positive to positive there you have it.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

I've always use a 12V system so I'm curious what the advantages of a 24V are? Anyone?

 

[Troutman3000]

I've always use a 12V system so I'm curious what the advantages of a 24V are? Anyone?

Lower draw on the battery so longer battery life. I have also heard the motors last longer. I have that motor guide 67lb thrust and it nearly threw me out of my boat.

 

[jdrautoworks]

All DC motors are sole dependent on voltage for RPM's not frequency like AC. If the motor is designed for let's say 1000RPM and has the winding for 24v DC at that RPM and you feed 12v DC to it it will turn approx. half as fast (500RPM) you can never hurt one going down in voltage but going up can short life the motor.

In short the advantage is a higher HP motor.... Also slower speeds will give you longer life, it's like running you small block chevy in a mower. It'll last for ever mowing the grass but will die in a short time at the drag strip just like any other.

 

[longjohn119]

If you double the voltage you half the current needed to do the same work (Ohm's Law) making high powered motors easier on your deep cycle batteries which aren't designed to deliver high amounts of current at once like a cranking battery.

You also have a potential for more torque.

I'm guessing here but I suspect they are using a tapped winding on the motor, half winding for 12V and the full winding for 24V. The reason is if you run a 24V winding on 12V you'll be lucky to have enough torque to turn over the prop under a load. This is why you need a pulse width modulated speed controller for infinitely variable speed, if you just drop the voltage through a resistor the motor will loose it's torque (Not to mention waste power, lower efficiency, generate excess heat and need a huge resistor AKA BFR). I use a homemade pulse width modulator on my live well pump, it's easier on the pump than choking down the intake/output and if you run the motor at half speed you only use about half the current compared to full power and choking down the intake/output with a valve so the PWM it saves battery power. A PWM is pretty easy to make for a little 1-2 amp motor, it gets a little trickier with large motors like trolling motors which is why the infinitely variable speed option is so costly. The circuit I used to control my livewell pump is similar to this https://www.instructables.com/id/Very-simple-PWM-with-555Modulate-every-thing/. I also used a 7555 lo-power timer IC to make my livewell timer (1 minute on, 1-8 minutes variable off) The one for my new boat livewell timer will be made from a 8 pin PIC microprocessor (I have several types as free samples) and will be 30 sec or one minute on, 1-10 minutes off. I'm playing around with old steering servos from junk RC cars trying to get one with enough kick to switch my Flow-rite recirculating valve https://www.flow-rite.com/flowrite-store/product/valves/v3-3-position-automatic-valve so I can control that from the PIC micro at my console too. If I want to empty my livewell fast all I'll have to do is get on plane, hit the drain switch and the speed will literally suck the livewell dry in no time.

 

[lswoody]

A friend of mine gave me a 1997 Motorguide Pro series 67# thrust t-motor a few years ago. It is a 24 volt model. At first I wanted a 12 volt model, but it was a free motor so I used it. And let me say that I can go for a long, long, long time with a 24 volt system. If you use one battery and run it on med-high speeds the battery is gonna give out quick, but if you keep it in the low range it should last a while. If it were me, I'd get 2 batteries. After all the trolling motor was given to you and 2 batteries will cost you way less than what that t-motor itself could be bought new for. Here is something you might want to do, get 2 of the 24 size trolling batteries instead of the bigger 27 size. The way I fish, I don't need the bigger size and the longer lasting power and the smaller size cost less and weigh less. Good fishin, Scott Woody