Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

I converted my trolling motor from a 24 volt to a 36 volt system awhile back. It has been working but there has been one issue I have not been able to figure out. The third battery neaver really runs down it allways seems to have a full charge even after using it all day. The old 24 volt system had 2 positive and one neg lead running to the TM plug I left those hooked up and wired the thired battery in series. I check it at the plug and each of the positive leads show 12 volts that leads me to beliave that I only have 24 to the plug yet the 36 volt motor seems to be working fine. Any help on this one would be great.

When I bought my boat it was wired like you describe. Two 12V cables and One Ground = 24V.

Yes your 36V trolling motor will operate on 24V.

Only use two of the cables up to the front. Wire batteries in a parallel circuit to creat 36V on two cables up to front. One hot - One ground.

measure them to ensure you have 36 V at the trolling motor connection.

Dave.

DaLa wrote:When I bought my boat it was wired like you describe. Two 12V cables and One Ground = 24V.

Yes your 36V trolling motor will operate on 24V.

Only use two of the cables up to the front. Wire batteries in a parallel circuit to creat 36V on two cables up to front. One hot - One ground.

measure them to ensure you have 36 V at the trolling motor connection.

Dave.

oops, two 12V and one ground is 12V...

this is not that hard.
see attached.
1 positive wire and 1 neg. wire only.
you'll see a marked improvement in speed.
be sure they are 6 gauge wire if it's an older boat.

Wire the 3 trolling motor batteries together in SERIES, Pos to Neg, Pos to Neg, Pos to Neg. Then hook your TM wires to the Batteries Pos to Pos, Neg to Neg. Make sure you have a circuit breaker in the Pos line. go luck