Trolling Motor Wiring MOTORGUIDE 24V

[gustavoo700]

HELP!

I recently purchased my 1998 Sea Pro V2100CC Bay series, I also purchased a Motorguide Xi5 24V, I currently only have one battery on the boat. so I'll need to purchase 2 more. Here are my questions.

-I have space in the rear of the hull to install the other 2 batteries, ill have to run wires to the front to power the trolling motor, or i can also mount them in the front, Which would you do and why?

-Do I need to install a perko for the trolling motor batteries, or some sort of kill switch?

-When the engine is running does it charge the Trolling motor batteries, or is there some sort of extra wiring i need to do to accomplish this?

[gnrphil]

I think I'm right to say most mount the batteries in the front or the console, I wouldn't put that much more weight in the back unless you enjoy wet feet.
I hope some others will chime in with the other questions.
Welcome aboard.

[985crabs]

Welcome aboard.

I have a 24V Motorguide on my boat. I put my batteries up under the front fishing deck to distribute the weight as Phil mentioned. I mounted a dual-bank charger on the aft vertical wall of the anchor locker accessible from the fishing deck hatch. Between the batteries and the trolling motor itself are a fuse (25A or something) and a female flush mount plug topside for the corresponding male plug attached to the trolling motor to plug into.

The charger plugs into the female end a 2-foot section of heavy duty extension chord I cut off and wired to a male flush mount plug receptacle topside. So, when I want to charge the batteries, I hook up shore power and plug the female end of the chord to the male receptacle and all is well.

No Perko. No kill switch, but the fuse is a 'must have'. Your outboard won't charge the trolling batteries unless you get some fancy power distribution box that lets you redirect power to them when it isn't charging your 'house' batteries. That may be overkill. Try it without and add that level of sophistication later if you need to.

Oh, and make note of any new vocabulary words you learn while trying to do all of this. This type of install is not for the faint of heart.

[Juan]

Ideally, you'll need to buy 3 new batteries (4 total). A "house" battery, a "Start" battery and two deep cycle trolling motor batteries to get the 24 volts the trolling motor requires. The house and start batteries should be connected to a Perko switch so you have the option of using either one, or both should one battery die. The trolling motor batteries should be connected through a 60 Amp breaker. If you want the trolling motor batteries to charge, you can do as I did on both of my boats and install a "charge while running" alternator charger. They cost about $100, aren't hard to install and will charge your trolling motor batteries when the outboard is running.