trolling motor question

[bryan28]

Hey everyone. I found this site yesterday and as a first time boat owner think it may be a good place to find asnwers to questions I have.

I bought a Minn Kota edge 45 trolling motor for my G3 1756 cc and need to find the female plug end for the trolling motor cables that plugs into the factory installed trolling motor receptacle (see pic). I've been looking online but haven't found one.

I also bought a Humminbird 385ci combo that I have a question about. The manual says if you hook up cables directly to the battery to add a 3 amp fuse to prevent damage to the unit. I'm thinking of using the wires to the 12v cigarette lighter style accessory recepatcle on the dash instead of directly to the battery. Does this sound like a reasonable idea? If so, I assume I still need to add a 3 amp in-line fuse but was wondering if it's ok to have the fuse so far away from the battery? And would it matter if the units power cable wire is a different guage than the wires to the 12v receptacle?

Thanks...Bryan

 

[richg99]

Trolling motor

Here is one solution

https://www.amazon.com/Minnkota-Mkr-18-12V-Plug-Recp/dp/B001PTHKRQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1323029090&sr=1-1

Or these
https://www.iboats.com/Rigrite-V-Groove-Trolling-Motor-Plugs-And-Receptacle/dm/cart_id.042664546--session_id.495477471--view_id.39530


re the fuse question...nothing wrong with using the cigarette's electrical socket; yes you should put a 3 amp fuse in line; not a problem being so far from the battery...as the cigarette lighter should have its own fuse near the battery.

regards, and welcome aboard. Rich

 

[bryan28]

Thanks Rich I appreciate it.

 

[Bob Landry]

The lighter has it's own fuse so no problem there. Wherever you tie into that wire for the FF is where you need to insert the 3A fuse. if there is a problem with the FF or the wire, the lighter fuse will not blow until the draw exceeds the fuse, usually 10A. The fuse always goes as close to the power source as you can get it as the purpose of the fuse is to protect the wire, not the device.

 

[TNtroller]

the receptacle you show is just like the one on my tracker pt175. You should be able to get a plug to attach to the power wires on the TM from any boat dealer. I got one a month ago at the local dealer for $9 when I put my new TM on. Half of of what bps charges, so check local first if you can.

 

[richg99]

Just noticed your query about the wire size.

The wire to the FF will be very thin. It is designed to only carry up to 3 amps. The wire to the cigarette lighter will be much thicker. It carries a LOT more power.

If you are going to put a 3 amp fuse in-line from the cigarette lighter to the FF, then the wire that carries THAT current can be as small as the wire that comes out from the FF.

This wire gauge is a good thing to have around. regards, Rich

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/amps-wire-gauge-d_730.html

 

[Charlie Two Tracks]

You may want to see what size wire you have going to your trolling motor. I just replaced the trolling motor on my 17' Tracker with a Minkota 50# thrust. According to Minkota. I need a 60 amp fuse for the system. I believe that you will need a 50 amp. fuse for your trolling motor. The wiring that came from the factory was much too small and I needed to run new wire. I went with 4 ga. but I could have used 6 ga. wire. If the boat is new to you, check out all the wiring you can on it. Mine was spliced with scotch lock fasteners (hate those things) and just twisted together in places. The less resistance you have in the wire to the trolling motor, the longer you can spend on the water.

 

[richg99]

https://www.cabelas.com/auto-boat-battery-accessories-manual-reset-circuit-breaker-1.shtml?WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=738260&rid=40&mr:trackingCode=4C0D7452-F5D2-DF11-82EF-001B21631C34&mr:referralID=NA&mr:adType=pla

Available in 40 or 50 amp size. You can also buy these at most auto parts shops. Rich

 

[Bob Landry]

My boat came wired with #8SAE for the trolling motor, which is too small, IMO. I replaced it with #6AWG when I rewired the boat. AWG wire in a given size is larger than the same size in SAE and will handle more current with less voltage drop.

 

[bryan28]

I appreciate the responses. The boat is an 09 but was still new and had never been sold or put in the water when I bought it in August. I got to looking around and found it does have a circuit breaker on the wire for the trolling motor near the battery end. Like I said this is all new to me. Not sure what gauge the wire is or if it's a 50 amp breaker like Minn Kota suggests. I'm not planning to rewire it unless something bad happens. So I think I'll just buy a 50amp breaker install it and call it good and hope for the best. Thanks again everyone.

 

[richg99]

Actually, if you substitute a 50 amp breaker...connected to thinner wire that was protected by,.. say .... a 30 amp breaker...you greatly increase the chance for melting your wires and causing a fire on board. If short happens, you want the breaker to open...not the wires to melt.

Not something that any one of us would want.

IF the builder wired it with a conductor that is smaller than is "recommended" and matched that thinner wire with a proper sized circuit breaker....AND....you don't want to re-wire it......then leave it alone. Adding an over-sized breaker on an under-sized wire is the single worst thing I can think of.

regards, Rich

 

[bryan28]

Rich I emailed G3 and a rep said he's pretty sure it's a 40amp breaker factory installed. I think I'll run it as-is and see what happens. Guess the worst that could happen is the smaller breaker trips and I have to rewire and use the suggested wire/breaker combo.

 

[richg99]

Sounds like the right response and action. I doubt if you would blow the breaker unless you ran the prop into something and the motor burned up before the prop broke.

I'll bet you never blow the breaker. I haven't in 50 years of boating and lots of stupid moves on my part. Rich

 

[FuzzyGrub]

You can safely downsize that fuse to 1 amp for that 385. As mentioned above, fuses are to save the wire. I run a 798 on set-ups with 1 amp fuses, and never blown one.

PS: HB is probably providing the power cable with a noise reducing choke in it. It was made to power the 900/1100 series models, and is larger gauge wire than the old one, and hench the 3 amp rating.