Trolling motor wire extention?

[Gunner]

is there wire i can use to extend my trolling motor wire or is that not good. i would imagine as long as i use 6 gauge wire(that's what it looks like) i should be good right? i've been looking and can't find anything. maybe i'm just searching the wrong stuff but i've had no luck.

 

[ScottMD]

yes you can. If you are going more then a couple of feet you should go with a larger wire (4) and put a circut breaker between the TM wire and the extension wire.

 

[Gunner]

i litterally only need about 4 feet. what do you think

 

[ScottMD]

Any time you extend wire you will get current loss this is why you use a larger wire. If you have to buy the wire I would just get the next larger size then whats on your TM, additional cost is minimal.

 

[BaitCaster]

There is a calculation you can do to determine what guage wire you need depending on how long your wire is. I think you can find it on the Minn Kota website. I recently ran a wire from my battery in the stern to the motor on the bow. The distance was 15 ft. According to the formula I could have used 8 gauge but I went with 6 to be safe. For 4 feet you won't need 6 gauge. You can probably go with something much thinner. You should have a breaker regardless of how long your wire is.

 

[russ010]

go with as big of wire as you can get away with.. if you have 6ga on there now, don't put a smaller gauged wire to connect it - it's 6ga now for a reason. Either keep it the same or upgrade to get the best results. The main thing you are doing with the larger wire is to keep the head on your TM cool. The more juice it has readily available, the less it's going to have to work to get more power (and overheat).

 

[Gunner]

gotcha. thanks everyone for the input.

 

[MadCatX]

Gunner just adapt and over come string together some stripper clips or something lol

 

[Gunner]

Gunner just adapt and over come string together some stripper clips or something lol

I was thinking about linking some grenade pull pins or running a belt of .50 bmg all the way up but they wouldnt fit under the ribs. not to mention...electricity, gun powder and 647 grain chunks of lead dont mix well on a tin. so i decided to just use wires.

 

[MadCatX]

LOL yeah I could see that as causing a problem with buoyancy lol

 

[Gunner]

LOL yeah I could see that as causing a problem with buoyancy lol

yeah buoyancy of my boat and any other boat within a few hundred feet.

 

[MadCatX]

LOL - wildlife..people..vegetation.. indeed

 

[rusty.hook]

I have used welding cable on my troll motor in the past.

 

[wasilvers]

what's wrong with just stripping some jumper cables for extra wiring? They are ususally 6-8 guage and cheap enough.

 

[BaitCaster]

what's wrong with just stripping some jumper cables for extra wiring? They are ususally 6-8 guage and cheap enough.

That would work, although the wiring is not "marine grade".