Wiring and Batteries

[Mikeyman104]

This mild weather has got me thinking on how I can wire up my boat for trolling come spring time.

 

I have a 2001 Starcraft 196 superfisherman that I'm looking to put some electric big jons on, but am not sure how I should go about with wiring and battery set up. Currently, there's 2 batteries in series under my consoles that run up to the bow to control the 24v trolling motor. Off of the battery under the driver side console, I have my Garmin fish finder wired directly to it. I was reading online that this will likely drain/kill my batteries quicker so thinking i'll have to address this too. Main motor is on a battery by itself so in total i have (3) 12v's currently on my boat. 

 

Ideally, I'd be looking at a single 24v lithium for my trolling motor and then break the other 12v electronics (big jons and garmin) out by themselves, but that's not in the budget. Was thinking of sticking another 12v up in the bow to run the garmin and big jons off of that, but no real good spot to put it up there and be running the wire a decent ways? 

 

Pic is the way it's kind of set up now and wondering if there's a better way i should be going about this. Input/suggestions appreciated. Thanks all!

[Hop]

I've got a '97 19.6 Fishmaster. I've located a big 12v gel battery in the floor storage in front of the bow seat for riggers, and a 12 v dual purpose in the stern port side. 

[Shakemsam]

TM should have it's own  battery(s). Riggers and other electronics off the cranking battery, or a house battery from a perko type switch. JMO

[Mikeyman104]

On 1/29/2024 at 5:51 PM, Hop said:

I've got a '97 19.6 Fishmaster. I've located a big 12v gel battery in the floor storage in front of the bow seat for riggers, and a 12 v dual purpose in the stern port side. 

 

For the batteries you have in the bow storage, are they strapped down? Thinking they almost have to be

 

On 1/30/2024 at 8:05 AM, Shakemsam said:

TM should have it's own  battery(s). Riggers and other electronics off the cranking battery, or a house battery from a perko type switch. JMO

Yeah, was thinking i'll have to do something like that. Thought the cranking battery should only be used specifically for the motor though? 

[Hop]

For sure needs to be strapped down.  Placement towards the bow helps mitigate the weight of the trolling motor on the stern. 

[Mikeyman104]

Thanks Hop, is the floor storage flat up there? how did you strap the battery down? 

[Hop]

Mine is flat enough to fit a large battery box surrounded by Styrofoam. Plenty of places to attach ss hooks to attach rubber bungees to strap battery down. 

[rswanson330]

I replaced my manual downriggers with (used) Big Jon's last summer.

They're wonderful.
I also went electric with my planer boards, but that's not for this thread.

You definitely want to keep the Big Jon's off the trolling motor circuit.

Mixing 12/24 on the same circuit can't be doing you any good.

I am running both downriggers on separate (isolated) 10ga circuits (Ankor Marine wire) off my cranking battery.

The Big Jon's have a circuit breaker in them that should suffice,

But I wanted to doubly insure so each circuit got a marine 30amp fuse incorporated into each circuit as well.

I mounted tracks on each gunnel into which I slide the downriggers,

And a properly rated plug for each rigger was installed into the gunnel as well.

This way I can take the riggers off the boat when not in use.

 

[sherman brown]

on my old 21' Cobia I didn't use a TM. and I had 2 dual-purpose series 27 batteries. I had them hooked up to a Perco switch and I could run battery 1 or 2 or both. 1 was the house battery that was used to power my electronics when the motor wasn't running. then when I started the motor with my other battery I would then use the Perko switch turned to both so it would be charging both of my batteries. but if I was rigging a boat now I would add a battery isolator so I wouldn't end up with a dead cranking battery. plus when the big motor is started it directs the power to the low battery 1st so it gets charged in a hurry. but the battery isolators are all automatic and you never get caught with a dead starting battery.

 

with the system I had I always used the same batteries, the same brand, series, cranking amps, and so on. but I don't know if a series 24 starting battery and a series 31 deep cycle battery can be used with the isolator but I see no reason why not.

 

you have a choice of 100s of them at Amazon from just the isolator to complete kits to install them.

[Mikeyman104]

Thanks all! I hadn't thought of wiring the riggers to the cranking battery because I did that in my old boat and the riggers drained it. This was cause my kicker didn't have electric start or an alternator so while I was trolling and using the riggers, it was just draining my crank battery the whole 6 hours. I do need to buy a kicker for my new rig so i'll be looking to see if i can get a deal on one with an alternator. 

 

I'm not an electrical guy by any means, so i've never really wanted to dive into the battery switch and isolator world. Then again, in my old boat i only had 2 batteries and everything was just wired directly to where it needed to be. I got to read up more on both the switches and isolators to get a better understanding of them. 

 

thanks again all for the suggestions and input!

[rswanson330]

If I recall correctly, the Big Jon installation manuals they recommend wiring directly to the battery or buss bar,

Not a fuse panel.

That's why I went straight to the battery.

Everything else (except the planer boards) goes thru a couple distribution panels that I have wired in under the dash.

I've attached the owners manual to this post.

OwnersManualWeb.pdf

[Shakemsam]

6 hours ago, Mikeyman104 said:

Thanks all! I hadn't thought of wiring the riggers to the cranking battery because I did that in my old boat and the riggers drained it. This was cause my kicker didn't have electric start or an alternator so while I was trolling and using the riggers, it was just draining my crank battery the whole 6 hours. I do need to buy a kicker for my new rig so i'll be looking to see if i can get a deal on one with an alternator. 

 

I'm not an electrical guy by any means, so i've never really wanted to dive into the battery switch and isolator world. Then again, in my old boat i only had 2 batteries and everything was just wired directly to where it needed to be. I got to read up more on both the switches and isolators to get a better understanding of them. 

 

thanks again all for the suggestions and input!

Unless you are running your riggers constantly, they should not drain your cranking battery.  It may have been something else that was a constant drain, combined with the riggers. Keep in mind, it is not enough to just have a kicker with electric start. it is about the size of the stator and how many amps it puts out. 

[Mikeyman104]

On 2/9/2024 at 4:41 PM, Shakemsam said:

Unless you are running your riggers constantly, they should not drain your cranking battery.  It may have been something else that was a constant drain, combined with the riggers. Keep in mind, it is not enough to just have a kicker with electric start. it is about the size of the stator and how many amps it puts out. 

Understood and appreciate the feedback.

 

Recently, I picked up a tiller 9.9 kicker with electric start and a 6amp alternator. Can I just wire this right to my starting battery along with down riggers? Seems like a lot of connections for the terminals on the battery (main motor, kicker, 2 big jons, i think my bilge and a noco charger).  Guessing a bus bar or something would be better for the big jons this way i'll only have 4 or 5 connections on my battery post? Or maybe something like these terminal clamp connectors might be a better fit (Battery Terminal connectors)? Solid chance I'm over thinking, but i try not to mess around when it comes to electrical and want to make sure it's right. 

[Shakemsam]

It's not over thinking! The more connections, the better chance of a bad connection! In a perfect world, your Battery should go to a battery selector switch, Switch common to main engine as well a separate feed to a breaker continuing to a fuse panel, all capable of handling the amperage load.  Your kicker directly to the cranking battery, but ideally to it's own. Bilge float directly to battery with an inline fuse. FWIW...I run a breaker and panel feeding my console electronics and another breaker and panel for the stern (riggers, 12v supply, Depth Raider, TrollMaster, 

Remember, that 6 amp alternator won't put out 6 amps at idle and most likely not at trolling speed.

[Sean Youngblood]

  For my Big Jons I use a 110 outside receptacle with the covers on it which is mounted in the rear of my boat wired directly to the battery. Then I put 110 male plugs on the riggers and plug it into the receptacle. Then you only make 1 connection to the battery. Nice and easy to remove the riggers. Just make sure to use red and black wire so you hook your receptacle up right or they will run in reverse.

[Mikeyman104]

Dang, I forgot about my depth raider. Got to figure out a spot and wiring for that too!

 

Most the above is just what's going on in the back of my boat and I haven't even started addressing the front with the trolling motor and house battery either. Might just end up rewiring a whole bunch of it, adding a battery switch, adding a fuse box (if there isn't one already), and moving batteries around to get it to what I'm thinking it should be. Poor boat...

[Mikeyman104]

Had the day off yesterday so tried tackling some of the wiring addressed above. After getting a hand on stuff, it seemed like everything on my console, except my fish finder, was running off my cranking battery. What I thought was my house battery only had the fish finder and trolling motor on it. The on board charger also throws a lot more wires into the mix.

 

Based on my findings and some of the suggestions, my plan was to separate my trolling motor completely, add a battery switch and add a real house battery. Thinking I had traced the wires correctly I started making some cuts only to find out they weren't the right ones. Feel like that's electric 101 and I wasn't off to a good start. After splicing my errors back together it was back to square one.

 

Ended up putting my house battery under the main console and running wire to the back of the boat and tie it to a battery switch. From there I ran wire back to the console to a fuse box and have all my switches, lights, and pumps running off of this. Still got to tackle putting the cranking motor on the switch, adding my kicker and wiring up the riggers and depth raider. I'll probably put another fuse box or bus bar in the back to run this stuff off the switch. Thinking the depth raider and big Jon's have fuses or breakers on them so should be protected. My big Jon's also have the 110 plugs on them so will an outlet to connect those up.

 

It's all a learning experience for sure but appreciate all the input and suggestions 

[Fishstix]

 Use red wire or red tape on ends of all positive wires..... green or black on all grounds... I like the purple battery goop on terminals.

Get some heat shrink and learn to solder. Good luck.

[Mikeyman104]

Got the switch in and I feel like I've read that most folks seem to just leave it on 1+2. That about right? If that's the case, would the house try to start the motors? Or is it better to start motor with cranking battery and then put it to 1+2?

 

Edited March 31 by Mikeyman104
Issue with pic. Can't get it right side up

[Shakemsam]

I always ran on 1 and occasionally  would run on 2 to keep everything charged. I always tried not to switch while the main engine was running. 

[chinook266]

https://smartshoremarine.com/products/trollbridge-12x24-combiner
 

This is a decent option at a reasonable price for a 3 battery setup

[laker1]

Some thoughts and questions

 

Can’t you switch your Perko from 1 to 2 or to both while running? Please advise.

The suggestion to colour code your battery leads is a great idea.

My 8hp Honda charges my main battery thru a circuit block that connects to my electric rigger while trolling. Seems to work really well.

How or what do I need to change my manual planer board mast system to electric? Getting tired of cranking. 
And lastly I am using an older Minn Kota battery charger to charge my trolling motor batteries from inside the boat. Should I trade in this charger for one of the new Minn Kota precise charger series? Is there an advantage?
 

jim

 

[Shakemsam]

10 hours ago, laker1 said:

Some thoughts and questions

 

Can’t you switch your Perko from 1 to 2 or to both while running? Please advise.

The suggestion to colour code your battery leads is a great idea.

My 8hp Honda charges my main battery thru a circuit block that connects to my electric rigger while trolling. Seems to work really well.

How or what do I need to change my manual planer board mast system to electric? Getting tired of cranking. 
And lastly I am using an older Minn Kota battery charger to charge my trolling motor batteries from inside the boat. Should I trade in this charger for one of the new Minn Kota precise charger series? Is there an advantage?
 

jim

 

You can switch the Perko from 1 to 2 or to both, while running without issue. The problem is if you accidently switch to off while doing so. That could be a real bad day!

[DtD]

SAM...read your caveat regarding accidentally going to OFF . Wat would be the consequence you warn us about ?

Thanks, Dave

[Shakemsam]

3 hours ago, DtD said:

SAM...read your caveat regarding accidentally going to OFF . Wat would be the consequence you warn us about ?

Thanks, Dave

Frying the alternator for starters.