bayboy Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 I have a Minn Kota PD 55 lb thrust Trolling motor, running off a deep cycle POW-R SURGE 3600 series (battery) no. DC31DT. It has 2 ratings: it has a CCA rating 31DC225; and it has a CA rating of 810. Does any one know how long I should be able to run at 1/2 power? On the top of the motor there is a chart indicating 6 hours, but they do not say what size battery, just 12V. Does anyone know what the power draw would be at 50% speed. I usually troll on #4, 5 or 6 and do most of the steering with the big motor. I also usually run with the wind, keeping a speed of 1 to two mph. I get 4 hours maximum. Some people have said they get 9 hours, with this combination on a bigger boat. (I have a 17 ' Starcraft with a 90HP Mercury motor.) I used to run all weekend on a 36 lb thrust Minn Kota, with my old 16' Springbok runabout. (This current Minn Kota motor has been back to the shop repeatedly for power board replacement; co-pilot replacements X 2; electrical contact repairs; I even bought a bigger battery. It was installed by "professionals."....!!!) Thanks in advance for your feedback. bayboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike the Pike Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Thats what I would have said 4 to five hours . I can get about 9 hours out of my minnkota 55lbs of thrust(on a 16 foot Lund Classic) I troll with a Honda 2hp in the rear my bow mount on just enough to keep the boat straight at all times such a wonderful combination when trolling in 2 foot chop the boat stays on course. I would try the new optima batteries the blue ones which look like a 6 pack of cans of pop.My cousin runs these new batteries on his 17 foot boat he swears they last much longer.When I will need another batterie I will give these a try for now I have 2 good batteries. MTP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smally21 Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 ive been watching some of these trolling motor threads - i run an 80lb minn kota at 24v and im not kidding you, ill fish for a week without charging them. absolutely unbelievable! not sure why but this is the performance i get. ill check on the actual battery manufacture but they are charged thru a minn kota on board charger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scugpg Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 (edited) I run 2 D34M Optimas on my boat which are wired in series for my MinnKota PD70 motor. Also use the batteries to run the fishfinder and livewell. They are the smaller Optimas @ 43lbs each I usually fish for about 4hrs on average trolling and working the shoreline and I've never gone under 3 bars on the battery meter on the motor. When I troll I'm usually between 2 and 5 on the pedal/remote. Keep in mind that using a 24V motor you use 1/2 the Amps so it will last much longer! I would expect with a 31series and your 55pd with maximizer it would last longer though. Thats a big boat for a 55lb. Try putting the big motor up it'll create alot of drag. Another Edit: Are you sure you have maximizer on your motor? I haven't seen a Powerdrive with a battery chart on it before. Is it a V1? Edited August 16, 2009 by scugog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish4Eyes Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Thats what I would have said 4 to five hours . I can get about 9 hours out of my minnkota 55lbs of thrust(on a 16 foot Lund Classic) I troll with a Honda 2hp in the rear my bow mount on just enough to keep the boat straight at all times such a wonderful combination when trolling in 2 foot chop the boat stays on course. I would try the new optima batteries the blue ones which look like a 6 pack of cans of pop.My cousin runs these new batteries on his 17 foot boat he swears they last much longer.When I will need another batterie I will give these a try for now I have 2 good batteries. MTP For a 220+$ battery they sure as hell better last longer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aniceguy Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 I have a pd2 70 and I ll get an entire day without any issue and for at least 1/2 a day Im running it at 8 or so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scugpg Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 bayboy a few questions: 1. does it have the "maximizer" technology? 2. How big of wiring are you using on your setup? Power draw at half speed should be around 20-25A I would think. Keep in mind the "maximizer" technology will bring this number down as it cycles on/off very fast to save power (at less than 80% speed) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayboy Posted August 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 (edited) Thanks every one for your input and ideas. Sorry to be so long in posting again. I did not want to discourage the flow of additional posts. I will try the new optima batteries, when it is time to replace the battery. I don't know if we have a V1 or not. We have the maximizer technology, I don't know the size of the wiring, but it is the wiring that came with the Minn Kota motor. I have run it with the big motor up, but you use a lot of power just steering, so it works out to be the same running time. I run on number 6 in order to run 1.3 mph. From the performance I got from my 36lb thrust with at 16' boat, I expected much better, from this boat/motor combination. My frustration is that, I didn't know if I had a problem or not, because I still hear that people get a day's fishing out of it (9 hours). Why wouldn't Minn Kota design the motor to get at least that?? These things aren't cheap.. bayboy Edited August 20, 2009 by bayboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scugpg Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 If you're running that motor 60% speed you're probably drawing around 25A. The maximizer is less effective the faster you go up to setting 10. Your battery is probably 100ah (amp-hours) or so maybe 4hrs is all you can get. You could add another battery in parallel and get twice the time out of it. You should really be running a 24V setup for that though, that motor has to work real hard to move that boat. I have a 70pd on a 14ft aluminum and can do 1.3mph on setting 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Urban Fisherman Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 I've got a 55 minn kota maxxum pro on my 15' jon boat / 20 hp 4 stroke yamaha and can run my electric motor with 2 graphs for 15 hours or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayboy Posted August 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 Great feedback, thanks. Just called the battery company. They told me that the 3600 series battery that I have, will run 225 minutes at 25 amps. I guess that's that, unless any one knows how to check if the maximizer circuit is working. Would the shape of the prop be affecting the run time? This is a weedless one. My previous motor (36) just had the normal prop shape. Has anyone tried a non-weedless prop? This could be interesting. Looks like I am out more $$ for another battery.... bayboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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