What do you think?

[Rod Caster]

Well....I finally broke down and bought a Quaker State deep cycle battery for my 28lbs Motor Guide trolling motor. The guy at the battery shop said I should get a battery with double the Amp-hrs, and so I did. 10 minutes in and out... i wanted to go fishing.

 

 

5 minutes into trolling I smell burning electronics, reach to turn the unit off and it seizes. After I let everything cool down, I try again and my unit is toast. Pick up the paddle and move on.

 

 

What do you think?

 

 

1-It's the battery shop guy's fault ....sold me the wrong battery for my purposes.

 

2- The wires leading to the motor might be too small to handle all that power. (my fault in the end)

 

3- Motor Guide's suck and it was bound to happen at some point anyway

 

4- It's completey my fault, if it's the wrong battery, it's still up to me to know better.

 

5- forget it and take the opportunity to upgrade my trolling motor

[Terry]

I can't see any way to blame it on the battery or the guy that sold it to you

[BillM]

What was the motor rated for? Sounds like a bit too much amperage to me.

[Ralph Field]

If he gave you a deep cycle battery it should not be the problem with the battery , but I would want to take the battery with you when you purchase a new motor. No point in purchasing a new motor ,then frying it if the battery isn't the correct battery .

[Rod Caster]

What was the motor rated for? Sounds like a bit too much amperage to me.

 

It's an old motor, so I don't have the paperwork. It's a 28lbs thrust.

 

Battery is SRM-24, 550CCA

[HTHM]

6. Perhaps the connections to the battery were not as tight as you thought?

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

[DRIFTER_016]

Amp/hours has nothing to do with the output of batter power other than the lenght of time it can output that power. I don't know if that makes sense to you or not.

The battery is 12 volts correct? The trolling motor is 12 volts as well? Amperage is the amount of current drawn fron the battery by the trolling motor and is determined by the load on the trolling motor (speed and whether you're running it through weeds).

 

The higher the amp/hour rating the longer the battery will last before needing to be recharged.

 

It sounds to me like it was just coincidence. Get yourself a shiny new TM and have at 'er!!!

[aplumma]

The amp storage capacity does not have anything to do with the amps it puts out. The battery puts out 12.65 volts brand new fully charged no matter if it is a 100 amp or a 1000 amp battery. The amps are equal to how big the gas tank is on a car. The battery will only flow the amps that are called for. If you are on low as a number we will say 5 amps passes thru the circuit while on high it might pull 25 amps all are dependent on the trolling motor calling for that amount. A short in the motor is an infinite amount of amps so it will over heat the wires inside of and back to the battery. The battery can be damaged from this condition though. You should have the battery tested at the battery place for amp storage capacity and max voltage that it can put out to see if the trolling motor shorting out damaged it. A new trolling motor seems to be in your future.

 

 

Art

[Woodsman]

Not the battery.

Amp hours is a way of describing how much power the battery will hold & how long it will last before being discharged.

More Amp hours = longer run time.

The battery does not send amps to the motor. The motor draws the amps from the battery. A battery can not send more amps then the motor calls for.

If the motor or wiring is faulty it is possible that it could draw more amps than it's designed for over heating the wires/circuits. This is the reason for using fuses or breakers on electrical circuits.

 

 

*aplumma & Drifter it appears you posted while I was typing.*

Edited July 7, 2012 by Woodsman

[Rod Caster]

6. Perhaps the connections to the battery were not as tight as you thought?

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

 

 

You could be right, I had to strip the Neg wire prior to connecting because the circle connector had fallen off.

 

 

 

 

 

Amp/hours has nothing to do with the output of batter power other than the lenght of time it can output that power. I don't know if that makes sense to you or not.

The battery is 12 volts correct? The trolling motor is 12 volts as well? Amperage is the amount of current drawn fron the battery by the trolling motor and is determined by the load on the trolling motor (speed and whether you're running it through weeds).

 

The higher the amp/hour rating the longer the battery will last before needing to be recharged.

 

It sounds to me like it was just coincidence. Get yourself a shiny new TM and have at 'er!!!

 

 

Yup, 12V. I had the motor on "high" when it overheated. I'm thinking the same thing.... 1988 is embossed on the motor's casing....it might just be time to move on.

 

The amp storage capacity does not have anything to do with the amps it puts out. The battery puts out 12.65 volts brand new fully charged no matter if it is a 100 amp or a 1000 amp battery. The amps are equal to how big the gas tank is on a car. The battery will only flow the amps that are called for. If you are on low as a number we will say 5 amps passes thru the circuit while on high it might pull 25 amps all are dependent on the trolling motor calling for that amount. A short in the motor is an infinite amount of amps so it will over heat the wires inside of and back to the battery. The battery can be damaged from this condition though. You should have the battery tested at the battery place for amp storage capacity and max voltage that it can put out to see if the trolling motor shorting out damaged it. A new trolling motor seems to be in your future.

 

 

Art

 

Thanks Art! Great info.

 

 

You think it's possible that the connector cables were too thin to handle the unit on "high", overheated and caused a short? Or maybe like HTHM said, a loose connection could have caused a short?

 

I think your right though.. new TM in my future. This unit came with the sale of my canoe, so no big loss. NEW GEAR!

[Fisherman]

You could be right, I had to strip the Neg wire prior to connecting because the circle connector had fallen off.

 

Or maybe like HTHM said, a loose connection could have caused a short?

 

No so much a short but bad connection causing the electronics to overheat. Time for a new blender.

[krixxer]

how does the fuse look? should have popped if you were pulling enough amps to toast to motor.

 

look at it this way....... you now have a perfect new battery just waiting for a new troller!

[Rod Caster]

Well, an expensive lesson... But, I'll have better equipment because of it.

[Woodsman]

how does the fuse look? should have popped if you were pulling enough amps to toast to motor.

Should have popped the fuse if there was one or it wasn't replaced with a larger one?

[ch312]

i've never had a trolling motor apart, but could it just be worn out/stuck brushes causing problems? maybe a wire inside came loose and was only hanging on by a couple strands resulting in a burning/melting wire?

 

a lot of good stuff gets tossed in the garbage every year when they just need simple repairs. rip er apart to see what the problem actually is. you have nothing to lose anyways

Edited July 7, 2012 by ch312

[Rod Caster]

Should have popped the fuse if there was one or it wasn't replaced with a larger one?

 

Ok, I'll pop the lid and check it out. That would be nice if it was just a fuse

[Rod Caster]

i've never had a trolling motor apart, but could it just be worn out/stuck brushes causing problems?

 

a lot of good stuff gets tossed in the garbage every year when they just need simple repairs...

 

If its a headache for me, I guess I could give it to someone who will repair it.

[Woodsman]

Ok, I'll pop the lid and check it out. That would be nice if it was just a fuse

Not likely just a fuse. You usually don't smell burning electronics with a blown fuse only. A blown fuse should stop the power before it gets to the circuits.

There may not even be a fuse on the motor. Fuses usually only blow for 2 reasons.

1. Too much power is being drawn though it.

2. Fuse is old and worn out.

[Tybo]

May not be a short at all.Like ch said it could be worn out brushes or seized bearing.

With all electrical windings you could have a short with out it blowing the fuse.

The windings have failed in a way the it draws more amperage(more amps the higher the heat).

First check to see if you can turn the motor by hand.Then if the motor turns take off the cover and find the ground wire

that leads to the motor.With a remote ground to the battery place the multi meter in parallel to the ground from the motor.

Turn it on.If the is voltage on the ground you have a short in the motor.If no short remove the ground wire and move back and do the same test on the

ground of the amp card.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Tybo

[grimsbylander]

Was it fused?

Edited July 7, 2012 by grimsbylander

[Fisherpete]

If it was me I would just pick up a new unit... the newer trolling motor technology out there will have more power than than your 1988 unit and likely extend battery life too. Transom mount units are pretty inexpensive as well, you should be able to find a good 36lb unit for under $200.

 

Pete

[aplumma]

1988 I think you got your money's worth treat yourself to a new one. There are no fuses built into the 1988 trolling motor it would have been a fuse you installed between the motor and battery.

 

 

Art

[Rod Caster]

If it was me I would just pick up a new unit... the newer trolling motor technology out there will have more power than than your 1988 unit and likely extend battery life too. Transom mount units are pretty inexpensive as well, you should be able to find a good 36lb unit for under $200.

 

Pete

 

Likely what I'll do. It was disheartening to finally get my transom mount complete, battery purchased, new prop and then have it burn out within 5 minutes. Such is life. C-tire here I come.

 

Thanks for the technical suggestion, Tybo.

[bushart]

Circuit breakers at the battery connection works well

[krixxer]

if it is any help.....

 

lebaron has 50lb traxxis for 299.

 

comes with the maximizer and variable speed control.

 

I use it on my small 16 ft for trolling and easily get 6 hours of continuous use on 2 24's