battery placement?

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Ross

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I have a 1963 Polar Kraft 1436 flat bottom. I got a 55lb motor and a rather large deep cycle battery that weighs about 60-70lbs.

Where should I place the battery? I had it in the back and the boat is still lower than I would like.

I am sure this has been covered before but I could not find anyway to search.
 
Hey Ross....not sure what you are saying is the problem. Is your boat sitting too low no matter where you put the battery? When out on the water, move it around a bit and see how the boat reacts to the weight in different places. That way you can eliminate the bad places and narrow down the best place for it.
 
fender66 said:
Hey Ross....not sure what you are saying is the problem. Is your boat sitting too low no matter where you put the battery? When out on the water, move it around a bit and see how the boat reacts to the weight in different places. That way you can eliminate the bad places and narrow down the best place for it.


I meant sitting low in the back. I am about 190lbs and plus the battery is some weight. I wasn’t sure if there was an issue moving it too far forward other than maybe a slight voltage drop with the extra battery cable.
 
Won't be a problem at all. Most of us balance our weight by moving batteries to the front. I have 2 for my trolling motor in the front of my boat.
 
BassinChris said:
how much voltage drop will you get by adding extra wire.


I don't know, haven't done it yet. I don't think it will be significant. Many cars place their batteries in trunks and many people with boats seem to place the far enough away for the motor. I think balancing out the weight is more important
 
Don't know how much voltage you'll lose, but use the proper gauge of wire. I think I used 6 or 8 gauge. Can't remember.
 
fender66 said:
Don't know how much voltage you'll lose, but use the proper gauge of wire. I think I used 6 or 8 gauge. Can't remember.


As you use it feel the wire every once in a while. If it really heats up you know the wire is too thin.
 
I have a 1648 with a 55 lb. Trolling Motor and 2 deep cycle batteries mounted in the center seat. Boat sits level in the water. I used 6 gauge wire.
 

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Ross said:
fender66 said:
Don't know how much voltage you'll lose, but use the proper gauge of wire. I think I used 6 or 8 gauge. Can't remember.


As you use it feel the wire every once in a while. If it really heats up you know the wire is too thin.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

6ga will be fine. 8ga may be OK on short runs and low amp trolling motor. Use a circuit breaker or fuse sized to the wire, and run in protective sleave/conduit where it is exposeded to steeping, pinching, hooks, etc.
 
FuzzyGrub said:
Ross said:
fender66 said:
Don't know how much voltage you'll lose, but use the proper gauge of wire. I think I used 6 or 8 gauge. Can't remember.


As you use it feel the wire every once in a while. If it really heats up you know the wire is too thin.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

6ga will be fine. 8ga may be OK on short runs and low amp trolling motor. Use a circuit breaker or fuse sized to the wire, and run in protective sleave/conduit where it is exposeded to steeping, pinching, hooks, etc.


The motor is supposed to have a max draw of 48 amps. If I use six gauge wire would a 50 amp fuse be fine? If I am running battery only, no motor, is there a need for a fuse?
 
Remember all wire is not created equal.The more strands of wire the better.I used tinned wire 4 gauge just to make sure.(My wires are 10 foot long)You can get different gauges of wire but how many strands are just as important.Electricity goes around the outside of the wire not through the middle. #-o
 
Ross said:
The motor is supposed to have a max draw of 48 amps. If I use six gauge wire would a 50 amp fuse be fine? If I am running battery only, no motor, is there a need for a fuse?

6ga should be fine for the short run you probably need. 6ga is little difficult to work with, but if you want extra insurance, 4ga. A transom trolling motor doesn't have a fuse because the wire length is short and in view. The aligator clips also limit the amount of current and can be knocked free. Anytime you have hard connection, like ring terminals, and/or conceiled wiring, you want a fuse. It is mainly protection for a direct short.

I doubt that you ever hit the max draw. I'd try one of the 50amp manual reset breakers. If you don't want to mess around, go for the MK 60amp, like what is posted in the picture above.
 
crazymanme2 said:
Remember all wire is not created equal.The more strands of wire the better.I used tinned wire 4 gauge just to make sure.(My wires are 10 foot long)You can get different gauges of wire but how many strands are just as important.Electricity goes around the outside of the wire not through the middle. #-o

CloseupInHand.jpg


This is a pic of some "4 gauge wire" form china.
 
FuzzyGrub said:
Ross said:
The motor is supposed to have a max draw of 48 amps. If I use six gauge wire would a 50 amp fuse be fine? If I am running battery only, no motor, is there a need for a fuse?

6ga should be fine for the short run you probably need. 6ga is little difficult to work with, but if you want extra insurance, 4ga. A transom trolling motor doesn't have a fuse because the wire length is short and in view. The aligator clips also limit the amount of current and can be knocked free. Anytime you have hard connection, like ring terminals, and/or conceiled wiring, you want a fuse. It is mainly protection for a direct short.

I doubt that you ever hit the max draw. I'd try one of the 50amp manual reset breakers. If you don't want to mess around, go for the MK 60amp, like what is posted in the picture above.
[/quote]

OK, got some 6 gauge wire. That stuff isn't cheap. Still looking for a fuse or a breaker setup.

Two more questions:

1. The wire coming out of the motor is probably either 8 or 10 gauge, shot I cut into the wire closer to the motor to eliminate as much of the thinner wire as possible?

2. Can I still use the eyelets to mount on the threaded smaller battery post or do I need to connect to the bigger fatter post?
 
Rather than guess at what gauge wire you should be using I recommend using a voltage drop table:

https://bestboatwire.com/catalog/includes/languages/english/wire_gauge_chart.html

or one of the several on-line voltage drop calculators:

https://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html

To figure it out using one of these tools you will need to know the length of the run, the voltage and the max current draw of your trolling motor.
 
Ross said:
OK, got some 6 gauge wire. That stuff isn't cheap. Still looking for a fuse or a breaker setup.

Two more questions:

1. The wire coming out of the motor is probably either 8 or 10 gauge, shot I cut into the wire closer to the motor to eliminate as much of the thinner wire as possible?

2. Can I still use the eyelets to mount on the threaded smaller battery post or do I need to connect to the bigger fatter post?

1. No, I wouldn't. You want the last section to be very flexible. Just cut off enough to get new solder or crimp connections. I use a disconnect between the 6ga and the trolling motor, for easy trolling motor removal and storage. The connector I use is in a link below. The terminal legs come out of the plastic ends, and you solder them on with propane torch and elec solder. Then reinsert into ends.

2. You will need bigger eyelets to handle the 6ga wire, but they still go to "wingnut" threaded connection on the DC battery. The inside diameter hole of the eyelet should be just large enough to get over the threads and have decent surface area for the connection. You will need a couple of eyelets for the breaker, too.

Links to example H/W, No endorsement of Cabela's outside they had easy access to provide the links:

MK Breaker:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880

Manual Reset Breaker:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880

6ga Marine Wire:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880

Quick Connector:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880
 
Go Fish said:
Rather than guess at what gauge wire you should be using I recommend using a voltage drop table:

https://bestboatwire.com/catalog/includes/languages/english/wire_gauge_chart.html

or one of the several on-line voltage drop calculators:

https://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html

To figure it out using one of these tools you will need to know the length of the run, the voltage and the max current draw of your trolling motor.
______________________________________________________________________________

The difference between 4 and 6 gauge is less than 2% with 15 foot of wire at 48 amps. I can live with that.

I can't get the other link to work.
 
FuzzyGrub said:
Ross said:
OK, got some 6 gauge wire. That stuff isn't cheap. Still looking for a fuse or a breaker setup.

Two more questions:

1. The wire coming out of the motor is probably either 8 or 10 gauge, shot I cut into the wire closer to the motor to eliminate as much of the thinner wire as possible?

2. Can I still use the eyelets to mount on the threaded smaller battery post or do I need to connect to the bigger fatter post?

1. No, I wouldn't. You want the last section to be very flexible. Just cut off enough to get new solder or crimp connections. I use a disconnect between the 6ga and the trolling motor, for easy trolling motor removal and storage. The connector I use is in a link below. The terminal legs come out of the plastic ends, and you solder them on with propane torch and elec solder. Then reinsert into ends.

2. You will need bigger eyelets to handle the 6ga wire, but they still go to "wingnut" threaded connection on the DC battery. The inside diameter hole of the eyelet should be just large enough to get over the threads and have decent surface area for the connection. You will need a couple of eyelets for the breaker, too.

Links to example H/W, No endorsement of Cabela's outside they had easy access to provide the links:

MK Breaker:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880

Manual Reset Breaker:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880

6ga Marine Wire:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880

Quick Connector:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boa..._l=SBC;cat104794380;cat104716980;cat104312880
[/quote][/quote]


_____________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for the links.
 

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