12 to 24v

[MACMAN]

I just got a deal on a new bow mount trolling motor that I could not pass up. The problem is my current motor is 12v and the new one is 24. I realize that I need to add a battery, but does anybody know how to connect the batteries to make it a 24v series. I have an idea but it involves connecting the pos to the neg terminal and I would really appriciate a second opinion before sparks fly. Thanks in advance.
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[Nica]

You are correct, pos to neg adds 12 volts with every battery you add. Pos to pos increases amperage instead. There are several places online that show you the theory behind it, the method works both for big batteries and for little bity ones. Here is a link, there are many others if you do a search for "batteries in series".

[url "http://www.zbattery.com/seriesparallel.html"]batteries[/url]

Hope this helps.
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[Troll]

You have been told correctly above. Consider a commen flashlight, we put 2 1.5 volt batteries pos. to neg to get 3 volts. When you fill one of those 4 AA packs the batteries alternate to come up with 6 volts.

Hook one batteries Neg, to the other batteries Pos. Hook battery 1's open post (we'll call it Pos.) to the red line of the motor, hook the remaining post (should be battery 2 Neg) to the black line and your set. Now you have a single 24 volt battery. Do not allow the lose ends of Pos and Neg to touch now or sparks will fly. Also if your boat is aluminum, it conducts electricity. If both cable ends touch the hull at the same time, sparks will fly.

If it would help I can post a pic of mine.
Use good wire, I used 8ga copper marine wire. Marine wire is "Tinned" and does not corrode like auto wire. It's not cheap either.
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[BearLakeMack]

[center][url "http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_38069_200002004_200000000_200002000_200-2-4"][/url][/center][center] [/center] [center]Click on picture for link[/center] [center] [/center]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]My advice to you is to forgo hooking your batteries up 24V and let the plug connection do the work for you. The Marinco 12/24v trolling motor plug is jumpered internally to supply 12V & 24V power to the trolling motor. You run leads from each battery to the female receptacle and the male plug that you hook to the trolling motor does the rest. I hooked this system up on my boat and it works great. The divantage is you have to run 4 wires to hook to your female receptacle. This leaves your batteries 12v for other 12v needs or requirements.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]They also sell a complete kit that give you the 12v/24v male plug, the female receptacle and a plug you can hook to battery charger that will allow you to plug in the female receptacle and charge back to your 12v batteries. This works very slick for charging the batteries back up. Just cut off the standard battery clamps on the charger and hook up the charging plug.[/size][/black][/font]
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[lunkerhunter2]

That's awesome Rich. How much do they cost?
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[utwalleye]

Now that sounds like a slick setup, you don't have to add another 12 volt battery for the other 12 volt things. later chuck
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]It's about $75 but well worth the initial cost. Check out the link to BassPro.[/size][/black][/font]
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[lunkerhunter2]

Thanks Rich. I didn't even see the link part.
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[MACMAN]

Rich, this may be exactly what I need, being that I only have a 2 bank onboard charger. If I understand how this works correctly, I would still be able to have one bank be the starter, and the other bank would actually charge both trolling motor batteries through the plug connection. Is that right? or do you still run a 3 bank charger? Thanks for the help, sounds like I have some good options.
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]You'll run a positive and a negative wire, probably 8 gauge minimum, from each 12v battery to the female receptacle. If you hook up the charger with the charging plug connected as I described earlier, it will charge both 12v batteries. You don't need the two bank charger you have though you can probably just keep using it too. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]It's a pretty good system. I bought a 12 amp smart charger from Walmart for $39 and connected the charging plug to it. I unplug the 24v trolling motor plug, connect the charger with the charging plug and charge back to all my batteries through the trolling motor female plug. Very slick and cheaper than an on-board system considering you have to buy a plug for the trolling motor anyway.[/size][/black][/font]
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[fsh4fun05]

I've got the said setup for my bowmount. I was able to hook up power to my fishfinder on the deck and still switch 12/24 volt on the foot pedal. The charging part is the real bonus.
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