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Location: Contrarian Island | Got to really put my charge on the fly Minn Kota to the test last week on LOTW...
One word...unbelievable.... I never once was below 3 bars on my meter, most of the time it was on 4 on each spot... 1st 5 days we fished in BIG wind...i ran it like I stole it on 6 to 8 and it never went below 2 bars... I was skeptical of anything doing what it claimed but after last week, best $130 I think I've spent on my boat... Anyone who does trips to big lakes like that or is on a big lake like that should install one... it was unreal... came back each night to camp w 4 bars.. still plugged in the Pro mariner anyway but might not have needed to all week! |
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Posts: 307
| What do you have for a big motor powering it? |
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Location: Contrarian Island | 175 Suzuki 4 stroke, any motor will power it |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | does it mount inside the cowl of the motor? or just send wiring to the alternator?? also, can i assume you are using a 24-volt system with it? |
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Location: Contrarian Island | it mounts anywhere down by your batteries, basically it is about the size of an onboard charger.. Yah, I ran it w my 24 volt system... charges the starting motor first, then over to the TM batteries... I know you go to Eagle Sled and for a lake like that and fishing in the wind you should get one.... it was unreal how it kept my batteries almost full power all day....
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/_ui/sramk08/tpl/sramk_product_accesso...
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | knowing that you got one, i've been curiously awaiting your results … perfect for that condition you describe and nice to see confirmation of it working. it's officially on the list. now, should i stick with 36-volt TM or downsize, that will be the question. a new TM is on the books for next year. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | imo with this you can get away w a 24 volt just fine and good batteries.... |
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Posts: 134
| I run one on my boat. I have a 36v. t.motor and fish in current. It made a very noticeable difference on what the t.motor was able to do at the end of the day. They get my approval and quite reasonable for what you get imo. |
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Location: Waukesha, WI, USA | Help me. A little confused. You don't hook it too starting battery, do you? Doesn't main engine already charge starting battery when running? |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | Sunshine - 8/15/2014 2:44 PM
Help me. A little confused. You don't hook it too starting battery, do you? Doesn't main engine already charge starting battery when running?
I don't have a MinnKota, I use the Stealth DC, but I believe the principal is the same. Yes, you wire it to the cranking battery, and then to the TM batteries. The alternator of the engine charges the cranking battery. In the case of the Stealth, no juice goes to the TM batteries until the cranking battery is at 13 v. After that all the juice goes to charging the TM batts, from the engine alternator thru the cranking battery. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | yah i'm 99.9% sure it tops off the starter first then charges the TM batteries... great unit ... |
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Posts: 134
| It does hook to your Starting battery. The only extra wire needed is a turn on wire from the ignition switch. I had my old boat wired to one as well. I even had it wired so I could plug it in to my truck and charge all 4 batteries while driving down the road. |
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Posts: 1168
| I installed one of these two months ago and it's a neat little unit.
Minn Kota has three sizes. One bank, two bank, three bank and the numbers corresponding after the "MK" is the number of banks. Since I have a 24v system mine is an MK2.
It isn't going to replace an on board charger but for those of you who make weeklong trips or those who simply want to have a little extra confidence in having enough juice on long days it's worth it to install one of these things. When I installed mine I had run down the TM batteries on purpose just to test the thing out. I was at about 10% charge on that system. Launched and made a run that was somewhere around 10-12 miles. Checked the batteries and they came up considerably and I fished the rest of the day whereas I wouldn't have been able to if that charge was not going back into that system.
The concept is pretty simple. Any excess current coming out of the big motor's alternator gets routed through this unit and into your trolling motor batteries. There's an indicator light that lets you know if the TM batteries are being charged. On mine it won't charge them when I'm at an idle but once I bump the throttle up past an idle it kicks in. I think the relay in this unit trips when the current coming out of your alternator hits 13.1 volts. It's somewhere in that neighborhood. Theoretically you wouldn't have to put your TM batteries on an AC charger if you didn't want to but it's still a good idea to top those batteries off with an on board. Some might look at it as an unnecessary expense just for a "gadget" you don't really need but I think that in the long run it will pay off financially because it will assist in keeping your TM batteries from being run down consistently to a point where they lose life.
Edited by ulbian 8/20/2014 9:15 AM
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Minn Kota MK3 review