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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Hooking two 12 volt batteries in parallel for the trolling motor, what gauge wire should I use for the connection? Also, does it matter if I connect via the larger posts vs the screw posts? |
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Posts: 44
| 6 gauge wire is the best option, along with some high quality marine grade ring connectors on the ends. |
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Posts: 44
| Hit send too quick. You do not need to try and connect via the big posts, the screw posts are just fine.
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Posts: 626
Location: Madison, WI | What size trolling motor? 6 is great, but most likely overkill for any 12 volt motor. Also the length of run matters on wire size as well. Most boats come factory rigged with 8 gauge wire. In the last ten years, I have had a Tuffy, Skeeter, and now a Ranger and all have been rigged with 8 gauge. No issues with any of them. |
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Posts: 9
| I rewired my Princecraft with 6g. The reason I chose 6g over 8g is that I could run a 36v system and have the batteries all the way in the back of the boat if I want. With 8g the length of the boat is usually too long of a run for a 36v system per minnkota. By the time I was buying 8g it was only a few dollars more to get 6g and add a few loops of wire incase I every want/need to relocate batteries from front to back. With 6g all my bases are covered no matter what I choose to do. |
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Posts: 176
| I just rebuilt and rewired my boat this past year as well. Today's boats, computers, (locators), USB ports, and trolling motors have a lot more of a demand than 20 years ago. When I did my research I put in 6 g tinned wire. You don't want the wire any longer than you have to, because as stated before the longer it is the less efficient it becomes. I used tinned wire because of the wet environment.
My resources were the electronics manufacturer's information and a friend of mine who wired Fire Trucks for the last 40 years who is an avid fisherman and loves talking electronics.
Kevin
Edited by Nomadmusky 6/11/2019 10:14 AM
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | danmuskyman - 6/10/2019 5:48 PM
What size trolling motor? 6 is great, but most likely overkill for any 12 volt motor. Also the length of run matters on wire size as well. Most boats come factory rigged with 8 gauge wire. In the last ten years, I have had a Tuffy, Skeeter, and now a Ranger and all have been rigged with 8 gauge. No issues with any of them.
It’s a 55lb thrust Terrova. The boat was factory rigged with the trolling motor wiring so I’m unsure of the size wiring used, how does that come into play for wiring batteries in parallel? The boat itself is a Alumacraft Classic 165, so a little over 16 feet long with the batteries under the front casting deck and a bow mount TM. The batteries themselves will be sitting right next to each other. |
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Posts: 50
Location: Southern Indiana | For wiring the batteries together I also used 6 gauge tinned wire. You’re only talking about a couple feet of wire so the cost difference is minimal, and you can get some beefy crimp on lugs. Never had any problems. |
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Posts: 410
Location: With my son on the water | To many variables to guess what size wire?
What is the maximum amp draw of the motor and what is the run length of the wire? If you look up an amp draw/wire run length chart it will tell you what gage wire to run.
If in doubt go bigger. If you drastically undersize you run the risk of a fire. But to small of wire will cause batteries to die faster and brushes on the motor to wear out faster.
The circuit is only as good as the weakest link so it’s recommended to solider connections too which also prevents corrosion in the connection.”
I know several of us on here who have used 4 gage. |
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Posts: 116
Location: Roscoe IL | New guy here, but im an electrician by trade, anywire really will work preferably 6AWG or larger for me, but I prefer to use Class M welding cable. it will last forever, and is super flexible, the downside is, that you will probably have to find an electrical shop that will crimp your ends for you if you want a factory look. I have used this on my batterys in my travel trailer and on golf carts and it is absolutely fantastic stuff. |
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