GNSfishing Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Got a question about the wiring on a MotorGuide Pro 70 series 24 volt only trolling motor from the foot pedal to the receptacle plug on my front panel. This last Saturday was out fishing and decided to cross the lake using the trolling motor to discharge the batteries which most of the time they are short cycled and never get completely run down which can affect the battery life. After about 5 mins or so of running in (Rabbit) ;-) high speed, the wires burnt (melted) into about an inch from the plug. The smoke made me think that the boat was on fire, unplugged the trolling motor and it quit but it had burnt it completely off. Has anyone else experienced this problem?? I checked the screw terminals on what was left on the plug and they were tight so I am at a loss of what caused it other than too small of wire between the foot pedal and the plug which is 10 gauge and should be good for a 30 amp draw.....Called Marine repair but they did not have a real answer for me... Try to find a replacement 12/24/36 volt plug at 8:00 PM Saturday night. BPS had a 12/24 plug but would not fit the receptacle and it was priced at over $30.00 just for the plug. Did find a 12/24 plug and receptacle at Academy for $7.00 bucks each rated at 50 amps so wound up replacing both to get it back in service. So curiosity has got me to wondering if anyone else had this problem and if any one has found out why these wires burn if the trolling motor is ran at a constant high speed??? I have e-mailed MotorGuide also..
WeekendWarrior Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Do you have a breaker on TM wiring? It evidently got hot which should have tripped a breaker.
holleybob Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 You may give Marine Repair Center in Springfield a call. 417-833-9191. They repair/rebuild trolling motors. I'll bet they will have a good idea as to what happened. Also if it is a Motorguide issue I'm thinking they will have some knowledge of that also. Good luck
abkeenan Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Do you have a breaker on TM wiring? It evidently got hot which should have tripped a breaker. ^^^THIS
merc1997 Bo Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 first thing that comes to mind with your problem is what size wires or cables do you have running from the batteries to the front. overheating like that is most often caused from too much resistance. you need at least a fine strand 6 gauge wire running from your troller batteries to the front plug. as already questioned, do you have at least 40 amp circuit breakers in your line. as for your replacement plug, you will need to discover if the 24v is made in the troller plug or at your batteries. to know which yours is, look at your trolling batteries and see if there is a jumper going from the positive to the negative from one battery to the other. if like this, your 24v are made at your batteries. some boats run all four battery wires to the front panel connection and the 24v are made by a jumper in the plug. most replacement plugs accomodate either setup, but may require moving the jumper bar inside the plug. hope this will help. bo
GNSfishing Posted May 11, 2015 Author Posted May 11, 2015 Do you have a breaker on TM wiring? It evidently got hot which should have tripped a breaker. Yes there is a breaker at the batteries. the wire size is a #6 or 4 gauge plenty big enough for a trolling motor.
GNSfishing Posted May 11, 2015 Author Posted May 11, 2015 ^^^THIS first thing that comes to mind with your problem is what size wires or cables do you have running from the batteries to the front. overheating like that is most often caused from too much resistance. you need at least a fine strand 6 gauge wire running from your troller batteries to the front plug. as already questioned, do you have at least 40 amp circuit breakers in your line. as for your replacement plug, you will need to discover if the 24v is made in the troller plug or at your batteries. to know which yours is, look at your trolling batteries and see if there is a jumper going from the positive to the negative from one battery to the other. if like this, your 24v are made at your batteries. some boats run all four battery wires to the front panel connection and the 24v are made by a jumper in the plug. most replacement plugs accomodate either setup, but may require moving the jumper bar inside the plug. hope this will help. bo Yes there is a breaker at the batteries at least a 50 amp breaker and it is a 24 volt system with 2 #6 or 4 gauge wires ran to the front receptacle so the weakest link is going to break and that was the #10 gauge wire from the foot pedal to the plug. The replacement plug I got had a jumper for a 12/24 type system so had to remove it because the Pro 70 is a straight 24 volt. I did email MotorGuide about this and I just got off the phone with them about this problem. The only things they said was use a 50 amp breaker and there could be a loose connection or a circuit board in the motor that might cause a high amp draw if it was bad. Then said trolling motors are not for primary propulsion. Well I said I know that but the foot pedal has a switch which it can be put in a constant run position. They still held to the not for primary propulsion story. So even that option is there don't use it I guess. I would think that if there is a bad board in the motor head and if it is bad the motor should not run or it is going to quit soon... Bottom line they say it shouldn't have burnt the wires off but it did... Thanks for the replys and suggestions still searching for someone that experienced the same problem.. Oh I did call Marine Repair the first thing this morning with about the same results as MotorGuide..
fishinwrench Posted May 12, 2015 Posted May 12, 2015 Sounds like you had dirty pins. I hardwire my TM (no plug) because I have had that happen several times on plug connections. Also, if your boat is equipped with a 12/24/Charge switch I'd bypass that POS, they have started more boat fires than anything else I know of. merc1997 Bo, Champ188 and Sac River Jim 3
Champ188 Posted May 12, 2015 Posted May 12, 2015 Every 24-volt MotorGuide I've owned has been prone to pop breakers if you stand on the pedal too long. I now have a 36-volt Minn Kota Fortrex and haven't had a single issue with that (or anything else). Sac River Jim and merc1997 Bo 2
Ron Burgundy Posted May 12, 2015 Posted May 12, 2015 [quote name="fishinwrench" post="394308" timestamp="1431394 Also, if your boat is equipped with a 12/24/Charge switch I'd bypass that POS, they have started more boat fires than anything else I know of. Great my boat has that switch. Gone but not forgotten Martin Ford
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