battery/electrical question

[KCMO CRAPPIESLAYER]

hello fellow crappie fishermen. i have i guess kind of a 3 or 4 part question. i have a 50 lb thrust minnkota...i have an inline fuse spliced into it back by my battery. iv'e got a 25 amp fuse in that. that's been my setup for year's and have only popped the fuse i think once...maybe twice...i also run a fishfinder off the same battery (it's a 12 volt) i have a smaller boat so a 12/24 is'nt really what iv'e ever thought about. here's my dilemma... i just started trolling here the last couple week's, using my trolling motor. iv'e already popped 2 fuse's. both time's it was when i was trolling. i probably was running it constant for an 1 1/2 to 2 hour's most the time all day before cranking up the bigger motor and moving...well the 25 amp fuse's were actually fried, not just broken or popped but crispy burnt. i could hear them burst from the front of the boat. both time's when i went back to change them out the little square rubber boot they slide in was scorching hot. i had to use plier's. this is obviously caused from the continuous running on the trolling motor i would think. when it had popped few year's back it was just broken, and the inline boot/fuse was'nt hot, i just replaced and never had a problem again...but this last week on my trolling trip both time's these fuse's were burn't all to heck and the inline fuse was just scorching. is there something i don't have hooked up correctly you think if i'm going to be running that trolling motor continuously for an hour or 2...would it matter if i went up to a 30 amp or 35 or will that cause other problem's? i''m going to be doing a lot of trolling i think and just want to have it set up correctly and don't wanna fry my trolling motor. oh i have a little 3 amp inline fuse for my fishfinder and never had any problem's with that fuse...if it matter's i'm just using a cheap everstart from walley world. which i alway's have...thanx for any help and info guy's. i just don't know a lick about electrical and such.:o

jeff the crappieslayer

[slipbobber]

Look at the size of your wires, you may need to go to a larger diameter wiring harness and a better fuse setup, just something to check and think about. Hope this helps.

[crappieslab]

There are a couple of things that could be causing the fuse to blow, First, the hot rubber boot is a big problem because if it is hot think how hot the insulation is that is covering the wires! Asuming that you have the correct guage wiring.This is what you need to do in order, 1st, get a meter that has a amp clamp (auto parts store, or sears ect.) that will show DC amps and run the motor and check to see how many amps the motor is drawing (To get a base line).2nd Now check all connections from the battery all the way to the motor because bad connections draw more amps. A way you can do this with out to much trouble is with the meter put it on ohms and check the resistance from the plug(take it apart and plug it in to the socket) and check both positive and negitive sides to the battery, it should read 1 ohm or less if more than that you have a bad connection. As far as putting in a bigger fuse it dependes on what guage wireing you have, here is a table of amps for wire wire guage, #10 wire= 30amps, #6 wire=50 amps. If the resistance and connections turn out to be ok I would think the battery or trolling motor is going bad. You can take your battery to a auto parts store and they will check it for free. Hope this helps.

[boatstall]

Check all of your wiring connections. I had the exact same type of problem last year and found that several of my splices had built up enough resistance to cause the overheating issue. I had not soldered like I knew I should have, and had used crimp on connectors instead. Cut the original splices out, soldered them, and then used the liquid electrical tape goo to coat the solder joint and up the wire about an inch. Solved it.

Good luck

boatstall

[jimfish]

I agree that it sounds like a wire problem. Question? if you are using an inline fuse is it one of those with a small wire at each end? if so that could be the prob.If you have 14ga. spliced to 8ga.that could be aproblem, just asking.

[Barnacle Bill]

I agree about checking all the wiring. Dirty/corroded connections cause resistance. Resistance causes the circuit to draw more amps. (Ohm's law). Also a 50lb motor draws about 40 amps at max speed. You should have a 50 amp fuse or breaker installed.

[KCMO CRAPPIESLAYER]

thanx a lot guy's for the input. think i got it figured out. there was 10 gauge run'n from the trolling motor to the battery so i switched it out with some 8 gauge. hopefully that will do the trick. one more thing...for some reason my trolling motor foot pedal does'nt have a switch on it...right now i just have it ran to the battery. i wanted to put an inline fuse one there but all i can find is one of those what they call heavy duty inline fuse's and it say's right there on the package hold's up to a 30 amp...and it look's like 10 gauge wire...is there an inline fuse i can get that will take a 50 amp or should i just leave it as is? thanx again for all the help gentlemen. much appreciated:D

[Barnacle Bill]

I use a 50 amp circuit breaker. circuit [p.1] - iboats.com

[crappieslab]

Go to the auto parts store and ask for a 50 amp breaker 50 Amp Manual Reset Breaker

[FroggerZack]

...for some reason my trolling motor foot pedal does'nt have a switch on it...right now i just have it ran to the battery.

Go to WM or Academy and pick up a Big Foot trolling motor switch (it can be wired into your foot controller)