12 volt vs 24 volt system

[tool]

What would be the advantage for me to switch from 12 volt to 24 volts? I have an 18 foot tracker 185. The 12 volt system has worked pretty good. I have gone thru one battery in 2 and 1/2 years of heavy use. What is the advantage to having a 24 volt system versus my 12? I have never ran out of juice on the lake before. Moose, I know you could shed some light on this for me. Thanks. :D

[Big Zig]

think of it this way - once you go to 24 volt, you'll never see 12 volt the same again. I have a 17' Fisher with a 12/24 volt system on board. I can choose either power source - and run 24 volts 99% of the time. I use the 12 volt to slow down presentations or move around with little wake - calm waters.
Bottom line is your settings on 12 volt are doubled in speed with 24 volt.
I lost one battery this past fall and had to move around a lake on 12 volts while fighting a pretty stiff headwind - didn't get a whole lot of fishing time in, until we could get into a protected cove.

My next rig will have 36 volts in it - but my fishing is done on waterways that have electric motor only restrictions............it's an application thing.

[Moose1am]

Well the 24 volt system should give you much more power to play with. But the flip side it that it cost twice as much. Depends on the weight of your boat and how it handles in the wind. I personally use a 55# thrust Min-Kota 12 volt All Terrain trolling motor and my boat weights a little over 1000lbs. In high winds I can't hold the boat steady or make any headway. It's due to the flat front design of my boat when does not slice though the waves very well.

Your tracker 185 should slice thought the water much better than my fishermarine.

If it were me and I fished in high winds a lot then I would go with the 24 volt system if I had the money. You can always run it slower when you don't have to fight the winds.

One thing that I would like to have is an onboard charger for my batteries.

If you are going to go with a new battery check out the Optima Blue Top Deep Cycle batteries. I think that they make one that has two batteries in the same case for just what you are looking for. These are the spiral cell Gell type batteries that are more vibration resistant and have more pure lead and they have less internal resistance (so they say) which allows them to charge up faster than regular lead acid batteries. If you fish a lot (every day) then having a fully charged trolling motor battery is important when you start out each morning. I can fish all day long on my Optima and that is fishing in a lake that is Trolling Motor Only. So I am running my trolling motor almost the entire time. Which is why I can't fish when it's too windy.

That Tracker 185 looks like a neat boat.

What would be the advantage for me to switch from 12 volt to 24 volts? I have an 18 foot tracker 185. The 12 volt system has worked pretty good. I have gone thru one battery in 2 and 1/2 years of heavy use. What is the advantage to having a 24 volt system versus my 12? I have never ran out of juice on the lake before. Moose, I know you could shed some light on this for me. Thanks. :D

[tool]

I might just stay with the 12 volt system. I do want to upgrade to that autopilot minn-kota though. That is the one thing I hate on my boat is that I have to stay up front to pull jigs and I'd like to have the luxury when I am by myself to fish off the back of the boat and use the copilot and autopilot to run the boat. That is my next major investment unless something major goes out on my boat first. Thanks for the info.

[Barnacle Bill]

I will never go back to a 12v system. I had an occasion once during one of my 5 day long fishing trips where I couldn't charge my batteries. They lasted the entire trip and that was using the trolling motor 6-8 hours each day. I was simply amazed. You use about half the current for the same speed. (Ohm's law)

[Larry-Southern Indiana]

24 volt all the way. My Minn Kota is straight 24 volt and I ain't never come close to running the batteries down. My boat has a built in charger and it's worth every cent. Just plug it in when I get back to the camp and it's ready to go the next day. The charger shuts itself off after the batteries are fully charged. My depthfinder up front on the trolling motor is powered by my trolling batteries also. It's on every time the trolling motor hits the water. Since 2000 no problems.


Larry

[Moose1am]

Larry:

Do they make a way to charge the trolling motor batteries with the Big Engine? I know that my starter battery is charged up when I run my 35HP Motor. I have to put a charger on my trolling motor when I get home.


What I thought about doing is seeing if there is a way to charge both the starter battery and the trolling motor battery while on the lake and underway. That way it would stay charged up if I move around with the gasoline motor a lot.

24 volt all the way. My Minn Kota is straight 24 volt and I ain't never come close to running the batteries down. My boat has a built in charger and it's worth every cent. Just plug it in when I get back to the camp and it's ready to go the next day. The charger shuts itself off after the batteries are fully charged. My depthfinder up front on the trolling motor is powered by my trolling batteries also. It's on every time the trolling motor hits the water. Since 2000 no problems.


Larry

[PanMan_VA]

What would be the advantage for me to switch from 12 volt to 24 volts? I have an 18 foot tracker 185. The 12 volt system has worked pretty good. I have gone thru one battery in 2 and 1/2 years of heavy use. What is the advantage to having a 24 volt system versus my 12? I have never ran out of juice on the lake before. Moose, I know you could shed some light on this for me. Thanks. :D

With a 24 volt system, each battery supplies 1/2 of the current required. It is better for the batteries and the motor windings. It also means you can use a higher thrust trolling motor.

[KARL]

Moose, there is several ways to go..purchase perko type switch where you can select batt1,batt2,both or none...or cheaper and easier way if your batteries are physically close 2 each other--make up jumpers with battery clips on end ...total 2 jumpers and hook batteries in parallel--pos2pos neg2neg.. hook up jumpers before starting motor and cruise on.....DON'T EVER hook up or unhook batteries while motor is running or BAD things will happen to motor--think FRIED...i'm sure other have idea's...my 2 cents
good site for such stuff...THEMARINEDOCTOR.COM

[duane]

When I first bought my boat back in 2002 I thought I needed the on board charging system they sell. Well after going to the lake every weekend that first year money was a little tight. I had not been fishing for years and had only bass rods and tackle but wanted to start crappie fishing.
I began thinking of how I could charge my batteries with out always being on my knees digging in a dark hole for the battery. At home I went out and got some 12 ga outside wire like you would for a power saw. I bought 2 different color coated wires. I run them up with my big motor wires from the battery area and using reg. 3 slotted wire plugs made it easier to charge my batteries.
Yellow wire goes to the trolling battery, orange wire to the starter battery. I used the female plug at the battery wire and the male plug on the changer. I did this for a good reason. Incase someone tried hooking it up direct to 110v it would not connect.
So now all my night fishing lights all have reg household 110 plugs on them to plug into my system. Must use plugs with the ground post on them so the + & - are right.
I still need to carry a charger with me but saved $100.