Thread: what size amp circuit breaker do i need?

well ive researched and read conflicted info so thought id asked the pro's! i have a 50 lb minn kota bow mount. i have it ran to my 12 volt with 8 gauge wire to the back of the boat. right at about 15 feet to the back, read that you double that since im running a negative and positive wire so i read it's like running 30 feet of wire... i had a circuit breaker last year by the back of the battery and it shot crap's. so the few time's this winter i just ran it without a breaker and seemed to work fine. well i just put a new armature in it and it seem's to be much more powerful than when i had the original armature in it. so need to get a circuit breaker, is 50 amp's what i want? most info i read said 50 amp, but also 45 amp and 60 amp was recommended. any help would be much appreciated! thank's and good fishing!

Minnkota recommends a 50 amp circuit breaker and is what I've found for sale from marine supply locally. They are just a few bucks and could save you big if motor or wiring shorted out.

^^what he said. If you still have the booklet that came with it, it shows what size amp to use.

Most ea marts sell the 50 amp breaker that is a small self resetting. They seem to work fine. On. Larger motors I always recommend the larger 60 that Minkota recommends. It is a manual reset and will carry more amps. Have seen them in auto zone around here. BPS, Cabelas, some marine dealers.

so either of these would work, inline fuse holder is $5 and circuit breaker is $10... i cant seem to find my darn manual, thanks fellas for the help

The top one is circuit breaker. It will work. It resets automatically. Got one on my 55 lb and never had a problem.

thank's guy's! gonna go look around locally today, see if i can find one, if not i'll just order online. thanks again

The manual asks for the circuit breaker. But the inline will work fine

Here's the one in my boat. I like to be able to turn the juice off to the TM when charging.

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60A is probably bigger than you want to go on 8AWG wire.

Running without a breaker is very dangerous. Some batteries can put out 5000 Amps when shorted, and that can result in an almost instant fire in a glass boat or holes blown in a metal boat.