Thread: Wiring up a used trolling motor

1- they are suitable if you have a tool large enough to crimp them properly
2- 4- cut a small piece off and go to Home Depot or some place that sells wire, compare size to 10 and 8 they should have both in a sheath just like the cable coming out of pedal. 10 should be sufficient but need to make sure. A too
small section could be a problem between 2 larger pieces.
3- put your breaker as close to battery post as you can. You want to protect the entire cable from battery post to trolling motor.

Hope this helps.

Personally i would solder the wires and put heat shrink around the connections. Crimps will rust eventually especially around water.

Thanks for the help guys.

Soldered splices and wing nuts are against boat wiring codes. Crimp or splice type connectors are the preferred method. Dielectric grease will prevent corrosion. Heat shrink tubing can be used over the dielectric grease. However without the grease, shrink tubing will trap the moisture and it will still corrode.

Best to use the same diameter wire for the entire run. Fuse accordingly. Fuse protects the wire not the device. Since this is a motor, you want a fuse rated for motor use. Motors draw significantly more power at start up and once up to speed drop to normal loads. Too simplify things, most trolling motor companies have a rated sized fuse for the model of trolling motor, ensure your wire is large enough to meet that rating. Wire size also depends on length of run. Length of run is from the battery to the device and back to the battery. Both directions. I highly recommend a resettable fuse.

Originally Posted by Hanr3

Soldered splices and wing nuts are against boat wiring codes. Crimp or splice type connectors are the preferred method. Dielectric grease will prevent corrosion. Heat shrink tubing can be used over the dielectric grease. However without the grease, shrink tubing will trap the moisture and it will still corrode.

Best to use the same diameter wire for the entire run. Fuse accordingly. Fuse protects the wire not the device. Since this is a motor, you want a fuse rated for motor use. Motors draw significantly more power at start up and once up to speed drop to normal loads. Too simplify things, most trolling motor companies have a rated sized fuse for the model of trolling motor, ensure your wire is large enough to meet that rating. Wire size also depends on length of run. Length of run is from the battery to the device and back to the battery. Both directions. I highly recommend a resettable fuse.

Appreciate it. I was leaning away from soldering these connections anyways because I am terrible at soldering speaker wiring and I was just going to use crimp butt connectors. I'll go with your advice on wire sizes and fuses as well.