MinnKota wiring question

I recently purchased a Ranger boat with a MinnKoat Maxxum 55 trolling motor on the bow. Being a 12 volt motor, I expected to find a black and a red wire running back to the battery. Well in addition to those two, there are a white and an orange wire. The black/red is on one battery, and the orange/white is on a second deep cycle battery. Can someone please explain to me this set-up. Is it just a 12 volt system, running on two batteries for extended running time? I thought maybe it was old wiring for a 12/24 system, but the motor wont work at all if either of the pairs of wires are disconnected. I’m just trying to figure out the process here. Thanks for any help anyone can send my way.

I think you’re probably dealing with the factory wiring there, and it sounds like it’s wired in parallel right now so you’ll still get 12 volts, just more of it.

One thing you might want to do while you’ve got the batteries in there and you’re playing around, is grab a meter and switch those wires around on the batteries to see how you get 12v and how you get 24v. Then label the wires so you know what’s what. Hopefully that’ll be a good start for you.

Well, I guess I should have poked around more before I gave up and asked for help. Apparently this is a 24 volt motor. All the Maxxum 55’s I’ve seen are 12 volts. But when I opened up the plug on the trolling motor, there is a jumper from one set of wires to the other (as opposed to a jumper on the batteries like I would expect to see on a 24 volt system). So I simplified and reduced to 2 wires and did a simple jumper wire at the batteries. I put the volt meter to it and it is pulling 24 volts without throwing the breaker, so I think I’m good to go. Thanks anyway.

riplip,
Since you eliminated the 4-wire setup, and now have the jumper between the batteries, you have 24 volts running to the socket that your TM plugs in to. Honestly, I’ve never seen a 24volt 55# Minn Kota motor, so BEFORE you plug that motor in, and run it, verify that in fact you do have a 24 volt motor. Could be an expensive mistake.
HRG

Do you have an onboard charger on these batteries?

Personlly I would have kept the four wire system. That way if I needed 12 volts up front for spot light, areator etc, it is allready there. Four wires will carry more ammps then two wires more effeciently with less loss of power.

To respond to your questions…I had never seen a 24 volt, 55 Maxxum either. But when it was hookied up the way it was, I assumed it was. Plus when I just ran it on 12 volts, there wasnt much power. And when I ran it on 24 volts, I would have thought the breaker would have blown if it wasnt supposed to run on 24. Now I’m really confused.

Yes, I have a two bank charger for each of the trolling batteries.

I left the other two wires in there, just unhooked them, so I can always try another system. Maybe I’ll go back to some 4 wire, 12 volt set-up. I really dont want to blow up the motor if it isnt supposed to be a 24 volt system.

Circuit breakers protect you from pulling too much amperage, not voltage. And,,, if you ran the motor on 24 volts, rather than 12, it would pull LESS amperage, not more. So, the breaker won’t protect you the way you think it should. If it still has the Minn Kota serial # sticker on it, I’d call them Monday morning, and ask them to confirm what voltage it should run on.
HRG

OK, I finally figured out the voltage question…It is a Maxxum 54, which they apparently made a 12 volt and a 24 volt version. I have the 24 volt version which explains the 4 wires. Now I already know that my 2 wire system with the jumper at the batteries works, but I’m thinking about going back to the 4 wire system with a jumper/s at the plug. Now, any ideas as to whether I would jump it at the female plug(4 wires) or the male plug(2 wires), and would I actually need 2 jumpers? I suppose if I sat and thought about it for a bit I could figure it out, just thought someone may have this rig in their boat. Thanks.