Trolling motor -help

I have a Terrova was fishing yesterday and the trolling motor quit working while I was trolling. Went up to check on it and heard kinda a fizzle noise from the plug. Then I smelled burning. The plug is actually fused in the outlet I can’t even remove it.

I’m gonna tear into it soon. But wondering do you think it was likely the plug itself went bad and I can just cut wires and replace the plug? Or do you think I need to replace wires with a heavier gauge? I can post pics if it would help

What size are the wires and how old is the plug. Cut the wires and get the new plug ordered immediately.

I had this happen on my terrova one day . Corrosion or wires got loose in the plug – couldn’t really tell . Was a melted mess . New plug and haven’t had a problem since . Easy to do .

I don’t know what size the wires. I’ll see if I can find out when I go digging later today.

The plug is 8-9 years old and was getting loose prior to this happening

isu22andy wrote:

I had this happen on my terrova one day . Corrosion or wires got loose in the plug – couldn’t really tell . Was a melted mess . New plug and haven’t had a problem since . Easy to do .

Good was hoping to hear this

This is the wire coming out of the plug, says 6 AWG marine. It just seems like the plug and receptacle is fried. Hopefully nothing else got damaged

Pic

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This was probably the problem. A little plastic piece inside broke and the wires got twisted together

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lindyrig79 wrote:

I’m gonna tear into it soon. But wondering do you think it was likely the plug itself went bad and I can just cut wires and replace the plug? Or do you think I need to replace wires with a heavier gauge? I can post pics if it would help

I’d be checking/ replacing the fuse/breaker. It should have tripped before things started melting.

Yeah I would double check the circuit breaker on your trolling motor battery.

Do you take your trolling motor off? Some that never take the motor off ditch the plug and hardwire the trolling motor in. As you have experienced, some of the plugs can have issues and power drops, if it’s not the proper plug.

Huntindave wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lindyrig79 wrote:</div>
I’m gonna tear into it soon. But wondering do you think it was likely the plug itself went bad and I can just cut wires and replace the plug? Or do you think I need to replace wires with a heavier gauge? I can post pics if it would help

I’d be checking/ replacing the fuse/breaker. It should have tripped before things started melting.

Not necessarily true the fuse/breaker would trip before the plug got hot. If there’s a bad connection, which it sounds like to me, the current wouldn’t have to increase enough to trip a fuse/breaker to get hot enough to melt a plug or wires near the bad connection, especially on a plug of low quality or not built for the current required of a trolling motor. Just a steady flow of current would be enough to do it. Bad connections causing heat are a common problem on trolling motor plugs. He should be fine if he installs a plug that will withstand the maximum current that his trolling motor may draw. He may have to change the plug on his trolling motor to match the new plug but it’s an easy fix.

6 gauge wire should work for you.

If you are replacing it, I would recommend going with the battery tender trolling motor plug. I like it a lot more than the one you have after using both.