trolling motor acting up!

Is it a variable speed motor? Do you have a 50 amp breaker on it? How close is it to the battery? and what guage wire are you using?

 

If the trolling motor is quiting after 10 minutes and then reseting when you get home it might be over heating. The wire you are using might be to thin a guage to run that long a distance, find out what guage it is. Also the resetable 50 amp breaker is needed on all variable speed TM's, my motor guide wouldn't function right without it for some reason.

http://www.amazon.com/MotorGuide-accessories-50-amp-manual-breaker/dp/B000N9XMZS

 

It's just like a breaker in your house. Before your trolling motor over heats it will pop and you can reset the breaker. If your TM over heats to many times you will fry it, this will keep that from happening, but it's a safety measure and not a total solution for you since you are most likely already over heating. You really gotta check to see what guage wire you are running.

 

A bad plug will increase resistance and lead to malfunctions. Try cleaning out the plug and adding a breaker, I'm sure it will make a big difference. 6 guage wire should be ok, but still put that breaker in.

 

if your plug is napped out its most likely the cause of your problem, i would replace it as opposed to cleaning it and use some die-electric grease on the connections to help keep from getting napped out again, the marinco plugs are pretty good, the attwood plugs you find at places like walmart are junk

 

It depends on the size of the boat, but it means adding a second battery. Personally I'd stick with the 12 volt unless you need more power.

It doesn't keep it from overheating, it stops it from doing damage when there is a build up of resistance. You are most likely running it longer in the water and the water adds resistance as well. I have been told several times that it is not good to run a trolling motor out of the water because there is no cooling factor.

 

Battery tender has a plug that is very well made, check it out.

http://batterytender.com/marine/battery-connector-black.html