My New Arrival

[Scott Smith]

Picked up my new TV-18 today..!! Been smiling ear to ear ever since despite a soar mouth from a dental visit this mornin.



Arrived at BPS Auburn Hills mid mornin and she was all ready to go. Shrink wrapped and everything. Dropped her off at my in - laws garage where I store it, sat and stared for awhile, could'nt take it anymore and tore the shrink wrap off like one big Christmas present...!



I upgraded to a longer shaft 12 volt Minn Kota All Terrain TM, it looks sweet, no more prop blow outs on St. Clair. I did'nt have the cash to go 24 this year but intend to next year. The rigger already set it up for 24, he threw in an extra battery tray in the compartment, so for the time being I can carry an extra battery fer when the primary runs down.



The riggers did a great job settin her up, very neat, no messy silicone jobs, through bolted the TM, Battery trays are mounted toward the centerline of the boxes instead of the outside, wrapped all the motor cables with cable wraps, I could go on and on, it's just perfect..!!!



I'd be remiss if I did'nt once again thank Ken for making all this a reality for me. I went into BPS service center last Friday to check the boat out. While I was there, Ken called the center and asked to speak with me, this was around 5 pm, and I assume shortly after he got let go. He informed me of his situation and then wanted to know if everything was OK with my boat. Through all this unfortunate situation for him he still took the time to follow up with me and make sure everything was allright for me. If this does'nt speak of his unselfishness and dedication to the customer I'm not sure what does.



Here's to ya my friend...!! I'll keep a seat warm for ya in my new boat..!!

 

[Mark Hofman]

Take Pictures! POST Pictures!



MAKE US ALL SMILE!!!

 

[Ken Neeley]

Thanx Smitty...glad everything finally worked out. And I'm gonna take you up on that offer of the warm seat...see you on St. Clair!!!

 

[Scott Smith]

I'll see what I can do for ya MO. I printed up your bow mount fish finder instructions, I'm gonna tackle that project in a couple of weeks. I'll let ya know how that goes.

 

[Greg Meyer]

Hey Smitty, glad she looks so good. You can use that second tray for a second battery and set up two twelves in parallel... Then get a three bank Guest Charger and you are off to the races... in style...

 

[Scott Smith]

Greg,



Please explain..I've never had anything but a 12 volt single battery system. I've heard of what you said but never gave it a seconds thought. The "in style" part intruiges me, since I am such a stylish dude...!!!

 

[Mark Hofman]

To tie batteries together in parallel, get two short battery cables and hook + to +, and - to -.



On a 24-volt system, you tie the batteries together "in series" with one + connected to the - terminal of the second battery.



And I was told that if you run batteries together in parallel on a 12-volt TM, you don't want to hook each battery up to a charger (like a 3-bank). It will short the charger. Just hook one charger bank up to one of the batteries. It will take longer to fully charge both batts if you leave them tied together.



(Or, I guess, you could go to the trouble of disconnecting the batteries from each other, then use a 2-bank charger to charge each batt independenly.)



(The picture was pulled because its obviously wrong. Sorry for the confusion.)

 

[Greg Meyer]

Smitty.. You get a parallel twelve volt system by wiring the positive to positive and negative to negative.... Then you have twice as many amps as one battery... Not as efficient as a 24 volt system but way better than a twelve with one battery. Just be sure to connect the batteries with 6 or 8 gauge wire, I prefer 6. Mine are connected to distribution blocks with Marinco Trolling motor plugs so I can quickly hoist a battery in and out of the boat. The three bank charger setup is the same whether it is 12 or 24 volts... One bank of the charger to each battery (Trolling1 + Trolling2 + Starting) Hey if you'd like photos I can arrange that in a day or so...

 

[James D.]

if you use the guest charger just hook (2) banks together and leave the batts in parrallel. you will get the full current from each bank although it will be split somewhat between the batteries whichever is drawing the most amps. I bought a cheap 10A guest charger (2 banks @ 5A ea) and found that you could go ahead and hook both outputs to one battery which doubled the current to a 10A charge - cut the charge time in half. not bad for a $100. unfortunately i changed my system to 24V and now only charge at 5 amps ea battery individually. time to upgrade again as 5A is cutting it close for an overnight charge.



Its good that you got your boat in good condition smitty. I knew that if Ken was involved that eventually everything would be made right. Your are fortunate that you bought the boat from ken. hope that boat can find some fish for ya.



also, wanted to clarify my usage on the word "cheap" as i mean it to be very low in price. I have been impressed with the performance and quality of my guest charger and would recommend to anybody.



jd

 

[Greg Meyer]

Yeah, the GUest manual "splains it all Lucy" But, you can connect the charger to the batteries and forget it... Mine are and it works very well... I love the convenience

 

[Mark Hofman]

So, let me understand this:



Exactly HOW do I hook a dual-bank charger to two batteries tied in parallel, without ruining the batteries or the charger????? Hook both sets of red cables to the negative terminal of ONE battery, and the sets of black to the other??



Wow....whodathunkit.

 

[Greg Meyer]

Nope, believe it or not... Right from GUEST... hook a positive to each terminal on both batteries and a negative to each terminal on both batteries... It is designed to allow it to be done that way

 

[Greg Meyer]

The only thing I had to disconnect was my battery isolator from the charger on the motor... Because the isolator thought that the charger was a full charged battery and sent the voltage over to the trolling batteries and then the charger thought that the current from the isolator was a fully charged battery... so it wouldn't charge... anything other than the starting battery.... Once that was resolved with a switch setup all is right with teh world...

 

[James D.]

mofish,



on the 24volt series drawing there is also another way to connect which only requires (1) cross connect cable. i use a 4 ga cross connect. wire the pos cable from the trolling motor to the positive of the first battery. wire the neg from the tolling motor to the neg of the second battery. wire (1) cross connect cable from the neg of the first battery to the positive of the second battery. electrically it is the same as the drawing. thought i might post this as it may save someone some $$ buying another cable as the fewer connections the better. also, the cables are like $5 at an auto store and like $15 at a marine store.



also, you must be familiar with AC wiring as in AC the black wire is the hot or positive. DC wiring the black wiring is the negative and the red is the hot or positive.



jd

 

[Scott Smith]

Thank you all for your input. I understand now. Now for my second question. The new battery with my boat is an Interstate, which requires you to add water periodically, I have my old trolling motor battery, when I say old I mean it was in my old boat. I actually just got it last year. Anyhow, it's the maint. free A/C Delco Voyager, will I cause any harm mixing the two together in the parallel set up....? Or should I get another matching Interstate...? They are currently (no pun intended) the same group 27 size..

 

[Larry Harp]

Smitty- Sweet boat yoou got there. TV-18 is the only Tracker I'd rather have over my PT-185 (well maybe a Avalanche). Big water compatable.



Mo- Cool diagram. I thought it was Mack Brown's playbook.;-)



Harpo

 

[Greg Meyer]

No there is no problem "MIXING" batteries... Only if you mix one good with one bad are there problems... If both batteries are good you should have no trouble.

 

[James D.]

Mofish,



I don't think the series batt drawing will work. Maybe I'm wrong, but the output would only be 12V. There are (2) paths for current and thus they are NOT in series but in parallel reverse polarity. DO NOT hook up your batteries this way.



james

 

[Mark Hofman]

I pulled the drawing. Apologies for the confusion.



(Can you tell I only have a 12-volt system, and I've spent too much time re-wiring light switches in my house?)

 

[TOMMY RICH]

You'll be one proud poppa'.....That's a sweet lookin' rig too!

TEE

 

[Mark Hofman]

Is this the way to run batteries in parallel and in series?

 

[Greg Meyer]

Yes Mo... That is the proper configuration...

 

[James D.]

looks great Mo!



jd