[ElkriverAstro]

Hey guys, new to the site and this is my first post. Looks like I will be on here frequently, tons of good information it looks like. I have a quick question that is similar to some of the posts I've seen on here already, and I wanted a few opinions before I went any further.

We have an old '94 Astro fish & ski with a Mariner Magnum III 150 on it. The boat has hardly ever been used to fish out of, and the trolling motor is toast after sitting in the hull for a couple decades and not being touched. I decided to retro fit the mounting plate with a couple of 6" LED pods for running at night since trash has been an issue around our place the last couple of summers. The trolling motor was a 12 / 24v with dedicated batteries.

My question is - would it be safe to extend one (or both) sets of trolling motor battery cables back to run the LEDs off of the cranking battery? Only to be used when running. Both factory fuses are still there near the terminal connectors, and I also added one when I retrofitted the trolling motor wiring harness. My only concern is the wiring getting hot, but I don't think that would happen with this setup and also being protected with the fuses. For the record, all of this is reversible should I decide to buy a new trolling motor for it.

Thanks!

 

[joeer77]

You need to figure out how many amps those lights draw. My guess it is much less than your trolling motor (50-60amps). You should be concerned about navigation lights. I believe it is illegal to obscure your navigation nights at night by running flood lights. My advise would be to get a handheld spot light if you really need to see better.

 

[ElkriverAstro]

You need to figure out how many amps those lights draw. My guess it is much less than your trolling motor (50-60amps). You should be concerned about navigation lights. I believe it is illegal to obscure your navigation nights at night by running flood lights. My advise would be to get a handheld spot light if you really need to see better.

From everything I've seen they draw about 12 amps or less. Yeah you're absolutely right on that, we haven't actually ran these yet, but that will probably be an issue unless they can be angled down enough. This little project really started out as having some spare pods laying around in the garage and trashing that trolling motor. Last thing I want to be is one of those guys running lights fit for a cruise missile on the water.

Here is the link to the most similar set: https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-ZH30...la-793003429883&ref=&adgrpid=83058288664&th=1

 

[joeer77]

12 amps is nothing. You boat looks pre-wired like mine with 8 or 10 gauge wire. Amps and distance of wire run are the factors for deciding wire size.

Resources

Amplifier Wire Gauge Chart In order to operate correctly, an amplifier needs its power and ground wiring to be large enough to accommodate its demand for electrical current. What wire gauge (thickness) to use for power cabling depends on how much current your system will try to consume, and on...

bigjeffaudio.com

 

[ElkriverAstro]

12 amps is nothing. You boat looks pre-wired like mine with 8 or 10 gauge wire. Amps and distance of wire run are the factors for deciding wire size.

Resources

Amplifier Wire Gauge Chart In order to operate correctly, an amplifier needs its power and ground wiring to be large enough to accommodate its demand for electrical current. What wire gauge (thickness) to use for power cabling depends on how much current your system will try to consume, and on...

bigjeffaudio.com

View attachment 980316

Awesome man, thank you for that. That'll come in handy in way more ways than one!