Is it necessary to have a cut off switch going to your trolling motor, so u can turn main power off while charging. It says u need one in owners manual for minn kota but I havnt had one on my boat for over 10 years and havnt had any problems. Whats everyone's input about it

Same as you. Never had a problem without one.

News to me. Never had one...ever.

I just unplug mine

+1. Have done this for almost 30 years.

yep, unplug

Brand new info(to me). Is there some chance of the charger shorting out the trolling motor? I always put the speed switch on pedal to off on my Fortrex when stowing it for the last time at the end of a trip. More of a "safety thing" in case you accidentally hit the switch so I don't loose a finger. In many many years with many different motors I've never disconnected my trolling motor. With onboard multi-bank charger hooked up to all the batteries individually is there a need to disconnect? OFF on a Fortrex good as a power switch?

Never had a problem!Just unplug trolling motor from boat before charging batteries.

The issue is that the TM manufacturer can't know what your charger is doing (with respect to voltage and waveform it produces). There are limits for what electronic controlled TMs can tolerate. Some chargers could damage the TM if they exceed those limits either by design or if the charger experiences an electrical malfunction.

Those with any modern TM not disconnnecting their TM while charging are taking a risk. You may get away with it, or it may bite you one day - typically when it's most inconvenient. Another risk is that AC supply electrical surge events might go through a charger, frying it along the way to the TM, where it fries that too.

For a number of years, many boats have been built with a special breaker installed for the TM. In addition to being an electrical breaker, it has a lever that allows the user to manually trip it so that it is a defacto ON/OFF switch for the TM. Those are typically available for $30ish. I can look up a link if anyone needs an example.

EVERYTHING else on my boat is wired through a cut-off switch that disconnects both the positive and negative leads to the starting battery. This helps prevent an AC supply surge (lightning strike) from frying a lot of electronics via a connected charger.

When I want to connect the charger, I can isolate the entire electrical system by flipping one breaker, and one cut-off switch. This greatly reduces what may get fried if a serious surge occurs or the charger malfunctions wildly.

Yes, there is some chance of damaging the TM by leaving it connected while charging. Also many TM's will pull a small current just sitting there, so if you unplug your charger, you run the risk drawing down your batteries during storage.

Read my other long post for answers to part of what you ask. I agree that the OFF switch on the TM foot pedal is great for saving people from inadvertent bodily injury, but that is about all it does.

The main power to the TM does not run through that switch on the pedal. The switch on the pedal only disables the ability for the pedal button to make the motor rotate. There is still a main power connection to the TM head where the electronics are located. That can still be fried if you turn off the pedal switch.

This is correct also, especially for the ones with remote control FOBs or other wireless connections.

Bad things can happen. About 10 years ago I had an aluminum boat that I fished Spindletop reservoir with. One night while charging the battery my wife came screaming that the garage was on fire. Lots of horrible smelling smoke and a little fire. I ran out and unplugged the charger and opened the garage. When the smoke cleared I saw that everything electrical had melted. The minnkota motor had gotten so hot that the prop melted a little. The plastic/rubber that the motor sat on had a big "u" in it. I had to replace everything. I could never figure out where the fault occurred. After that I put a circuit breaker disconnect on the battery.

That is exactly why I take the precautions that I do. You were very lucky to be home to keep the damage/loss contained. A $30-$50 breaker or switch seems like a bargain in that it helps insure that type of nightmare doesn't happen.

Interesting info. My Ranger does have a switch in the bilge that cuts power to the trolling motor. Never thought of using it.

have a breaker on mine but never turn it off !
have never had a problem and have never heard of that

i have minn kota charger --maybe its designed to not eat its fellow product ?

The requirement is made by the trolling motor, not the charger. Even with a well designed TM, the charger could go bonkers, exceed max. spec. of the TM, and harm it. So, use the breaker/switch. If you don't believe me, call MK customer support and they will tell you what I'm telling you.

It's cheap insurance compared to what you have invested in your rig.

Seems like the circuit breaker would catch any surge of power that's too high for the trolling motor. I got the Minn Kota circuit breaker 60 amp and its the manual reset one. I'm not sure if it has a manual trip to disconnect it though. It was about 30 bucks. I haven't hooked it up yet. If not I may have to get a switch to cut power off. I'm going to be hard wiring mine in so I cant just unplug mine.

The breakers that are only a breaker have one button to push.

The combo breaker/switch units have two buttons, or a lever that swings between "ON" and "OFF". Post a pic if you want and I can tell you if you are uncertain. I like to use the combo because there are two fewer connections than if you have a switch AND a breaker. There's more to corrode or go wrong with two components when the job can be done with one.

I am an "unplugeverythingeverytime" kinda owner.

I make a living in the 12 volt world and I know, all too well, what happens.

We direct wire trolling motors to eliminate issues at the plug. Never an issue with charging. 50 amp breakers at battery.

This is the one I got from amazon, its a 60 amp breaker, I don't believe this is able to switch off.

http://mk.factoryoutletstore.com/details...logitemid=35330

You are correct. That one can't be switched off manually. You should send it back, or keep as spare. I can get you a link for a better option that should be less money.

Ok thanks man

Here is the Amazon link for a Bussmann Combination Breaker/Disconnect available for $30:
Bussman 60A breaker on Amazon

This breaker has a red button to push to manually disconnect. If the breaker trips or you press the red button, an arm swings out from under the protective hood. Swinging that arm back into position resets the breaker.

Note that this breaker is waterproof, and ignition protected. (Ignition protected means that it will not emit any spark to cause a fire or explosion if the breaker trips in the presence of combustible vapors.)

This breaker is fully adequate for what you need. Bussmann is the parent company for Blue Sea Systems. Bussmann or Blue Sea appears to be the supplier for Minn Kota's branded breakers, btw.

This is what's on my new Skeeter. I also used to never disconnect but had it explained that with the new digital boards it's important. This is on one side at the back of my boat and battery on off switch on the other. I also leave the battery switch off until I'm on the water. This prevents any accidental deployments of the powerpoles while trailering. It's now become a habit to either turn both off or both on.

Breakers are designed to trip based on excessive amperage passing through the breaker. A typical power surge is all about voltage, not amperage. It can be a very high voltage spike happening for mere thousands of a second. The amperage of such spikes can also be very low - a tiny fraction of an amp. This doesn't trip the breaker, and the TM can be fried in less time than it takes for you to blink.

If a charger malfunctions for certain reasons, it may loose regulation of voltage at each battery. Let's say a charger malfunctions and suddenly starts delivering 20V to each battery. At 20V, the charger amps will climb rapidly, blowing the fuse on each battery connection from the charger. On a 36V system, you'd get 60V at or near 0 amps on the TM electronics for just an instant before the charger fuses blow. But, before they do, the TM has already been fried. This is because the 60A breaker doesn't react to voltage - only amperage. If the disconnect is tripped to OFF, all you will need is a new charger. The other way isn't pretty.

Skeeter did it right, and you were very smart to listen to them. That cut-off protects the Power Poles from an "oops" deployment as well as protect them from a power surge or malfunctioning charger.

BTW, I've read of people with a Power Pole FOB in their pants pocket accidentally deploying poles while trailering....owner induced damage, not even a system malfunction.

My Ranger has a TM power cut off in the battery area, I cut off all power when leaving the lake, flip it back on when arrive at lake. I also have a main power cutoff switch that cuts all power to starter battery and all components connected to starter battery, I do the same with it. Better safe than sorry!

Very interesting, thanks for all the help flippin out. I'll be buying that one off Amazon. Makes since about the voltage

I just turn off the motor and charge.