1990 Ranger with original 4 wire system and still charge through the bow panel,I'm installing an Ultrex but would like to keep my original system for charging and running trolling motor. Can I just replace the current breaker with a 60amp and be good as long as Ultrex is hooked up to plug same way my motorguide is now???
1990 374V Ranger Still kickin' bass after all these years
A good move to replace the breaker, however the plug and receptacle I am sure are the old ranger style. Big round plug with 4 prongs. I would not trust this setup with the new ultrex and the switch setup. Ultrex is rated for 60 amps and it means everything in the system must be the same rating. Bad things could happen to the Ultrex. If that is the route you want to take with the Ultrex you are asking for trouble.
I would strongly recommend you change the setup on the bow to either a hard wire or a plug and receptacle readed for at least 60 amps. Battery tender makes a real good setup. See the link provided. I also provided a wiring diagram to help.
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...37473853&psc=1
The left is how it should be now. The right is how it needs to be, how ever you should only need use 2 wires to the front of the boat. Tape the other 2 on both ends. The foot switch illustrated does not need to be there. Just connect the negative to the negative of the plug.
Last edited by Bradrodfish; 09-17-2020 at 07:08 AM.
^^Very good advise ^^ Thats what I did to one several years ago. It's a much simpler and better setup for these new motors. Less things to go wrong.
Only exception was I utilized all four wires.. Two for positive and two for negative.. Much less resistance.
if you go to hardwire it ,how can you disconnect trolling motor when you charge I always heard you should disconnect the motor when charging???
Very good advise.Originally Posted by 1sharphook
With a 4 wire system you need two breakers.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
Perfectly fine, but won’t allow charging from the plug unless you get a 24V charger.Al,
Here is the scenario being discussed here where you do not want or need two breakers.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
If you're still running the original charge system and plug(s) on the Ranger, you will need to change the breaker at the batteries to 60A. Originally the Ranger had a black, round 4prong plug. To charge, it had a red plug that that was wired to the charger and no switch for charge run was used. Because originally the Ranger didn't use a switch, you're just plugging a charger into the trolling motor socket with the red plug changing to parallel circuit from the black plugs series circuit. For this reason, as long as you stayed with a 24V motor, yes it will work. When you go to charge and you unplug the trolling motor to replace it with the red plug charger, you are disconnecting the trolling motor from the circuit. Hope this helps, John
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Thank you John, that was what I was looking to hear. Yes I have the original 4 wire system and use the red plug on a charger to charge have been doing this for 20 years. I did swap out the breaker to a 60 amp and should be good to go, thank you again.
I've already discussed with you on the PM's, however for the benefit of others and like Catfan said, you do have to have a breaker on each positive wire going from the battery since both positives serve different purposes. One feeds the trolling motor and the other connects to a black wire going to ground when the plug is plugged in.
John
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