White stuff on shaft of trolling motor

[txdyna65]

I bought a spare prop for my Minn Kota 24v so I took the old prop off to test fit the new. When I got it off, the shaft and nut and thread had white powdery stuff on it. Ive never seen this before
and thought Id ask what it might be. There was also a strange white dot on the head of the lower unit as well that seemed to have the same thing.
Ive had my boat about 3 weeks now and have had it out 6 times, all at the same lake.

[Bradrodfish]

This is electrolysis. Check to see if it is anywhere else on the boat. Motor, Jack plate are the most obvious. If you have a Jump start switch(Peko) Make sure that the switch is in the position where it is disconnected from the troll motor battery. Also the negative jumper wire from the cranking battery should be connected to the last battery called the negative battery and not the 1st battery or positive battery of the the 2 or 3 battery system. See the schematic.

[txdyna65]

Thanks Bradrodfish I also notice it on the jackplate and near the anode on the motor. I also have the 3 bank charger wired into this with the perko switch and a Merc Motor if some of that makes a difference.

[Jonestrollingmotor]

follow the diagram. With it being a Ranger, I'm guessing the Perko (if it is the jump switch) is wired wrong.

[txdyna65]

Thanks for the help, I will look at it when I get home from work

[Lou r Pitcher]

See the schematic.

follow the diagram

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX IMPORTANT NOTE to OP XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

txdynna65:

The drawing and description broderfish has provided actually results in the electrolysis.. ......you should not be using it. Black wire of the cranking battery in his drawing is incorrectly connected to battery #2....should be instead connected to negative terminal of battery #1 and will be sharing the black wire to the trolling motor.

[txdyna65]

Does this look correct?

[Lou r Pitcher]

Your revised drawing correctly shows the needed (black)negative wire connections.

However, the input (RED) to switch position # 2 should not connect from battery #2 , It too should be moved over to be coming from Battery #1's positive terminal. Hence 12volts of battery # 1 can crank the engine when the switch is placed in position #2

The drawing's description also should be revised to refer to Trolling Battery #1 rather using Trolling battery # 2 as being used for emergency cranking the outboard.

[txdyna65]

I believe I understand what you are saying, I took a picture, not sure if you can tell from it if its wired right or not

[Lou r Pitcher]

Sorry but can't fully confirm not seeing all the connections.


A couple of additional very minor personal preference comments......

like to see battery wiring on flood lead acid batteries positioned and dressed so that the wiring never runs across the battery caps. There the wiring can be in the way of removing caps and checking electrolyte levels and the copper is exposed directly to any escaping acidic gasses from a charging cell.

and also like to see any exposed positive terminals covered with a protector to prevent accidental shorts from a dropped tool or another wire being added or removed.

[txdyna65]

I didnt figure you would be able to tell anything from the pic. Like I said previously this is a new boat and this is how it came wired to me. I will trace all the wiring and see if I can figure out what is going to what today and cleanup the area.
I also redid the other pic, see if this is the correct way if you dont mind, and I do appreciate your help.

[Bradrodfish]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX IMPORTANT NOTE to OP XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

txdynna65:

The drawing and description broderfish has provided actually results in the electrolysis.. ......you should not be using it. Black wire of the cranking battery in his drawing is incorrectly connected to battery #2....should be instead connected to negative terminal of battery #1 and will be sharing the black wire to the trolling motor.

[Lou r Pitcher]

I didnt figure you would be able to tell anything from the pic. Like I said previously this is a new boat and this is how it came wired to me. I will trace all the wiring and see if I can figure out what is going to what today and cleanup the area.
I also redid the other pic, see if this is the correct way if you dont mind, and I do appreciate your help.

Yes, nice job on the drawing.

Now the negative connected skeg of the outboard is at the same ground as the negative of the trollling motor and so no electrolysis currents will be flowing through the water when the trolling motor is deployed.

[Jonestrollingmotor]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX IMPORTANT NOTE to OP XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

txdynna65:

The drawing and description broderfish has provided actually results in the electrolysis.. ......you should not be using it. Black wire of the cranking battery in his drawing is incorrectly connected to battery #2....should be instead connected to negative terminal of battery #1 and will be sharing the black wire to the trolling motor.

good catch, I skimmed the drawing guess I should have taken more time to read it.
John

[txdyna65]

I found this on the inside of my back hatch and took a picture. I traced all the wires and it is indeed hooked up like the picture below. To me it doesnt match the other picture I posted above though.

[txdyna65]

Well I cant figure out how to edit the above post. After looking at it more carefully, it doesnt match either diagram posted. And to me the diagrams are different

[ncredbear]

Looks to me like the diagram you found in your back hatch does match the previous diagram that you edited except that what the hatch diagram calls troll battery 2 the previous diagram calls trolling motor battery 1.

Switch B1 or #1 goes to Cranking Battery + (pos)

Switch B2 or #2 goes to + (pos) of the trolling motor battery that has the - (neg) wire going to the trolling motor

Jumper wire between Cranking Battery - (neg) and the trolling motor battery - (neg) where the - (neg) wire to the trolling motor is hooked up


Then to finish out trolling motor connections the + (pos) wire from the trolling motor is hooked to the + (pos) of the other trolling motor battery

A jumper is attached to the trolling motor battery + (pos) where the wire from the switch is connected and the other end goes to the - (neg) of the other trolling motor battery.

[Lou r Pitcher]

Well I cant figure out how to edit the above post. After looking at it more carefully, it doesnt match either diagram posted. And to me the diagrams are different

Other than battery labeled names, where are diagrams different?

[txdyna65]

I agree with you guys, they were just labeled different and looking at this so many times I was confused lol.
Sooo if both diagrams are correct, the batteries are hooked up wrong, the only thing I can see hooked up right is the battery charger to both batteries.
I think what I will do is label each wire for where it comes from, label each battery 1 and 2 and just hook it up like the Ranger diagram shows since its right in front of my face. Funny how I never noticed it before yesterday.
Does this sound like the thing to do, because it certainly isnt hooked up right.

[Lou r Pitcher]

Do note that two wires appear to need to be identified and be moved........Both wires must be first disconnected, before either is reconnected