For your fishing hobby or to make your boat run faster than the usual ones, mounting trolling motors are indeed essential.
But wait, installing that doesn’t make the work done. Inside the motor, you’ve to install an extraordinary circuit breaker to slow down the damage by overload or short circuit.
If you want to prolong the life of a trolling motor a 50 amp (mostly) circuit breaker is essential. In this write-up, we’ll be talking about how to install 50 amp circuit breaker for trolling motor, their importance, and some additional tips so you can use the machine for a longer time.
Shall we begin the work then?
Types of Circuit Breakers
Well, they’re different types of circuit breakers in line with the capacity of your trolling motor. For example, if 50 amp current is drawn by the gadget, then you’ve to install a 50 amp circuit breaker for trolling motors.
Not only that, there’re also some astonishing factors you’ve to remember while buying a circuit breaker. They include,
- Model or thrust of your trolling motor
- Maximum amp draw for the motor
- Capacity of VDC
- Wire extension length
Types of 50 Amp Circuit Breaker for Trolling Motor
You may already know there’re multiple types of 50 amp circuit breakers out there in the market. We’ll be talking about those kinds below for more clarification,
If your trolling motor is of 30, 40, and 45lb, then go for a 12VDC one. The maximum amp draw here is 30 amp and 42 amp, and this will work great.
For 42 Amp of ampere draw, this circuit breaker will work fine as it can be used for your 70lb motor.
This one can be used if the trolling motor is 101lb. You can use the maximum amperage draw of 46 Amp here.
The ampere draws for this breaker will be 40amp. You can easily use this one for an E-Drive Motor.
Standard Instructions for Circuit Breaker
The above circuit breakers will offer adequate protection to your trolling motor but you’ve to maintain some instructions for that like,
- Temperature of the breaker shouldn’t cross 105 degree
- The conductor should be insulated
- You can use a maximum of 2 conductors
- No more than a 5% volt drop should happen when the motor is at full power operation
How to Install 50 Amp Circuit Breaker for Trolling Motor
This work can be done by a marine technician professionally, but if you’re up to doing the task on your own, you can do that for sure. The process can be pretty easy and less time-consuming; just follow our instructions carefully!
- A suitable point is very needed to install your 50 amp circuit breaker. Mounting the breaker in your boat will be effective if you take some time and put it in the right area. Choose the area that’s close to the motors battery section!
- The base of the breaker has 2 holes in it. You’ve to use them in the mounting session.
- Main part of the installation is here. The circuit breaker that you purchased will have 2 terminals, and they’re AUX and BAT. One of them will be connected to the motor, and the other will be attached to the battery.
- Fix the positive power cable with the AUX terminal on your trolling motor
- And the BAT labeled terminal will be connected to the battery post located at the positive end of the motor.
Bravo! Your installation process is done!
How to Buy a Circuit Breaker Without A Failure
Some extra tips about gadgets are always great. That’s why here we tried to give you that bonus to get the best 50 amp circuit breaker for your trolling motor without any trouble.
- A manual circuit breaker is always recommended. Get a trip-free one that can be reset anytime you want.
- Carefully choose one that has sufficient amp interrupting capacity like Linkstyle 50 Amp Circuit Breaker. It has great functionality with an easy installation process.
- Make sure you check your circuit breaker’s ignition protection. A small test will check if the current is 4times more than the breaker’s current rating.
- After any electrical fault or short circuit, your breaker should still be operable.
- Always cover the positive terminals of the battery with a protective shield or electrical tape to avoid any kind of short circuit. It’ll make sure no stray wiring, metal objects or other things are damaged if there’s any fault.
- You can use a fuse instead of a circuit breaker also. This ensures the increase of your circuit breakers’ amps interrupting capacity.
- Try to use a circuit breaker for all the wire connections in the boat.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s highly recommended for your trolling motor to have a circuit breaker. This reduces the short circuit problems and increases the longevity of your motor. You can try to use a 50 amp circuit breaker for your motor, depending on the ampere capacity.
Well, most of the motors can be used with around 8 gauge wire. But if you want a long wire you must lower the wire gauge and it should be thicker in size.
The average lifespan of a trolling motor is around 4-5 years. But if you want to increase it, you may try to install a circuit breaker. At that rate, some breakers may last for 10years too.
You may select your circuit breaker by observing nominal voltage, rated maximum voltage, continuous current rating, short circuit rated current at maximal voltage, voltage range factor, and operating time. These things will make sure the breaker you’re buying is excellent.
Yes, of course, you can use a fuse instead of a circuit breaker. For the size, the maximum amp capacity of your troller should be lower than the fuse amp size. For example, if the motor has a capacity of 38 amps, then go for a fuse that has at least 50- or 40- amp fuse.
The Bottom Line
That’s it then. We tried to give you the instructions about how to install 50amp circuit breaker for trolling motor thus you can explore the experience more. A proper circuit breaker will definitely help to expand the work efficiency of the trolling motor more and you’ll be able to work with it for years.
However, try to follow safety guidelines before you start the work and try to purchase one with the maximum quality features we’ve mentioned earlier.
Good luck with the installation process. We believe you can do it on your own!
