How to Check for 24 Volts on a Two Wire Trolling Motor

Open the battery compartment door on your trolling vessel. This provides access to the two 12 volt batteries that are wired together in series to produce 24 volts.

Look at the battery wiring. You see one cable connected to the ̶0;-̶1; (negative) terminal of one battery and the opposite end connected to the ̶0;+̶0; (positive) terminal of the second battery. Another battery cable, usually colored red, is connected to the remaining ̶0;+̶1; on the first battery; the opposite end connects to the ̶0;+̶1; terminal on your trolling motor. A third battery cable, usually colored black, is connected to the remaining ̶0;-̶0; terminal on the second battery; the opposite end connects to the ̶0;-̶0; terminal on the trolling motor.

Turn on the multimeter. Select ̶0;V̶1; or ̶0;Volts̶1; by turning the front dial knob or pressing the appropriate button.

Connect the alligator clip on the end of the black wire from the meter onto the ̶0;-̶0; terminal of the battery with the black cable that goes to the trolling motor. Connect the alligator clip on the end of the red wire from the meter onto the ̶0;+̶1; terminal of the battery with the red cable that goes to the trolling motor.

Read the meter display panel. It should read about 25 volts, if your two, 12 volt batteries are fully charged; it̵7;s always slightly higher than the 24 volt rating to allow for resistance in the cables. If the meter reads less than 25 volts, but more than 24 volts, then your batteries are about 75 percent charged. However, if the reading is less than 24 volts, you need to consider charging your batteries, then retesting them to make sure they're holding a charge. Allow a few hours after charging before retesting as this allows the battery to self discharge, if there̵7;s something wrong with it.