Minn Kota Riptide PowerDrive battery setup

Minn Kota is a trademark of its owner. Amp Hour Supply isn’t affiliated with Minn Kota.

The short answer. The Riptide PowerDrive has no power switch. Plug it into a battery and it’s on, so the breaker is also your off switch, and it’s not optional. 55 lb runs on one 12 V battery with a 60 A breaker; 70 lb runs on 24 V with a 50 A breaker. Lithium is allowed under Minn Kota’s usual words: designed for lead-acid, prolonged speeds over 85% on lithium could cause permanent damage.

The breaker is the switch

From the manual: “When the Power Cables are connected to a battery, the Riptide PowerDrive is ‘on’.” Minn Kota’s answer is a breaker in line that you can flip. So for this motor, buy a breaker you can reach from where you stand, not one buried in the battery box.

Motor Volts Max draw Breaker 5 ft 10 ft 15 ft 20 ft 25 ft
55 lb 12 50 A 60 A, 12 VDC 8 4 2 2 1 AWG
70 lb 24 42 A 50 A, 24 VDC 8 8 6 6 4 AWG

That’s the 2026 manual’s 3% table. Factory leads are 10 AWG. Minn Kota’s 60 A part is the MKR-19; we don’t stock a breaker yet.

Lithium, as Minn Kota puts it

The motor “can run on Lithium-Ion batteries” but is “specifically designed to run on traditional lead-acid batteries”, and running “at speeds higher than 85% for a prolonged period could cause permanent damage to the motor.” Lead-acid size: 105 Ah or more. Lithium size: not given.

Our fit, voltage plus a continuous rating over the max draw:

The 3 A fuse you can’t see

Inside the motor, the bonding wire carries a 3 A fuse. A wrong connection that pushes more than 3 A through it blows the fuse, and radio interference goes up. The manual adds a line worth keeping: “An intact fuse does not imply correct rigging.” In practice: don’t tie the trolling bank’s negative to the crank battery’s negative through a charger or alternator (Minn Kota says that can void the warranty), keep sonar and radios off the trolling bank, and put any accessory negative on the low-side battery only.

Salt care

Every trip: freshwater rinse, then an aqueous silicone spray wipe. Stow it so it drains. The manual asks you to check the prop nut and anode are secure each time you use the motor. Sandpaper on the terminals is for flooded lead-acid; on a lithium pack, rinse, dry and check the lugs are tight.

Run time (worked example)

Same math as the Run time calculator trolling mode: 80% of the amp hours divided by amps, warm day.

  • 55 lb on the 24M100: 1 h 36 min at 50 A, 3 h 12 min at 25 A.
  • 70 lb on the 24VM90: 1 h 43 min at 42 A, 3 h 26 min at 21 A.
  • 70 lb on the 24VM115: 2 h 11 min at 42 A, 4 h 23 min at 21 A.

The 70 pulls fewer amps than the 55 and runs longer on a same-size bank; that’s the 24 V advantage.

Meter and remote

The push-to-test meter on the mount reads one to four lights with the motor off. The remote runs on a CR2450 coin cell, nothing to do with the trolling bank. Series steps for the 70: Trolling motor battery: 12V, 24V or 36V, wired right.

Quick answers

Does the Riptide PowerDrive have an on/off switch? No. It’s on whenever the power cables are connected; Minn Kota says to use an in-line breaker as the switch.

What breaker for a Riptide PowerDrive 70? 50 A, manual reset, rated 24 VDC. The 55 takes 60 A at 12 VDC.

Is lithium OK on a Riptide PowerDrive? Minn Kota says it can run on lithium-ion but is designed for lead-acid; prolonged speeds over 85% could cause permanent damage.

What wire for the 55 at 25 ft? 1 AWG, per the table. Shorten the run if you can.

Sources

Amp Hour Supply

12V power for boats first, then vans and RVs. You can do this.

Questions? Call 831-477-9600

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