1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

[hudson20227]

I am in the process of referbishing a 1986 23' Proline with a 1998 Johnson O.R. 225. I have all of the cosmetic work complete Now I am starting the rewireing portion. The batteries were in a storage box at the stern Which left things unbalanced and a pain to get to. I have mounted the two batteries in the console along with a Motorguide two bank charger. I have a couple of questions to start things off. First Should I install a battery switch? and second It seems to be a good 15' run from the stern to the center console would I be beter off to just buy a cranking battery and leave it in the stern or should I just stick with the initial plan and run the long cables back to the motor?

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

Well I decided to go with the Blue Seas Switch, and leave the batteries in the center console. The wiring is a mess! I signed up for the sealoc catalog to give me a little helping hand... No such luck I dont believe the existing harness with the key switch is the correct one, the wire colors do not match. I am forced to bring in a professional to take a look at it. I am still leaning twords just buying a starting battery and leaving it in the back. But 3 batteries I feel may be a little overkill.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

Why three batteries? What high current draw accessories do you have? Batteries don't need to be readily accessible. Nice if they are but they don't need that much attention if properly charged.

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

I dont really want or need 3 batteries. I really was just worried about running the long battery cables to the center console. Proline is known for justifying the console forward moreso in the center and its a good 15 foot run. I relocated the two batteries because I didnt have room for them in the stern compartment because of washdown hose and feul filter. They were placed in a storage compartment in the corner of the stern and really threw the weight off. and also I felt it would help keep the bow down. Anyway so thats why the third battery is being considered I could fit a cranking battery in the stern compartment roughly centered... as far as power draw I have the std. and really dont need the third battery. It would just cost less than 30 ft. of #1 and the weight difference wouldnt be much different.

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

Just an update... I am sticking with the two batteries bank setup installing the switch in the console and just running the two cables from the motor all the way up to the console. I was just a little torn...$240.00 worth of marine wire or $100.00 for a cranking battery.

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

ok here is the deal... I wired the two battery bank system with a switch. I ran the hot from the motor to the comon, and the ground to the neg. on the cranking battery. I connected the two neg. posts of the bateries together and wired bat. 1 (house) to the pos. of...well bat. one, I rand bat 2 & 1 which is labeled as bat. 2 on the blue ocean switch to... well the pos. post on bat two (the cranking bat.) I also wired the Pos. wire from the fuse block (blue ocean) to the neg. post on bat. 1 and the bat. one (pos.) on the switch. what is happening is even with the switch in the off position the acc. still comes on, and even with the switch in the off pos. I still hear a click... aseries of clicke going to the motor...... HELP.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

ok here is the deal... I wired the two battery bank system with a switch. I ran the hot from the motor to the comon, and the ground to the neg. on the cranking battery. I connected the two neg. posts of the bateries together and wired bat. 1 (house) to the pos. of...well bat. one, I rand bat 2 & 1 which is labeled as bat. 2 on the blue ocean switch to... well the pos. post on bat two (the cranking bat.) I also wired the Pos. wire from the fuse block (blue ocean) to the neg. post on bat. 1 and the bat. one (pos.) on the switch. what is happening is even with the switch in the off position the acc. still comes on, and even with the switch in the off pos. I still hear a click... aseries of clicke going to the motor...... HELP.

Read what you wrote. Did you not say you wired the positive terminal of the fuse panel to the negative terminal of BAT 1??????? Postive terminals do not get wired to negative terminals. Every positive feed in your foat should come from the COM terminal on the switch. BAT 1 POS to BAT 1 on the switch. BAT 2 POS to BAT 2 on the switch. BAT 1 and 2 grounds connected together, then to the engine block. The clicking you hear is likely a circuit breaker. If you used the SEARCH feature for DUAL BATTERY SWITCH you would have found this diagram about a hundred times. The only thiing not shown is the positive feed to the fuse pane which connects to the COM terminall. The NEGATIVE buss gets wired back to either the engine block or either of the negative terminals on the battery.

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

Sorry silvertip I typed that after cocktail time... I have it wired exactly like the diagram you have posted above in addition the Pos wire from the fuse block is connected to the switch (Battery 1). I have my bilge wired to the fuse block and the ground bar and even when the battery switch is in the off position the bilge still comes on and the motor makes a clicking noise when I turn the key. Could it be the ground wire failing? I ended up using the old ground because I ran out of new cable. The luggs were pretty bad but I sanded them to bare metal.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

The POSITIVE wire from the fuse4 block goes to the COM terminal on the switch --- NOT BAT 1 or BAT 2. Since the fuse bolck as you have is wired to BAT 1, even with the switch off, power is still fed to the fuse block. The switch is a traffic cop for current flow. If you had wired it to the COM terminal as directed, with the switch OFF there is no way power can get to the fuse block. Since you elected to wire it directly to BAT 1 on the switch, that alone means the fuse block is directly wired to the battery so why bother with the switch as it is doing nothing for you. Regarding the clicking, I would assume the noise you hear is the starter solenoid. I have no idea what "original ground" means. Every cable going to BAT 1 and BAT 2 POS and NEG terminals, as well as the POS cable going from the COM terminal to the starter solenoid needs to be the same battery cable size. Connections need to be clean and tight.

Here is how the switch is "intended" to work (although people tend to way overthink this thing and in the process screw up its real capability:

OFF:
All circuits wired to the COM terminal are dead. If you wire anything to BAT 1 or BAT 2 terminals, those device will not be affected in any way with the switch OFF. Only an automatic bilge pump for example would be wired directly to a battery.

BAT #1:
Starts the engine, charges BAT #1 only, and runs everything connected to the COM terminal. BAT #2 is out of the loop.

BAT #2:
Same function as BAT #1 but uses BAT #2 only. BAT #1 is out of the loop.

BOTH:
Self explanatory. Both batteries are on-line so both start the engine, both are chartged, and both power anything connected to the COM terminal.

For most boaters, except those with high power audio amps, the switch can be set to BOTH and left there whether anchored or not. If you are anchored for many hours then it would be best to switch to BAT #2. When ready to leave, chances are thet battery will still start the engine so you don't have to switch to anything else. BAT #2 needs the charge so leave the switch on BAT #2. If and only if the engine doesn't start would you switch to BOTH or BAT #1. When the engine starts, switch back to BAT #2 as it is the most deeply discharged.

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

Thats the plan... seems to be properly wired and working fine... I do have an isue I cant seem to figure out. After I connected the batteries, fuse block, and Ignition switch. I ready to turn her over and the only way I could get her started was to throttle a little. After the warm up it would start fine. I ran it for about 10 to 15 min. shutting it down and restarting from time to time at this point it was just starting right up. Sounded Great. So the next day I was bragging to one of my buddies about how it sat up for about 7 months and started right up with no problems, and I went to demonstraight... Turned the batteries on and turned the key....nothing... trim didnt even work. wiggled the key around a little looked at my connections and it started getting power again... Turned it off and no power... Now what little experience I have in this tells me; A: there is a short, B: the key switch is bad. So As old as the key switch is I replaced it made sure all of my connections were tight, and.... Nothing... I know there is probably little advice you could provide seeing that The wires on the harness do not seem to be the proper color code for whatever reason therefore a picture would not help you see the wiring. But this is the thing. I did reuse two battery cables that were pretty badly corroded, I sanded the luggs to bare metal but they should be fine. I also used a lead connection on one end of the neg. cable that just clamps around the post. Dont know what the issue could be... I will tinker with it this afternoon...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

SHORTS blow fuses so that's not the issue. Bad connections are. Corroded cables have no business on the boat. As you found out, replacing parts "hoping" that's the issue is not the way to troubleshoot. Wiggling the shifter would have done more good than replacing the switch sinice the neutral start switch is in the control box. Cold starts require choking/priming the engine. Cold engines typically require some fast idle at startup.

 

[hudson20227]

Re: 1986 Proline 23 C.C. Rewire Project

It was a grounding issue.... Its turning over fine now... still wont start. May not have the electric choke properly wired.