I'd appreciate some assistance. I'm a novice, though not totally inexperienced, regarding electrical matters. I have done some small wiring jobs around my home (installing bathroom fans, moving outlets, etc.) and have a bit of understanding about limited things like wire gauges, circuits, etc.
I purchased an 18 foot center console (Winner 1850CC) last fall, my first "real" boat. The boat is 21 years old and has a 21 year old 140 hp Evinrude. I have doing some work on the boat to make it my own (replaced the gas line from the tank to the filter and moved the primer bulb to the line between the filter and the engine); redid some of the teak and replaced the shelf that holds the battery.
I am also working on the console and part of the project is to move the gauges (I have four - Tach, fuel, trim and voltage) from behind the wheel to up on top of the console. As part of this project I had to remove the gauges and there I had to unbundle the wires from their zip ties, detach them from the gauges, etc. (YES, I did disconnect the Battery completely before doing any electrical work!)
So here's the deal - as you can imagine the wiring inside the console looks like some strange permutation of spaghetti, yarn and unravelled baseballs all in one. OK, so it's not all that bad but it is confusing. There appears to be lots of extra wire (both in length and in ends that connect to nothing) and nothing is really labled.
To start with the simplest questions first: when I had the boat out last fall I often would notice the voltage gauage reading odd. By that I mean sometimes it would be showing a constant reading (let's say 12 volts) and then it would be zero, then back to 12. My GPS would turn off and then re-start. I checked the battery and the wing nut that holds the positive and negative wires (two sets each) to the screw posts were loose so I would tighten them and things would return to normal. The two sets of wires - one thick (probably 4 gauge?) leads to the engine and I presume runs the started and then takes back the charge when the engine is running. The other set (really thin 12, maybe 14 gauge?) I presume runs to the bus/fuse bar in the console and powers the rest of the boat. Both sets have ring type connectors. The large wire set fit perfectly but the small wire set seem to be too big. Questions: 1- What gauge should the wires conducting power to the console be? I was thinking they should be 10 gauge or so. (I run a VHF, GPS, lighted compass, the 4 gauges, running lights [red/green bowlight and single white stern], an AM/FM radio, bilge pump and courtesy lights off this power source). Does using a heavier gauge (say 10 vs. 12) provide a benefit? 1A - The screw terminals of my battery appear to be 5/16 of an inch in diameter. From what i have read i assumed they would be 3/8. Do i have an odd battery? At a minimum I want to replace the connectors at the battery so that they provide a tighter fit (better contact) with the screw post. 2- in the tangle under the console it appears that different things run through fuses in different areas. I have toggle switches for "Main Power", the bilge, the running lights and the courtesy lights. All appear to have fuses (glass cylinder with metal ends) beneath them. There is also a strip mounted inside the console that has fuses and many other wires run through this, and some seem to contact both! Does it make sense that power to one item (say the running lights) would be fused twice? (By the way there is an inline fuse connector in the red wire about 6 inches from the battery terminal.) Or that power to the fuel gauge would come from the main switch to the bar and then to the sender and/or gauge? Is there a simpler way to arrange this?
Next level, many things that i would not expect seem to be linked to each other. For example, when i removed the gauges there was a purple wire that ran from the tach to the fuel gauge and then to the throttle. 3 - Does this arrangement/set of connections make sense?
Some of the wiring includes snap together connections. For instance, the three wires leading off the fuel gauge all lead into a plastic coupling that snaps together with its counter part. problem is, the wires from the gauge are short (6-8") and the wire from the throttle to that side of the connector is also short (a foot or so). Since I am moving the gauges about 18-20" from their previous position I don't have enough slack to re-connect the coupler. I have looked around the internet and West Marine, an auto parts store and Home Depot and can not find anything that resembles these couplers. I have to resort to butting in new lengths of wire (on either side) to the reach the new guage position but it appears like that is my one option.
Am I better off just replacing the whole shootin' match? I have seen these wiring harness packages online and the idea is appealing, to start from scratch and label everything, make it all neat a pretty. But none of these packages mention gauges or gauge connections so I'm not sure that would solve all my problems.
So there's the start of my quest for information. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can email or post pics of the things I'm questioning if that would be helpful.
RJ
I purchased an 18 foot center console (Winner 1850CC) last fall, my first "real" boat. The boat is 21 years old and has a 21 year old 140 hp Evinrude. I have doing some work on the boat to make it my own (replaced the gas line from the tank to the filter and moved the primer bulb to the line between the filter and the engine); redid some of the teak and replaced the shelf that holds the battery.
I am also working on the console and part of the project is to move the gauges (I have four - Tach, fuel, trim and voltage) from behind the wheel to up on top of the console. As part of this project I had to remove the gauges and there I had to unbundle the wires from their zip ties, detach them from the gauges, etc. (YES, I did disconnect the Battery completely before doing any electrical work!)
So here's the deal - as you can imagine the wiring inside the console looks like some strange permutation of spaghetti, yarn and unravelled baseballs all in one. OK, so it's not all that bad but it is confusing. There appears to be lots of extra wire (both in length and in ends that connect to nothing) and nothing is really labled.
To start with the simplest questions first: when I had the boat out last fall I often would notice the voltage gauage reading odd. By that I mean sometimes it would be showing a constant reading (let's say 12 volts) and then it would be zero, then back to 12. My GPS would turn off and then re-start. I checked the battery and the wing nut that holds the positive and negative wires (two sets each) to the screw posts were loose so I would tighten them and things would return to normal. The two sets of wires - one thick (probably 4 gauge?) leads to the engine and I presume runs the started and then takes back the charge when the engine is running. The other set (really thin 12, maybe 14 gauge?) I presume runs to the bus/fuse bar in the console and powers the rest of the boat. Both sets have ring type connectors. The large wire set fit perfectly but the small wire set seem to be too big. Questions: 1- What gauge should the wires conducting power to the console be? I was thinking they should be 10 gauge or so. (I run a VHF, GPS, lighted compass, the 4 gauges, running lights [red/green bowlight and single white stern], an AM/FM radio, bilge pump and courtesy lights off this power source). Does using a heavier gauge (say 10 vs. 12) provide a benefit? 1A - The screw terminals of my battery appear to be 5/16 of an inch in diameter. From what i have read i assumed they would be 3/8. Do i have an odd battery? At a minimum I want to replace the connectors at the battery so that they provide a tighter fit (better contact) with the screw post. 2- in the tangle under the console it appears that different things run through fuses in different areas. I have toggle switches for "Main Power", the bilge, the running lights and the courtesy lights. All appear to have fuses (glass cylinder with metal ends) beneath them. There is also a strip mounted inside the console that has fuses and many other wires run through this, and some seem to contact both! Does it make sense that power to one item (say the running lights) would be fused twice? (By the way there is an inline fuse connector in the red wire about 6 inches from the battery terminal.) Or that power to the fuel gauge would come from the main switch to the bar and then to the sender and/or gauge? Is there a simpler way to arrange this?
Next level, many things that i would not expect seem to be linked to each other. For example, when i removed the gauges there was a purple wire that ran from the tach to the fuel gauge and then to the throttle. 3 - Does this arrangement/set of connections make sense?
Some of the wiring includes snap together connections. For instance, the three wires leading off the fuel gauge all lead into a plastic coupling that snaps together with its counter part. problem is, the wires from the gauge are short (6-8") and the wire from the throttle to that side of the connector is also short (a foot or so). Since I am moving the gauges about 18-20" from their previous position I don't have enough slack to re-connect the coupler. I have looked around the internet and West Marine, an auto parts store and Home Depot and can not find anything that resembles these couplers. I have to resort to butting in new lengths of wire (on either side) to the reach the new guage position but it appears like that is my one option.
Am I better off just replacing the whole shootin' match? I have seen these wiring harness packages online and the idea is appealing, to start from scratch and label everything, make it all neat a pretty. But none of these packages mention gauges or gauge connections so I'm not sure that would solve all my problems.
So there's the start of my quest for information. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can email or post pics of the things I'm questioning if that would be helpful.
RJ
