Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

[striperboat]

I lost almost all electrical power except for ignition, gauges, and trim/tilt. What could this be? i checked all fuses and lose connections and everything seems to be fine. Radio, fishfinder, all rocker switches don't work? Initially only my navigation rocker did not work, so i went ahead to disconnect one of the terminal connection on the fuse box to check for corrosion. when i pulled, the wire it broke off. No big deal i thought, stripped new wire and crimped it back together. However, now none of the rocker switches and accessories work. what could have happened?

 

[alldodge]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

:welcome: to iboats

Look for a loose ground. Start at the battery and work forward. What does your fuse panel (block) look like?

 

[striperboat]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

 

[alldodge]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

View attachment 215874

I'm guessing all your fuses are in good shape, and with that need to start tracing circuits. Most the time with that many items going off it's on the ground side.

By the way, what type and year is the boat

 

[striperboat]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

its a 1995 seaswirl striper. could the fuse block have gone bad?

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

you have 2 electrical systems on a boat. The first is the motor system which includes gauges and tilt/trim so that explains why they are working. The other normally has a breaker real close to the battery which is the main feed to the fuse block. If all power is lost then its normally the breaker has tripped, or the main positive cable or main negative cable has a problem. As you had a wire come loose that may have arced check near the battery first for a breaker.

 

[alldodge]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

its a 1995 seaswirl striper. could the fuse block have gone bad?

I don't see your fuse block going bad, but it could have some corrosion causing the issues. You took one wire and it came apart in your had, this could also happen with the other connections. Looks like your main engine connections are working but this is dealing with accessories. Grab each wire and pull off and back on the fuse block. Remove the screws hold the block and turn it over to see if there is any corrosion under it. If you have a separate ground going back to the battery for accessories inspect it. Most the time accessories are added later by many which did not make sure to protect against corrosion.

 

[striperboat]

Re: Lost most of my electrical power on my boat?

thanks for your help. i found the inline fuse that was bad in the battery compartment. that fixed my problem with the rocker switches. however, the navigation rocker which was the original problem i had was still not working. turned out that the wiring going to the navigation rocker was causing a short and blowing the fuse and the inline fuse. my mechanic was able to fix all that. i would have never figured that out. I did learn a great deal and now know what to look for. THANKS for your tips.