Lowes SS210 elec. problem

[bugzy_1]

My buddy has a 2013 Lowes SS210 pontoon. After changing the battery he now has a partial and intermittent power failure at the console. (does not effect motor)
Checked all the connections and visible wiring. Lights and radio off and on. Horn seams to shut down other inst. Gas gauge failed.
Could it be a short under the hull where the wires are not visible?
​Thanks for lookin.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Who changed the battery, your friend or a pro? The appearance of this behavior right after he changed his battery combined with the year of the boat (2013 practically barnd new) makes me think that the possibility of a short under the dash is slim. Check the battery installation again for loose connections

 

[Silvertip]

Lowes is a Home Improvement store. Lowe (no S) is a boat. Sorry -- couldn't resist. But yes -- there should be a pair of large cables (red and black) that go tot he engine from the battery. There is also at least one pair of smaller wires from the battery that feeds power to the console and other accessories. I suspect it is that pair of wires that is not making good contact either at the console or the battery. Instruments are powered from the engine electrical harness so the gas gauge is a separate issue.

 

[lmuss53]

Be sure to check the condition of the terminals on the accessory harness too. I've seen corrosion even in new boats infiltrate these connectors and cause issues. Check the wires on top of the tank that power the gauge, it might have gotten "bumped" during the battery install.

 

[bugzy_1]

We have pretty much been through the"duh" list, Tight connections, clean terminals, fuses, no visible wire damage, red to + blk to -,ect..
on the Lowe (pardon me) 210. We are going to try checking for shorts in the wires we can't see.

 

[Silvertip]

Shorts blow fuses. If there was a short the problem would not be intermittent. Since the problem is limited to the console, the problem is in the feed to the console. One accessory causing another to shut down says poor connection. You need to break out the voltmeter.

 

[lmuss53]

The issue is in the red or black wires running from the battery to the console. Since it started when you changed the battery I would start there, at the battery. I would change both of those terminals right now, quick, cheap and easy. If the problem goes away you are done and who cares where it came from. If changing those doesn't fix it I would go to the other end of each of those wires and change that terminal. The red one will probably be going to some kind of distribution buss, the black to a ground buss. You are either not getting adequate current to the hot buss or it is not getting to ground adequately through the negative buss. MY bet is one of those changes will fix your issue.

Last week I had an issue with a battery charger, that seemed to intermittently lose contact with the battery. The terminals were all clean shiny and tight looking. If you wiggled the hot clamp it would connect for a minute but then lose the connection I cut the red clamp off, stripped the wire and crimped it in the other side of the same clamp, and that fixed it. Even though they looked fine the issue was in the hot wire terminal, cutting it off and recrimping it on the other side of the clamp fixed it.