New to me boat - radio not working

[lfunk11]

So the radio isn't working in the boat I bought. I was aware of this when I bought the boat since it wasn't going to be a major issue even if I had to replace the radio. Well, the boat is at the marina and I have tried to find a fuse, but can't find one for the head unit. The amp has a fuse, but its fine. The amp does not turn on though.

I assume there is a fuse somewhere - right? I think I need to get the head unit on before I worrry about the amp? My plan this weekend is to check the power/ignition wires with a voltmeter for power. If I have power then I assume I need a new head unit. If no power then I need to find this fuse that has to be hiding somewhere.

The ground/power/ignition wires route through the main wiring bundle. Would there be a fuseblock somewhere else that I should look for. I only looked under the helm.

I used to mess with car audio when I was a teenager, but that was 20 years ago! Can't imagine things have changed that much.

 

[SB Ridge]

Re: New to me boat - radio not working

Ifunk11, I am not sure about the fuse issue.. If you have a Tone Generator and a tonner wand you can trace the wires from beginning to end. This way if you have a break in the wire you will know as the tone will stop. I used this to help me trace out a recent wiring issue when I was unsure about a direction of a wire.

SB Ridge

 

[Silvertip]

Re: New to me boat - radio not working

Look at the switches carefully. Do you see a round button next to each switch or perhaps below it. If so, those are circuit breakers and you would not have a fuse panel. Since you have the radio wired into other circuits, does everything electrical on the boat actually work? Your accessories should NOT be wired into the engine ignition switch and associated wiring. That engine-to-helm harness powers the ignition and the instruments only and is not intended to power a fuse panel and all of the associated accessories. Check back at the battery. You should find a red and black pair of smaller gauge wires (#8 or 10 gauge). That is the BOAT harness which powers accessories. There should be a fuse or circuit breaker within 6 inches to a foot of the positive battery terminal. It the wiring on your boat has been obviously mucked with, all bets are off. No way for us to see what you have unless you post pictures or at least a detailed description of how things are wired.

 

[lfunk11]

Re: New to me boat - radio not working

Look at the switches carefully. Do you see a round button next to each switch or perhaps below it. If so, those are circuit breakers and you would not have a fuse panel. Since you have the radio wired into other circuits, does everything electrical on the boat actually work? Your accessories should NOT be wired into the engine ignition switch and associated wiring. That engine-to-helm harness powers the ignition and the instruments only and is not intended to power a fuse panel and all of the associated accessories. Check back at the battery. You should find a red and black pair of smaller gauge wires (#8 or 10 gauge). That is the BOAT harness which powers accessories. There should be a fuse or circuit breaker within 6 inches to a foot of the positive battery terminal. It the wiring on your boat has been obviously mucked with, all bets are off. No way for us to see what you have unless you post pictures or at least a detailed description of how things are wired.

Everything works except for the tachometer and the radio. I think the wiring has likely been messed with, but not sure yet. I will post pictures once I get the boat out of the water and back to my house in a few weeks. I don't want to mess with things while at the marina in case I screw something up! The radio wires go into a bundle of wires and from there I am not sure how they are hooked up. They might have used the original radio wires that were on the boat. I know the speaker wires are new since they come from the amp that didn't come with the boat.

 

[lfunk11]

Re: New to me boat - radio not working

So the head unit was bad. Put a new one in and its working. I need one new set of RCA cables back to the amp though since only two of the speakers are working. If I switch the RCA cables I can get the other speakers to work so I know its the RCA cable

I wired the acc wire into one of the empty spots of the fuse panel, but I have to manually turn the radio off - it will not turn off with any of the ACC switches or key. Is there a good way to know what spot on the fuse panel to use that would be operated by one of the ACC switches? A better place to wire the "turn on" wire from the head unit?

Also there is little to no reception - I plugged the antenna cord into what I think is the antenna cord of the boat, but the radio will only pick one station up and it barely picks it up. If I hook up my ipad through bluetooth the stereo sounds awesome.

 

[NYBo]

Re: New to me boat - radio not working

If you want to use the accessory switch to control power, you wire the positive to the switch, not the fuse panel. Be aware that you may also have to use the switch on the head unit to turn it on after restoring power via the accessory switch. It depends on the head unit.

 

[lfunk11]

Re: New to me boat - radio not working

If you want to use the accessory switch to control power, you wire the positive to the switch, not the fuse panel. Be aware that you may also have to use the switch on the head unit to turn it on after restoring power via the accessory switch. It depends on the head unit.

thanks - its been a while since I messed around with car radios - first time in a boat