Quicksilver controls

[Puddy905]

Hi everyone,
I have a 1986 Mariner 75hp and a 1982 Merc 115hp both with Quicksilver controls. The controls on the merc have a trailer button (to control upper tilt I imagine) but the mariner controls do not. The mariner controls have a third wiring harness which comes out the bottom and goes to my dash. Are these controls interchangeable? Will the tilt go all the way up on the merc if I use the controls without the trailer button? What is that third harness for? (I'm guessing it's like an accessory power for the guages???)
Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Quicksilver controls

Those controls are functionally equivalent. Merc used different types of PTT controls in different years. The older style had the three push buttons in a vertical line, on the dash. The newer style are a toggle switch for trim and a push button for tilt. The wiring harness to your das is likely a tach connection.

 

[Puddy905]

Re: Quicksilver controls

Ok. Thanks for the info. I figured the harness might be for the tack, as the merc has a wire going directly from the tach to the motor, which I'm guessing is a sender for the RPM's. I guess what I'm trying to ask with the controllers is will the merc tilt all the way up if I use the controller without the trailer button?
I think I may just switch the controllers. Looks way easier to me. lol

 

[Puddy905]

Re: Quicksilver controls

Ok. So here's what I have found. It is a 5 wire harness coming out of the controls. 3 of the wires go to my tach and the other 2 aren't hooked up. The colours are as follows:
Purple- +
Black - Grnd
Silver - Sender
Tan - not hooked up
Black with white - Not hooked up.
The purple, black and silver go directly to the RPM guage, and then the purple is run in series to the speedo and the fuel guage, for power. My question is, are these wires similar to an accesory power, so they only work when the key is on? Can I just wire the guages (+ and grnd) diretly to the battery. Is there any other way to hook up "accesory" power, so that nothing is drawing from the battery unless the key is on, or the motor is running? I would like these details because I'm adding a stereo and obviously I would prefer having it hooked up to acc so that it doesn't drain the battery IF I forget to turn it off when the boat isn't running.

All help would be greatly apreciated!!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Quicksilver controls

Normally you would use a heavy duty (15-20A) accessory switch, connected directly to the battery.

Most ign switches do not have heavy enough Accessory poles to run many things. You should run your gauges off the Ign accessory pole, for convenience. I use a single accessory switch, so I only need to remember one switch.

 

[Puddy905]

Re: Quicksilver controls

Thanks for the advice. Where would I find the ignition acc pole?? I will hook the guages to it, then run the stereo and fish finder to an aux switch directly from the battery. Thanks