rewiring a prodject

[michaeltx]

i bought this boat this past summer as a restoration prodject. ive gotten just about everything down except for the wiring. Can anyone tell me where or what would be a good place to take a boat to have the whole thing rewired?

 

[timfives]

Re: rewiring a prodject

michaeltx,

I'm doing the same thing to mine. if your handy, you should be able to do this yourself, and save some serious dollars. i laughed at my marina when i asked them how much to wire a boat. I mean laughed!

Anyway if you consider doing it yourself, this site has the goods. It may actually take the challenge out of it. I have purchased some of their products, and it is first rate quality.

Best of luck

http://www.ezacdc.com/Scripts/default.asp

Tim

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

Wiring a boat is not rocket science, but like any project starting with a plan is essential. You start by understanding that there are two electrical systems on a boat. Note that I said electrical systems -- not two circuits. The first electrical system is the one that runs from the engine to the shift/throttle control box. There is little or no wiring involved other than installing the box and routing the harness to the engine. The other system is the one that runs from the battery to the fuse or circuit breaker panel at the console. All individual circuits branch out from there.

Start by deciding what instruments, lighting and other accessories you want, even if you don't install them immediately. Making provisions for them saves time and effort down the road. Then draw a diagram of the electrical system and follow it when doing the wiring. Label wires and by all means use the proper wire colors. Don't forget the wire from the fuel tank sender to the fuel gauge.

Here is a diagram of a typical boat instrument panel. Wire colors shown are for reference only and not always marine color codes.

 

[michaeltx]

Re: rewiring a prodject

hey tim, on that site if i already bought my own aerators can they still connect to the qucik connectors? i thought about ordering the switch panel complete hookup kit. i wasnt for sure if the aerators i have would connect to the quick connectors. Silvertip, i appreciat the diagram on how to hook the things up. at first it was pretty confusing, but i got most of how the hookup goes. on the yellow circles that r labeled volts, speedo, tach, fuel and temp, r those the gauges? i wasnt too sure what u meant The first electrical system is the one that runs from the engine to the shift/throttle control box. do u have a model how that looks?

 

[SBTOM]

Re: rewiring a prodject

Its a do-able project even if you aren't an electrical engineer. I'm a furniture maker/designer with absolutely no background in electronics, and it took me about a month and half of part time weekends to replace all of the wiring in my 19' boat.

You should definitely make sure to track down a wiring diagram specific to your engine if you are planning on replacing any portion of that wiring harness. Theres a bunch of voodoo magic going on somewhere in there. The smartest thing you could do would be do invest in the service manual. That way, you atleast have a reference point and a way to identify all of the existing wires...

Good luck!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: rewiring a prodject

I've done a bunch of wiring on my boat in the past few months and bought most of the wiring, heat shrink tubing and connectors from Genuine Dealz, good products and prices. Nice that you can buy 5 of these, or 10' of a specific colored wire,,, instead of a whole box of connectors or a whole roll of wire.

http://genuinedealz.com/

If you go the route of doing your own wiring, invest in a good set of crimping pliers, not those cheap $5-10 type, but a good $20-30 set of crimp pliers, Vaco, Klein, etc. Maybe even a set of ratcheting crimpers with the proper dies if you want to have the best crimps possible, they are spendy though $50+.

I checked out the link Tim posted and it looks like they have a very good product, weather-pack connectors for each device, pretty cool. The down side to the weather pack connectors is you will have to feed those big connectors through everywhere, might not be a problem, but could be a huge problem if you need to fish wires through tight spaces. Also, I guess the harness is a fixed length so you might be shorted on some runs and have excess on others, maybe, I don't know as I haven't seen their product, just a question I'd have if I was buying a fixed length harness. Ooops, bilge pump leads are 6" too short, but the live-well pump leads are 10' too long.

Here's the marine color code which will help keep things organized, also help you order your wiring if you decide to completely re-wire yourself, 12' of this wire, 45' of that wire.

http://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-5/wl44-wiring.html

When it comes to switches, basic on/off switches will wire as easy as ST's diagram, but the lighted switches are more difficult with 4-6 posts on the back of the switch;

- +12V post
- post for switched device (bilge pump, etc)
- ground post for the switch's light
- + post for switch's light
- optional post for on-off-on switch (nav lights)
- can't remember, but I did see one with 6 posts

I agree with SB, get a manual, I downloaded my Mercruiser manual right here from the forum, in the "Adult's Only" sticky post at the top of the I/O forum. After looking at the manual, and the color code chart it was easy as pie. The only funky thing was some of the jumpering for grounds and hots as my switch panel had things daisy chained, 2 wires crimped into 1 lug. These were for low current and redundant connections, grounds, lights, something like this;

+12V----------lug----------------lug-----------lug-------------lug----------lug

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

As for the engine to control box harness -- that wiring is different for every engine brand and changes over the years. If you have an engine and a control box, the harness just plugs in at the engine. If you have an engine and no control box, buy one complete with the harness. DO NOT buy the control box and harness first as you will likely end up with a motor that will work with it. Always buy an engine first and get the matching control box with it.

Yes, the yellow circles in the diagarm are the gauges.

 

[michaeltx]

Re: rewiring a prodject

yall say that there is suppose to be a fuse box somewheres on my boat, right? i have looked EVERYWHERE that i can, even dangling upside down in the storage where the tanks sit and still cant locate anything with fuses. ive checked under the console, every box, and the small cranny spot the throttle cables run through. ok this will probably sound stupid, bc i have no idea what things r called for a boat, but i did find a little area where wires kinda gather there. sorta a box, but no fuses. it was attached to the back of the transom in the top lefthand corner. would this be a control boz of any kind?? i cant take a pic of it since my boat is in the shop right now being worked on. i mainly just want to rewire the boat, not the engine. to my knowlege everything there is in working order. i was just wanting to wire new switches at the bow, the dash and running lights, ect.. ect. ok quick question. my gas tanks are 26gallons a piece. is there any reason that i need to keep them that big, or can i down- size on the tanks? wasnt sure if the weight would throw my boat off once in the water. just a curious question. thanks everyone for the help. keep them coming

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

Getting rid of weight is a good thing. If you don't need two 26 gallon tanks why not get rid of one. If one 26 is still too much, get rid of both and install one smaller tank. Getting rid of weight is like throwing one big passenger over board. The boat runs faster and uses less fuel. As for not finding any fuses or a fuse panel on your boat, do perhaps have little white or black buttons beneath each switch? If so, you don't have fuses because those little button things are reset buttons for a circuit breaker. But then whoever wired the boat may not have used any fuses at all. And since we have no idea what kind of boat or how old it is we have no idea what you may or may not have.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: rewiring a prodject

And since we have no idea what kind of boat or how old it is we have no idea what you may or may not have.

Yep, what year, make and model of boat?

My old SeaSwirl didn't have a fuse panel, each circuit had it's own individual fuse holder that was accessible from the front of the dash. The fuse holders were next to the switch's, unscrew the cover and the fuse pops out.

 

[michaeltx]

Re: rewiring a prodject

sorry that i never mentioned it, but i have an 89 Basscat Pantera II. the motor is a 1989 150 Johnson. I have already removed some of the swithches in the bow and the dash and have not come across any fuses. as for the little relay swithces, i have some of those on the dash above my steering wheel. if i dont want to use relay switches, can i go ahead and install a fuse box that will substitute that???

 

[Bondo]

Re: rewiring a prodject

as for the little relay swithces, i have some of those on the dash above my steering wheel. if i dont want to use relay switches,

Ayuh,.... What are Relay switches,..??

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

Stay with proper terminology. Relays are relays, switches are switches, and circuit breakers are breakers. You do not have any relay switches. Do you mean circuit breakers? It doesn't matter if you have circuit breakers or not. If you are rewiring from front to back use whatever you like. The electrons that flow through the wire will not care whether they bump into a fuse or circuit breaker. They do the same thing -- protect the circuit.

 

[michaeltx]

Re: rewiring a project

Re: rewiring a project

my bad on the terminology! anyways i dont know what u call them! the only thing i know is if something goes wrong, then i can push the button like a reset button. so, is a circuit breaker another name for a reset button?? where should i start in the process of the rewiring?

 

[Stachi]

Re: rewiring a prodject

woops

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

Where should you start with the rewiring?????? If you are rewiring you tear out what you have and start over. Wiring starts at the battery. It runs through a circuit breaker (20 amp is fine) to a fuse panel at the console. From there the wires run to switches that control the things you want to control. From there they go to the things. Here is a typical ONE CIRCUIT wiring diagram. It is TYPCIAL, not cast in concrete, and there are many variations you could use. The two wires from the battery to the fuse panel should be #10 (red and black) minimum. #8 if you plan on a large number of high current draw items. Wiring from the fuse panel to the devices can generally be #16.

 

[michaeltx]

Re: rewiring a prodject

ive noticed that the wires from the battery go the circuit breaker and the ground bus. do any of the engine wires connect anywhere on that fuse panel or do they run straight to the battery???? how many fuse panels will i need to do the whole boat front to back if i have 2or 3 batteries?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

Why don't you just stop and make a list of what you have already, what you want to add, and how much of this you plan to do yourself. Each question is adding a little tidbit that only results in a bunch more responses that take everyones time. Give us the details in 1 -2 -3 fashion so we don't have to guess what you are up to and capable of.

1) You need one fuse panel. The number of fuses it will contain depends on how many circuits you want and what kind of "things" you need to power.

2) None of the engine wiring harness is fed to the fuse panel. The engine gets power and ground via the large battery cables and those circuits are protected by a fuse under the engine cover. The rest of the engine wiring goes from the engine to the throttle/shift control box throught a separate wiring harness which is why I said to buy an engine first and then get the matching control box. If you have both then there is no additional wiring needed. The only thing that leaves that box are the tach and accessory wire that activate the gauges when the key is turned on.

3) The number of batteries you have and how they are wired depends on what you plan to use them for.

See why it's all in the details.

 

[michaeltx]

Re: rewiring a prodject

look guy. i appreciate EVERYTHING u have answered, honestly i do, but u dont have to get smart. i work in a lumberyard so all this crap is difficult and confusing to me. i know u probably have YEARS of experience with this stuff. i dont! all im asking is courtesy. im not taking anyones time if they want to answer my questions. this is a forum and im going to ask. if they want to answer, they r welcomed to.....

"The only thing that leaves that box are the tach and accessory wire that activate the gauges when the key is turned on......."

with this said, do the gauges have to be connected to the fuse box???? Also, should i have a circuit breaker and a fuse box for each battery???

.....remember, courtesy goes along way! thanks

 

[Silvertip]

Re: rewiring a prodject

So whose getting huffy? I asked you to step back and take the time to tell US, not just me what your plan is. I haven't counted the number of responses in this thread but to this point it appears we still don't know what the plan is other than you want to rewire the boat. The basic question is "rewire it how and for what purposes". Since I've provided diagrams, descriptions, advice and suggestions and as a result I get huffed at I will simply say good luck with your project.