where is the wire?

[bobhol]

I have a Chaparral 180 sse with a mercruiser 3.0 litre .It is a 2001. The problem I have is there was no warning system installed on the boat. I have purchased the temp sensor, oil sensor ,stern oil reservoir with sensor and the beeper. My problem is the wiring harness is there and the connectors are in the right area for the oil and temp sensors but I cannot find the wire for the oil sensor .Any ideas...thanks,Bob

 

[Bondo]

Re: where is the wire?

Ayuh,... I imagine it's zip-tied off somewhere.... Can't see it from here....

 

[Alpheus]

Re: where is the wire?

You can tap into one of the other sensors wires if you want. All the sensors are doing is providing a ground for the buzzer...

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: where is the wire?

I have a Chaparral 180 sse with a mercruiser 3.0 litre .It is a 2001. The problem I have is there was no warning system installed on the boat. I have purchased the temp sensor, oil sensor ,stern oil reservoir with sensor and the beeper. My problem is the wiring harness is there and the connectors are in the right area for the oil and temp sensors but I cannot find the wire for the oil sensor .Any ideas...thanks,Bob

I assume that you are talking about the oil pressure switch...if so, I also could not find mine. I ended up simply running a new wire from the water temp switch back to the oil pressure switch:

Happy boating!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: where is the wire?

You know, if you want to add a few extra wires to the harness, you could have a separate wire for each sensor. Oil, Temp, Drive Lube.......

Run all three wires to the "dash", and have an "idiot light" and/or buzzer for each wire. That way, when one of them goes off, you know which one it is.

As was indicated above, each sensor is simply a SPST (Single Pole, Single Throw) switch that already has one side connected directly to ground..........So when that particular sensor activates, the wire connected to it (that you run to the "dash"), becomes grounded.

You can easily have a different colored light and Piezo Buzzer (available from places like Radio shack) for each circuit.

Then when the alarm goes off, you know exactly which sensor or problem activated the alarm/light.

Mercury only provided 1 wire for the alarm circuit and connected all the sensors in parallel.

Any 1 sensor (or any extraneous wire) grounding will activate the alarm and it's up to you to find it!

It's a cheap way to have an alarm but it does work.

Adding a few extra wires, separates the alarms so that you can immediately identify which problem is activating the alarm even if you use the same type of buzzer on each circuit because only one light illuminates for each problem (oil, temp, drive lube, etc)



Cheers,


Rick

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: where is the wire?

You know, if you want to add a few extra wires to the harness, you could have a separate wire for each sensor. Oil, Temp, Drive Lube.......

Run all three wires to the "dash", and have an "idiot light" and/or buzzer for each wire. That way, when one of them goes off, you know which one it is.

As was indicated above, each sensor is simply a SPST (Single Pole, Single Throw) switch that already has one side connected directly to ground..........So when that particular sensor activates, the wire connected to it (that you run to the "dash"), becomes grounded.

You can easily have a different colored light and Piezo Buzzer (available from places like Radio shack) for each circuit.

Then when the alarm goes off, you know exactly which sensor or problem activated the alarm/light.

Mercury only provided 1 wire for the alarm circuit and connected all the sensors in parallel.

Any 1 sensor (or any extraneous wire) grounding will activate the alarm and it's up to you to find it!

It's a cheap way to have an alarm but it does work.

Adding a few extra wires, separates the alarms so that you can immediately identify which problem is activating the alarm even if you use the same type of buzzer on each circuit because only one light illuminates for each problem (oil, temp, drive lube, etc)



Cheers,


Rick

Probably true...but with the factory wiring, if you do not use the oil pressure switch you will not have the buzzer going off prior to starting, and the key in the run position. This is because the oil pressure switch is normally 'closed' (4 lbs of oil pressure opens it), and the temp and drive level switches are normally 'open'. It is good to have the buzzer come on with the key so you know that the system is 'good to go'. As soon as the engine is running (just a few seconds) the oil pressure switch opens and the helm buzzer shuts down....

Happy boating!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: where is the wire?

Probably true...but with the factory wiring, if you do not use the oil pressure switch you will not have the buzzer going off prior to starting, and the key in the run position. ................
Happy boating!

Not exactly true.

The oil pressure switch would still be "Normally-Closed" and would STILL activate it's respective light and/or buzzer with the "key-on" and when starting (until oil pressure was above switch activation pressure) effectively testing the oil pressure alarm circuit.

You could also "test" the other circuits by putting a simple momentary switch for each one or use a triple-pole single throw momentary switch for testing all three at any time whether the engine was running or not.

That would of course be "over-kill"!


Cheers,



Rick

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: where is the wire?

Not exactly true.

The oil pressure switch would still be "Normally-Closed" and would STILL activate it's respective light and/or buzzer with the "key-on" and when starting (until oil pressure was above switch activation pressure) effectively testing the oil pressure alarm circuit.

You could also "test" the other circuits by putting a simple momentary switch for each one or use a triple-pole single throw momentary switch for testing all three at any time whether the engine was running or not.

That would of course be "over-kill"!


Cheers,



Rick

We are on the same page...the temp and drive oil circuits would never sound the buzzer (or light the lights) unless there was a problem. You could manually ground each one prior to launch (with key on) to test them...but how often would the boater actually do this. Or...you could rig up the test switches like you said, but the OEM setup is definitely in the KISS realm!

Happy boating!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: where is the wire?

We are on the same page...the temp and drive oil circuits would never sound the buzzer (or light the lights) unless there was a problem. You could manually ground each one prior to launch (with key on) to test them...but how often would the boater actually do this. Or...you could rig up the test switches like you said, but the OEM setup is definitely in the KISS realm!

Happy boating!

I agree.

the temp and drive oil circuits would never sound the buzzer (or light the lights) unless there was a problem.

Or a defective switch/sensor.




There's been several threads here where someone has an intermittent or continuous alarm from a bad sensor, switch, or bare wire someplace that is touching ground and sounding the alarm. (granted you would have 3 possible causes but with separate circuits and lights, the light would be on for the one with the problem. Then the fix would be much easier to find and correct.

The OEM circuit only "tests" the oil pressure circuit. Which is probably "good enough".

I do like the ability to identify immediately which is causing the alarm. (there's probably more false alarms than real ones!) I like the idea of a "Master Caution" system that alerts you to a problem, then identifies the problem. (I've probably been around big airplanes for way too long!)

I think the newer "Smart Craft" system does this.....

With a little effort, we can have a "Poor Mans" Smart Craft!!