Wiring to a BUSS

[A.F.C. 8511]

When wiring my toon boat, do I need a separate buss block for neg. and for pos?

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

I bought one right here on iboats. It has both a neg.and pos. terminals.

 

[HotTommy]

Buss blocks are for convenience and safety when wiring things up. Having a single +12v buss block to feed all or most of your power needs makes it convenient to kill all power by powering the buss with a single, heavy gauge power cable on a switch. A grounded buss block makes sure all your circuits are properly grounded rather than running individual grounds to whatever ground is nearby. The positive and negative busses need to be isolated from each other, but may be separate items or part of a buss system.

 

[ahicks]

If getting into this from scratch, be aware there are 2 power systems and the only thing they have in common is the starting battery. The first is power from the engine and it's wiring harness. Examples of "stuff" on that circuit would be the tach, an elec. choke if so equipped, hour meter, etc.

Then there's the boat power. It's used for lights, radio, etc.

A voltmeter, showing voltage available, needs to be wired to the master battery in a dual battery scenario.

Also, I run a dedicated ground to everything. I don't want power running through the boat's tubes or chassis components. Too easy to get corrosion going that can eat stuff up below the water line in a hurry. That's the school I was brought up in anyway.

 

[A.F.C. 8511]

Ok.
so Ive got 100ft of black 100ft of red 18ga wire. 50ft of 14ga in both red and black. I also have 10ft of 4ga in both colors. I have shrink tube and connectors.I ordered a combination buss and fuse panel.
i have a perko battery select switch.

Now I have 1 question. I have LED front marker lights.(port and starboard) Can I splice them together and run 1 set of power/ground wires from front of boat to circuit system? Or shoul I run dedicated lines from each? I also have LED spot/docking lights up front to run dedicated lines from.

I figure everything gets dedicated lines, but since the marker lights will work off same switch... and being small LED...?

I am running a 2 battery system. House and starter.

Thoughts?

 

[HotTommy]

I agree. One pair of wires to power both LED marker lights is how I'd do it.

The bottom line is to look at the amp draw for the items on the circuit and compare that with the gauge and length of the wire. There are web sites that will tell you how much the voltage will drop given those factors.

 

[A.F.C. 8511]

One more question. Should I run my fuel gauge through my house battery or engine battery?

 

[ahicks]

You're not likely going to care how much fuel you have unless the engine is running. I'd wire it to the engine side.

 

[NYBo]

While 18 gauge will handle the current load for the devices you listed, you should bump up to 16 gauge for physical strength.

 

[NYBo]

http://www.pkys.com/FAQ/Wire_and_Wiring.htm

 

[5150abf]

Sounds like you know what you are doing so just saying DO NOT use the boat as a ground like a car with the chassis being grounded.

The wiring should be completely isolated from the boat itself.

Current thru the hulls does some nasty things to them with electrolysis.

You also don't mention breakers or fuses, very important to have them in the mix.

Replaced my console 2 years ago and had to redo all the wiring under the dash, broke it down to 9 circuits so all components are fused.

 

[Silverbullet555]

I will add, use marine wire if that is not what you bought and use adhesive heat shrink to seal where needed. I also bought adhesive crimp connectors for those areas where I crimp connector was appropriate. Finally, if you think you need 10 circuits, install a fuse block with 12. It seems adding stuff is the norm over time