wiring troubles

[pwfish1]

1996 17 cc starcraft mariner 60 hp merc.

this is generally what was taken out;

old wireing was bussbar 5 fuses, car style glass, and 4 other connects that take flat slide on connector, fuses also have flat connector. there is a on/off red button switch next to bussbar.

dash has mph/gas/rpm, also seperate volt gauge on side.

other accessories will be gps and vhf and possible stereo.

not sure if harness coming out of motor is correct. no instruments worked but engine ran good. I have everything back in that was there first. Alot of wiring was removed because i didn't know what it lead to and didn't seem necessary. The motor cranks over and tilt trim works, has it's own wire and switch.

Using 1 battery for now, marine starter and deep cycle.

diagramed and coded all wires coming off mph/gas/rpm/volts when taking apart. there was a mess of wires with splices all over the place originally. cut everything off except harness wires. I guess it was ok because motor fires as before. trim/tilt works, has seperate switch.

what was on/off switch next to bussbar? how do i get straightened out wwith gauges and seperate for acessories?

what goes to fuses on bus? is this negative? others get what? just flat connects.

i've read all diagrams here and elsewhere. just maybe trying to get a hit i really underastand.

thanks all

 

[jonesg]

Re: wiring troubles

You might as well re-do it, heres what I did.

Install a house battery, I keep it seperated from the engine power and just charge it myself when needed.

Install 2 buss bars, one POS, the other NEG for the house battery only.

I power the guages from the ignition purple wire,
so key on turns all the guages on,
daisy chain the guages POS wire , same for NEG.

House battery for all the radio and GPS stuff.

Engine battery doesn't use the buss bars at all, its kept seperated.
I find it simpler like this.

 

[pwfish1]

Re: wiring troubles

Commander, beautiful set up, read like I almost can get it done.

I have a heavy duty starter and marine battery in one. has 2 sets of terminals on top and will convert both to wingnut to use seperate.

pretty sure this will get er done.

thanks

 

[pwfish1]

Re: wiring troubles

Commander, you say u power all guages from inigition wire,purple, same for neg.

how did you get to purple wire?..do i splice into it, or connect at pos busbar with circle connector, providing busbar has posts. my busbar has flat cnnector only. i do have 5 terminals on bus with fuses. if i use another one will that carry pos?

Am i genarally just powering the busbar and when i plug anything into it, i get power?

Also ther is 5 empty(no fuses) flat connectors, are these the negative?

the fuses are 2-25, 1-15,1-20,1-30, i presume amps. should i put all the same?

thanks

 

[rbh]

Re: wiring troubles

on some boats you have one main power circuit, switched at the battery junction point. This feeds every thing from your ignition to lights and horn etc
The fused busbar is there to deliver power from main circuit wire to all fused circuits, is there a small post with a washer and nut on it at the end of the busbar?
there may also be a busbar below the fused busbars, this is for your grounds.
read the spects on the block as some will not take the require amp load.
we just installed a new blue sea 5015 as old block had issues (over heated)
rob

 

[Silvertip]

Re: wiring troubles

Here is a diagram showning how a typical fuse panel is installed and how a single circuit is connected to it. You can have as many circuits as you have fuse spaces. Fuse size is determined by the amount of current each circuit must handle. What I show as a "device" in this diagram is a light but it works the same for any 12 volt accessory whether it's a motor, light, gauge, or whatever.

 

[pwfish1]

Re: wiring troubles

silvertip, thank you, i thought the fuse on bus acted as circuit breaker or protect. does each accessoriy need to have a circuit breaker?

the fuse panel i chose didn't have a seperate screw for +12. i found another that had a seperate post for power.

that diagram explains it well.

thank you

 

[flargin]

Re: wiring troubles

silvertip, thank you, i thought the fuse on bus acted as circuit breaker or protect. does each accessoriy need to have a circuit breaker?

Fuses are generally there to prevent something from catching fire. that is why you want a fuse to be small enough to blow before your smallest wire catches fire. You don't really need each piece of equipment to have a circuit breaker or fuse, you could have say nav lights and vhf radio on a single fuse.

You normally want some form of fuse and optionally a master on/off switch near the battery feeding your fuse box.

 

[Big Keepers]

Re: wiring troubles

Your VHF and GPS will come with a fuse that should be spliced into the positive wire in its harness. Usually the manufacturer states this in the instructions as a warranty issue. They can be wired directly to a fuse panel or buss bar.

On your switch panel that controls bilge pumps, nav/anchor lights etc, the usual way it is wired is a fuse holder below the switch and each fuse holder is piggy backed to the one next to it. This way the device is fused at the panel instead of having to splice an inline holder into each wire for each device.

Silvertip's diagram shows the circuit breaker that protects the entire set up. This is also important as it protects the entire set up from an overload should something get shorted out or whatever. That is an ABYC specification.