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I know there is alot of threads on this forum relating to rewiring of a boat but I have a few questions as I begin my wiring diagram.
I have read and reread the 12 Volt Boat Bible and read numerous threads on this topic. I have rewired a small jon boat but nothing like what i am about to do. Being in a small inland lake or river is one thing but being 10 miles offshore is another. I purchased a 1988 McKee 198CC Hammerhead last year powered by a 1999 Johnson J175PX with 2 regular batteries. I have removed the entire electronics panel because it is a bird's nest to say the least in the console. The fuel gauge does not work, the battery gauge does not work and the bilge quit working. The raw water wash down has not worked since i purchased the boat. All the switches were rusted out and the wiring is awful with many wire just taped off with no indications of what they are. I am going to replace both batteries and since i have the room I plan on getting (2) DieHard Marine Battery, Platinum PM-1 - Group Size 31M for starting needs and powering the electronics. The battery compartment is within a foot of the motor and no irregular positioning of the batteries will be needed. They are also easy to access so dont think i need an onboard charger.
My power needs-
Lowrance HDS5
fixed VHF- getting a new one and looking at the Lowrance LVR 880 and the ICOM M72
stereo with 4 speakers, amp and subwoofer
raw water washdown
bilge
spreader lights (2) Lumitecs
(1) Go Light spotlight
LED lighting inside boat (rope) and off the back(LED)
small compartment lights for console and rear hatch
nav lights
aerator/livewell, already in boat
fuel gauge, i am replacing the sending unit and the gauge
Here are my questions-
Is this battery model sufficient for what i plan to do, in other words, starting and deep cycling needs or do I need to have a starter battery and a deep cycling one? If i dont install onboard charger do i just hook the charger as needed up to the batteries themselves.
how do i find out if this engine's alternator uses the same wires from alternator back into battery that is used to start motor, I want to use isolator but not sure if i use the sames wires or if it has a separate wires.
how many amps are flowing from the alternator back to isolator
bus bar, do i use a positive one and a negative one or do they make one that has both? i am trying to simplify my connections in the diagram and it seems the use of a bus bar will allow a cleaner wiring inside the console if i can have just 1 set of wires coming in and then branch from there.
best fuel sending unit to replace what i have now, which i dont know what brand it is and also gauge, i plan on using a fuel flow sensor with my HDS5 as well
and lastly i have see some diagrams showing the bilge wired directly to the battery, i plan on using a fuse block that will power and protect the vhf, bilge (separate switch for on/off/auto on console), spotlight (since it has separate switch and remote), compartment lights that are push on, stereo and sonar. All of these items can be turned on/off manually as i use them so i didnt feel the need to run them thru a switch panel but just run them from the fuse block and cut again cut down on clutter and unneeded switches on console. I plan on using a 6 switch panel for raw water wash down, nav lights, spreader lights, fuel switch, aerator/livewell and LED rope lights/LED off the back
any thoughts would be much appreciated because once i understand these issues better I can complete my wiring diagram. I know I am asking a lot but i want to make sure i am clear on all of this before i start and make sure i do it right.
X2 on seabob4 he is very knowledgeable and has great pics of his work
__________________ LED lighting for the Residential and Marine Industry http://www.Xtremeled.com Rob@xtremeled.com 954-444-8650 Now accepting all Major credit cards
Harbor Freight has 10 packs of heat shrink + glue terminators for $2.50 pack.
hope that helps
Radio Shack had the poorest quality materials until Harbor Freight came on the scene.
I use Harbor Freight wire ties to tie chicken parts in my crab rings. For boat wiring, I use the better quality stuff. Small quantities I get at my local West Marine. For larger orders, this would be my vendor of choice: http://genuinedealz.com/
i think you should at least consider a Standard Horizon GX series VHF radio, it won an innovation award last year. try WEMA USA for your fuel tank sender, they are really good quality units. I would say a starting battery and at least 1 deep cycle battery (can you fit two into the space?) with a parallel switch. the stereo w/sub and amp may drain your deep cycle if it is used heavily, try to look at class D amps if possible, they run cooler, are smaller and draw less power. LED's wherever possible also really help on power consumption. if you ain't gonna put an onboard charger in consider a quick connect to make hook ups easier.
__________________ In Rare Form...
Boating the Tennessee River
'95 Formula 34PC
Bluewater 502's/Hurth V-drives
Greggs Marine and Wire (Google) for all wire, connectors and shrink tube. By far the cheapest and they ship pronto. Search this site THT under "House Battery" for verado forum's article on wiring diagram. It was written by Glen and is the simplest I have seen so far. Crimp, solder and shrink all connections, use house battery(ies) for everything NOT starting. Use largest batteries feasable.
I got all my wiring and most materials through www.genuinedealz.com. Great prices and prompt shipping. I rewired 90% of the boat after it sat for 3 years and this off season I will replace the rest. Strongly suggest that you go out and buy a good crimper. I got a Klien (not sure on spelling) from an electrical shop. Also purchased a nice pair of wire strippers. What a difference the right tools make!
I got all my crimps with shrink tube pre-attached. Available at genuinedealz. Also I put a lite coating of dialectic grease on all connections. I think it makes it last a lot longer.
__________________ Scarab Sprint 26 w/ OX66 225
Cala Elizabeth
Lowrance HDS5
fixed VHF- getting a new one and looking at the Lowrance LVR 880 and the ICOM M72
stereo with 4 speakers, amp and subwoofer
fuel gauge, i am replacing the sending unit and the gauge
best fuel sending unit to replace what i have now, which i dont know what brand it is and also gauge, i plan on using a fuel flow sensor with my HDS5 as well
Some thoughts
HDS5 + Stero + VHF?
sounds like
HDS + Sonichub + LVR880 as the optimum solution for me
HDS + Fuel flow + new fuel gauge?
Sounds like
HDS + NMEA fuel flow + NMEA fuel level adapter to me
i would go with a two battery setup and a bep charging cluster
BEP also makes the bus bars, single, twin, what ever you need!
Radio Shack had the poorest quality materials until Harbor Freight came on the scene. For larger orders, this would be my vendor of choice: http://genuinedealz.com/
I totally agree, but also wanted to convey; Fastenall had bags of 50 heat-shrink ring terminals and butt splices hanging on the rack, and the prices were much more affordable than West Marine. Grainger has them too, along with very nice switches and circuit breakers.
Obviously, any components that have their own on/off switches need not be powered through a switch panel (actually, doesn't make sense to me), but of course, they must be properly fused. On the Cape Horn that is about finished, there is an 8-gang switch panel, but no breakers, so I used a 12-position Blue Seas Fuse block w/ground buss for those functions, as well as 4 other pieces of equipment, as well as another 6 position for the remaining equipment. There is quite a bit of electronics on this boat, so a lot of available fuse connections were needed.
I did this vid for some friends, she's an '01 Cape Horn 23...
The PVC board you were using- this is different than Starboard? Is this like the "Aztek" PVC board you can get for boxing in soffets and such on houses at Lowes or Home Depot or the like? I guess the benefit is that you can glue it unlike Starboard? I really like that idea - what adhesive did you say you used? And how do you abrade the gel-coat and board - just with some heavy grit sandpaper? I am going to need to make some pointing points for some gear in my console and was assuming I'd go the Starboard route and just live with a few bolt-holes through the outside of the console, but this sounds like a a MUCH better idea.
When cleaning up the wiring - when you find you need to have a longer wire in order to reorganize things and route the wiring in a logical manner, do you replace the whole run of the wire from start to end, or do you find it acceptable to do a butt-splice with well crimped, adhesive heat-shrink connectors?
Mike,
I have no problem lengthening wire with heat shrink butts. Matter of fact, when batteries are located at the stern and you install a charger in the console, you automatically HAVE to lengthen the leads right out of the box, approved by all the charger makers. So it's done all the time...
The PVC board, I learned about that from another member. They sell it in 6" wide planks at HD, very light but really holds a screw well. I don't use it for anything heavy, the heavy stuff gets starboard t/bolted to the console. I use Bondo Resin Jelly as an adhesive, rough up the back side of the board and the gel with 150 grit, you won't get the board off once the adhesive kicks unless you take a pry bar to it. But in reality, once all the wiring is secured, and basically "tied" into the rest of the harnessing, you could literally remove that board and the wiring that was secured to it won't go anywhere.
Here's a pic of the aft face of the console where the starboard is bolted. You really don't even notice it...
Thanks for the feedback and the tips for where to find materials.
seabob when you say anything "heavy" i am assuming you don't mean the fuse block, BEP switch or bus bars. The sidescan and amp, were they mounted to the PVC board or was that starboard? How far were the batteries from the motors on the Cape Horn and were there just 3 batteries for all the electronics and 2 motors?
Savage are all products at fastenall marine grade or like everywhere else where you really have to make sure what you're getting
I noticed the Cape Horn had the sonic hub and divefreak mentioned it too, I've looked at that but wasn't sure on it, is it good and have others been happy with it?
Thanks for the feedback and the tips for where to find materials.
seabob when you say anything "heavy" i am assuming you don't mean the fuse block, BEP switch or bus bars. The sidescan and amp, were they mounted to the PVC board or was that starboard? How far were the batteries from the motors on the Cape Horn and were there just 3 batteries for all the electronics and 2 motors?
Savage are all products at fastenall marine grade or like everywhere else where you really have to make sure what you're getting
I noticed the Cape Horn had the sonic hub and divefreak mentioned it too, I've looked at that but wasn't sure on it, is it good and have others been happy with it?
When I say heavy, I mean equipment likes amps, battery chargers, things that actually have some heft to them by themselves. The LSS-1 Sidescan module is actually pretty light weight, but rather than piece together some small pieces of starboard with other pieces of PVC on that side of the console, I used one large piece of starboard, so obviously there is equipment located on there that need not be. I used a smaller piece on the angled flat above it because the Sonic Hub has a 200W amplifier built in, so it has some heft...
The batts were originally in the stern, the owner wanted them moved to the console, so I de-rigged the motors, pulled out the old 4GA Yam batt cables and ran 2 new 2GA runs from the console back to the motors. 2GA is sufficient when moving the batts in almost all applications, in this case the motors are twin 200 HPDI Yams. And yes, the house batt handles all the house loads including electronics. It is combined while underway via a Yandina combiner/isolator with the starboard batt, as most people, when trolling, will shut down the port motor and troll on one engine (starboard). The house batt will be a GOOD group 27 deep-cycle...
We looked around for a different means of getting Sirius weather and audio out of the Lowrance HDS-10 unit, even consulting our resident electronics gurus here on THT, it seems the Sonic hub is about it. It does the job just fine, and if you want more power, you can always throw another amp in the mix...
The reason I de-rigged the motors just to run new batt cables was his rigging hoses and grommets were pretty much shot. Here's how they looked...
And here's how they look now, new rigging hose from T-H Marine, new rigging ports, and new "open" rigging grommets from Andy (and Lisa!) at SIM Yamaha...
Boat Re-wire 
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