Category Archives: Boat Wiring

Questions About Pontoon Boat Wiring?

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Pontoon Boat Wiring attempts to answer your questions about marine electrical techniques, concepts, and products. We get lots of mail from folks in mid-project or who are just curious about their boat’s electrical setup.

There are loads of post already on the site which we hope you will browse through. If you’re trying to track down info about a more specific category, please use the search box in the upper right of this page or check out the list of various subjects farther down on this page.

If you aren’t able to find the info that you need to complete your particular boat wiring project, please send us an email at pontoonboatwiring@gmail.com.

Thank you for visiting. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that you will be able to come back often.

Smart Replaces Dumb?

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Kevin,

I noticed that some of the better pontoon boat manufacturers are offering VSR based automatic smart battery systems similar to those on your other boat wiring site.

I’m thinking of taking the plunge and adding one of these to my pontoon boat wiring. Would your system replace a traditional dual battery selector switch?Battery connectors

Thanks.

Don

Hi Don,

Here’s a good overview of an automatic smart battery switch.

As to your question…

Without a battery switch, the VSR will only allow you to charge a second battery from a single charging source. You cannot do the conventional battery switching to select your second battery if your main engine battery is dead and you would like to start your engine from it.

A VSR alone works great to charge a second battery that you do not want to try to start your engine from.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Too much of a good thing?

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Kevin,

I am rewiring my outboard engine. I have already purchased 2 gauge rust-resistant tinned wire. Then I checked the existing boat wiring and figured out it that it is 4 gauge. Tinned boat wiring

Is there a problem with over gauging a marine electrical system?

Thank you

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

There is no problem with over gauging, but under gauging will cause an increased voltage drop and may cause your engine to not start.

Thanks,

Kevin

Cable Crimp Complicit?

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Kevin,

The main DC voltage of my pontoon boat’s marine electrical drops when my running lights, electronics, and radio are on.

  • The drop is around 6 to 10 volts.
  • The main DC power on my boat wiring is 4 gauge and the run is about 12 ft.
  • I’ve got two 8d batteries on a duel switch. I only use these batteries for accessories only, not for starting that boat engine.

    • Multimeter

Do you have any suggestions? The batteries are fairly new this past season. Before any draw the battry voltage is 12.6 volts

Thank you!

Barry

Hi Barry,

Check all of your connections – especially where the boat battery cables connect to the terminals.

A bad crimp will cause a high resistance point that will give a higher voltage reading with low draw, but a low voltage reading with a high draw.

Let me know what you find,

Kevin

Three questions. Three answers.

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Hi Kevin,

Two questions…

  1. Solder or crimp terminals?
  2. How do I select proper wire sizes?

Oh wait, make that three. Fuses or circuit breakers?

I have a Hurricane pontoon boat that’s starting to cause me some problems and I’m going to redo all of the boat wiring.

Thanks,Godfrey dash

Barry

Hi Bill,

  1. If you are going to solder terminals, they really need to have a strain relief on the wire near the connection because the wire gets brittle.
  2. Use my wire size calculator to help decide your wire size.
  3. Circuit breakers are simple to reset and you never need to worry about the being replaced with an incorrect size. If you decide to buy breakers, make sure they are ignition protected if you are using them in your engine room or near stored fuel. ATC (closed) fuses are ignition protected, ATO (open) fuses are not.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

AC Alright?

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Hello

I’m considering getting the Easy Add AC System that you designed for your other boat wiring site. Does it include an ELCI as required by ABYC?

I want to install a 110VAC self-limiting battery charger in my electric boat. This will be the only AC device on boat.

May I use a male 3-prong 15Amp rated inlet? Is it required to be twist lock?Marinco shore power inlet

Do I need a circuit breaker and ELCI on boat if I have only the charger wired to the AC inlet (no other AC device)?
If yes, do you have a simpler kit with outlet plus on panel only (no additional remote outlet)?

Best regards

Larry

Hi Larry,

ABYC added the ELCI requirement to provide residual current protection (AKA ground fault) for all circuits on a normal marine electrical AC system. This ELCI is basically a bigger GFCI like the ones you have near the sinks in your house.

Instead of having an ELCI, our complete marine electrical AC systems use a GFCI immediately after the main breaker to provide ground fault protection for the entire AC system.

We use a 20 amp main breaker with 20 amp GFCI outlet. On most AC systems, the main breaker is rated at 30 amps and since there are no 30 amp GFCI outlets on the market, the marine industry was forced to use an ELCI instead.

As long as your new battery charger has an output of less that 175 amps DC (that would be one massive charger), the system that I designed will work great for you.

The shore power inlet that comes with our kit is a 30 amp twist lock. To adapt down to a 15 amp, I would use a Marinco 104A or equivalent.

If you want to greatly simply your shore power system, you can buy a battery charger like this one from Marinco and an inlet like this one. Mount the charger in the boat, drill a hole for the inlet and the molded cord on the charger simply snaps into the back. Some battery chargers even come with the inlet in the box.

Our simplest AC panel has a plastic 30 amp inlet and no remote outlets. Along with a safe connection for a battery charger, it will give you an extra front mount outlet for added AC items on your boat.

Please let me know if you have any other questions,

Kevin

Gauge Power

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Kevin

I am going to overhaul the boat wiring on an old Sun Cruiser pontoon.

It will have the following accesories:

Here’s me question:

The power for the gauges…I have no purple wire or pigtail to go to the positive boat bus bar to power the gauges. Would I have to tap into the tach from the three pin connection from the controls to make this happen? Maybe the three female pins below keyswitch on the control? Is this okay?Speedometer

I have a cable that goes it to it with black, grey and purple boat wiring. Or can I just use go from the three pin connection from the controls the purple wire to the positve bus bar to tach, volt, and fuel gauge

My setup is as follows:

  • 1989 Evinrude 110 hp with power/tilt trim
  • OMC side mount controls with tach plug below key switch
  • Tach gauge
  • Volt gauge
  • Fuel gauge
  • Five Switch Marine Electrical Panel
  • Fuse panel
  • Ground bus bar
  • Positive bus bar
  • Battery switch
  • Two batteries starting/deep cycle for accessories

Thanks,

Eddie

Hi Eddie,

You can certainly connect to any purple at or near the ignition switch/control to power up your gauges. In that era, OMC only used purple for switched ignition power. Purple/White was for the choke.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin,

Can I also use the black ground wire from the tach harness to ground all of my gauges?Fuel,Tach,Volt or should these be grounded somewhere else.

Eddie

Yes you can.

Kevin

Light Show!

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Kevin,

I have a 2003 Premier Pontoon. It has a marine electrical switch panel that includes a stereo off and on.

When any of the lights are on, a red light is on for that particular switch.

The issue is sometimes when I turn one on, all the lights on the panel start randomly flashing, then after a few minutes it stops and only the one I turned on stays on.

Thanks for your help in solving this boat wiring mystery.

David

Searching for the answer

Hi David.

It sounds like the lights on the switches in your panel share a common ground with stereo.

Make sure all connects are tight and corrosion free. If the problem continues, I would run a new ground wire from the switch panel to your battery negative.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Purple Popping

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Hi Kevin,

I just rebuilt the motor in on my old Suncruiser pontoon and need your help with some of the boat wiring.

Coming out of the ignition is a purple wire. Well, if I leave it hooked to the ignition, it gets real hot and keeps popping fuses. It seems to go to the positive side of the coil.Ignition Switch

Any ideas?

Carl

Hi Carl,

Disconnect the wire from the coil, if it still pops the fuse, there is a short in the wire between the ignition and the coil. If it stops, replace the coil.

Keep in mind that the purple ignition wire also provides power to your instrumentation.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

AC Onboard

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Hello Kevin,

I’m looking to purchase one of the complete marine electrical shore power kits from your boat wiring store. It looks perfect for my needs. I especially like that it’s all self contained and simple to install.

Here’s the my boat wiring question:Manitou Pontoon Boat

Is there a shorepower system that comes with two breakers? Also does the single breaker control all of the remote outlets?

Thanks

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Our Easy Add AC System only has one breaker, which is rated at 20 amps. All of the outlets in the system are protected by this breaker. The GFCI outlet on the front of the panel is the first in the system and it provides GFCI protection for all outlets.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin

Kevin,

Thank you for the information. I think that I read that the boat wiring between the shore power inlet and the breaker is 30 feet.

If that is correct, can it be ordered with shorter cord, say five feet?

Thanks

Bruce

Hi Bob,

Our AC shore power inlet has a 10′ cord pre-installed on the rear of the inlet with a modular plug on the opposite end that plugs into the back of our panel.

If 10′ is too long, the simplest solution is to coil up the extra slack behind the panel and secure it with a plastic wire tie.

Let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin

Kevin

Thanks for the clarification.

The reason I ask is that I will be installing this inside the captain’s stand on my Manitou pontoon boat, so the run is really only about two feet.

The included 10′ cable will not be a problem, I will coil the remainder.

Thanks again, I will place my order today.

Bruce

Relay Race

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Kevin,

I need your boat wiring advice for a problem that I am having with my 2008 Sanpan pontoon boat.

I am getting power to my breaker panel when I turn on the toggle switch, but no power to the control panel for the lights, radio, depth finder and etc.

Can anyone help me?

Thanks,

Ron

Hi Rob,

A main power relay was traditionally used on the Sanpan. Your master power switch on the dash energizes that relay.

When you turn on the master switch, there should be 12 volt on the terminal marked 87 (there are only 5 terminals) on the back of the relay.

  • Main power in – terminal 30
  • Ground – terminal 86
  • Master power switch connection – terminal 85
  • No connection – terminal 87A

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Polarity Problem?

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Hi Kevin,

I would appreciate some boat wiring assistance please.

I am in the process of replacing my old Eagle 642c sounder/gps with a Lowrance HDS5 sounder GPS, and have everything sorted except for being able to power up the sounder.Lowrance HDS-5X I thought that I would be able to splice the power and earth wires into the existing power and earth wires, however it doesn’t seem to be working.

I don’t really want to run wires all the way down to the back of the boat to where the battery is, so do you have any advice? Could it be that my splicing isn’t very good or are there different standards in power wires and the existing power wires aren’t at the required standard?

Regards,

Tom

Hi Tom,

If you really don’t want to run new boat wiring to a known, clean source of power, your best bet is to test your existing boat wiring with a meter (not a light). The meter is polarity sensitive and the light is not.

It is very possible that you have the correct wires, but the polarity is reversed.

I always try to use weather proof connections on boats. Packard and Deustch make some great modular versions, but a good old heat-shrinkable butt connector will always do the job as well.

Good luck,

Kevin

Diode Does It

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Hi Kevin,

Thank you for all of the great boat wiring info.

Here’s my question:Attwood is the world's top manufacturer of navigation lighting for recreational boats.

I am trying to wire my Attwood bow lights and an Attwood white all-round navigation light using a Marpac 7-0493 Off/On/On push pull switch.

Switch Operation is:

  • First position- Bow and running lights are on, anchor off
  • Second Position- Bow and anchor lights on, running lights off

I want to end up with bow and anchor on – or anchor only on.

I would really appreciate it if you could show a diagram or sketch on how to achieve the above.

Thanks and be well

Ronnie

Hi Rob,

Connect a diode like this one between the bow light terminal and the anchor light terminal on your switch. The white line on the diode goes towards the bow light terminal of the switch.

I would cover the diode with shrink tube or tape.

Happy wiring,

Kevin

Wrong Switch

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Kevin,

I need help with the boat wiring between a 25hp Mariner outboard and a Narva 64012 Marine four position key ignition.

The motor has a harness already wired to it.Mariner Outboard

The colors of wires and where they connect on motor is as follows:

  • Red to + terminal on solenoid from battery
  • White to CD IGN
  • Blue to choke
  • Black to earth
  • Pink to earth
  • Brown to forward/reverse switch and solenoid (lower +)
  • Green to flywheel for pull start

The Narva switch has four positions: Batt , Acc ,Sol , and Ign. I connected:

  • White to ign through a kill switch
  • Red to batt
  • Brown to sol
  • Blue to acc through choke switch.
  • Black and pink were connected to – term on battery
  • The green was left unconnected.

The motor started but did not stop when turned off at key or when the kill switch was activated.

Your help in finding the correct wiring sequence would be appreciated.

Yours,

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

You do not have the correct type of key switch. Your Mercury outboard needs a switch like the Narva 64008 that grounds the magneto when you turn off the switch.

With the new switch, connect the black to the ground tab and the white to the MG. When your turn off the switch, the MG will connect to the G tab and shut down the engine.

Happy boat wiring,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for your answer, it is very appreciated. I have been trying to solve the problem for quite some time and was down to my last strand of hair. Your blood needs bottling.

Eternally grateful

Chuck

Depth Deployment

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Kevin

I am purchasing a 2011 Manitou Aurora pontoon boat and want to add a depth guage.

I understand I must purchase the guage from the dealer, but what can I expect for the installation complexity and cost of this boat wiring project?

Thanks. Manitou Aurora pontoon boat

Marcus

Hi Marcus,

If a depth gauge was an available option on your Manitou, then the power connection wires should already be in the boat wiring for the dash.

The gauge blanks are easy to remove and your new depth gauge will come with a mounting bracket.

I would mount the transducer on the aft end of your starboard pontoon on the metal bracket that is pre-welded on the tube.

The transducer cable simply plugs into the depth sounder.

Hope this helps,

Kevin