Category Archives: Circuit Protection

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

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

AC meets ABYC

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Hi Kevin

I’m very much interested in one of the complete AC shore power systems that you designed for EzAcDc. I plan on using it to completely charge my batteries whenever I am in my slip, but would like some more information before I buy it.

It appears there’s a 30 amp double pole breaker, a GFI outlet and other outlets that I assume are regular outlets rated for 15 or possibly 20 amps. There does not seem to be a separate 15amp breaker to deal with the outlets alone.

It is possible, even with only one outlet, to draw more than it’s rated amps, and therefore cause a fire which concerns me and certainly my insurance company.Our sister site, EzAcDc offers complete AC shore power systems for your boat wiring project.

Can you please ease my concern or possibly suggest something that will?

Thank you

Norton

Norton

Hi Nelson,

I can ease your concerns.

The main breaker on our system is a 20 amp dual pole. The GFCI and all outlets are rated at 20 amps. All wiring before the 20 amp main is 10 AWG. All wiring after the 20 amp main is 12 AWG. All outlets are protected by the main GFCI. This panel assembly is built per the American Boat and Yacht Council E-11 standards for AC panels on boats.

Please let me know if you have any other questions,

Kevin

Hi Kevin;

Thank you for your prompt response to my email. You’ve eliminated my concerns and I will be ordering one of your systems shortly.

Thanks again.

Norton

Inline Breakers?

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Hi Kevin,

I have a small pontoon on which I’m changing some of the boat wiring.

I’m running a few accessories that I want to run off switches, so I bought terminal blocks, one for the power and one for the grounds.

My question is:EzAcDc has bus bars for your boat wiring project

I don’t have fuses but am using 2 pole push button circuit breakers. And I’m wondering if the breakers would be inline before the switches? Basically how do I incorporate the breakers?

Here is a boat wiring diagram to show what I’m thinking.

Any info would help!

Thank you.

Allen

Hi Alex,

You will want to follow the basic format: source of power (terminal block), breaker (within 7″ of terminal block), switch, component, and then ground terminal block.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Smoke on the water

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Kevin,

I tried to hook up an amplifier to my Manitou pontoon boat.

I believe I hooked up the RC cable to the wrong side of the radio. The amp had a direct line from the battery on both positive and negative side. The amp smoked and now the ignition will not turn on.

I disconnected all wiring on the amp and I have no power to the ignition in any position. The radio also does not work. I do not see an inline fuse and the fuse box fuses are intact.

Please help!!

Jake

Hi Jake,

On most boat wiring, the ignition switch receives its power through the main engine wiring harness.

There is a resetable circuit breaker on the engine that is probably tripped.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Crazy!

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Hello Kevin,

I have a 2000 Bennington 2050 LX with a Mercury 50hp 4-stroke Bigfoot engine.

Yesterday the marine electrical system went kind of crazy. The motor kept running but the gauges all started to bouncing the indicator needles around then the control panel went dead.

The battery is fine (tested) and there is power to all the accessories but the ignition switch seems dead….the motor will not turn over and the tilt will not work either. I checked the two main fuses at the battery and they seemed fine.Bennington Pontoon Boats

What would make those gauges go crazy then everything goes dead? Luckily I did not turn the engine off and we made it back to shore.

Thank you,

Rob

Hi Rob,

You have a blown fuse on the engine. It will be near the starter solenoid. Remove the engine hood and follow your positive battery cable to the connection point. The in-line fuse will be within 6″ of this connection point.

Something non-repeatable such as a voltage spike may have caused the fuse to blow. Make sure your battery connections are good and that you do not rotate a battery switch to off while the engine is running. If the fuse blows again, trace the power lead from the fuse up to the helm and out to components.

You should be able to find the problem in your boat wiring by the process of elimination.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin,

I just wanted to let you know you were correct. It was the fuse after all.

When I first looked it seemed good, but I finally replaced it just on a chance and it worked just fine. The bad fuse had a hairline fracture in it and when I held it up to the sun – sure enough I could see it.

Thank you very much for your good boat wiring advice!!!

Rob

Hot Toon!

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Kevin,

I have a pontoon boat that I use for fishing. The boat wiring includes a trolling motor, electric start motor, fish finder – all powered by one battery.

My throttle cables and bounding strips burned up. I replaced all the cables, strips, everything – and within a half an hour, they got hot and burned up again!

Can you tell me what or where to look? The boat wiring is pretty simple and connections all look fine – seems to be hunting ground through the wrong conductors. Ouch

Thanks for any suggestions,

Tony

Hi Tony,

I would start by tracing power feeds that don’t have circuit protection.

In marine electrical, the usual suspects are positive battery cables with shorts to ground and negative battery connections that are accidentally connected to the positive battery terminal.

Look to see if the shift cable has chafed a hole in the is positive battery cable.

Let me know what you find,

Kevin

Kevin,

We think it was the battery, which we replaced and everything is working fine.

Think it may have shorted out or wouldn’t except a charge I don’t know but seems to have solved the problem.

Thanks for getting back to us.

Tony

Three on a switch

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Kevin

On my fishing pontoon boat there is a single outboard and  three batteries.

Here’s my boat wiring question:EzAcDc offers complete battery switch systems for your boat wiring project

What is the easiest way to charge all three boat batteries from the outboard’s alternator? Also how do I switch the batteries, most battery switches are only for two?

Mike

Hi Mike,

If two of your batteries are connected in series to create a 24 volt system, there is no great way to charge them from your engine alternator.

Depending on what you want in the end, some boat wiring setups use a two battery switch combined with a single ON/OFF battery switch and other applications simply parallel batteries 2 and 3 together and use a regular 2 battery switch. Battery 2 is basically the combination of your battery #2 and battery #3.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Mystery Fuse?

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Hello Kevin

I can’t seem to solve an electrical issue with my 2003 Smokercraft Pontoon boat wiring. The motor is a 2004 90hp Mercury 2-stroke.

I recently installed a new radio/CD player under the dash which I wired to power on with the ignition in the accessory position. That worked fine. fuse

After cycling the ignition switch between ‘off’ and ‘accessory’ several times the gauge panel and ignition switch lost power. I checked various connections with a voltmeter. There is no electricity making it to the switch.

Am I not seeing a fuse somewhere?

The battery and terminal connections seem okay and I have power to the panel that controls the livewell pump, horn, etc.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Hi Mike,

There is a fuse under the engine hood that supplies power to your ignition switch. It should be near the battery cable connection on the starter solenoid.

Thanks for writing,

Kevin

Adding AC to Houseboat

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Hi Kevin,

I have an old houseboat that was made by the Crest Pontoon people. I’m considering adding a Shore Power System from Boat Wiring Store.

It appears to be a relatively easy DIY project, but could you please recommend a battery charger to go along with the AC power system.The complete shore power system is a relatively easy boat wiring project

Also, would these changes to my marine electrical system necessitate adding galvanic isolation as well?

Thanks.

George

Hi George,

The Easy Install AC kits on our partner site are perfect for DIY. They are easy to install and will save you a bundle on appliances, since you will no longer need to buy expensive 12 volt lights, mixers, etc.

The Shore Power Systems come complete with the AC panel and shore power inlet and depending on the model; one or two extra outlets. On the back side of every AC panel enclosure are two more outlets to allow you to connect a battery charger, refrigerator, or other built in items that you do not want to have plugged into your other outlets.

Boat Wiring Store doesn’t sell battery chargers, but the system is all ready to have one connected to it. If you buy a charger like this one from Marinco, your connection will be as simple as plug the AC plug on the charger into the back of the AC panel before you mount it into your cabinet and connect the DC leads to your batteries.

If your marina is known for galvanic corrosion, I would recommend a galvanic isolator. The latest product on the market is know as the “fail safe” version. Marinco and several other companies are marketing them. They are simple and safe. To install, simply cut the green AC grounding wire between the shore power inlet and the AC panel, install 1/4″ ring terminals on both wires, and connect them to the studs on the galvanic isolator.

I hope that this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions,

Kevin

Don’t touch me there

Posted on by

Kevin,

My electric pontoon boat wiring has a current problem.

My set up is as follows :

Torqeedo, the leader in clean outboards
When I stand on the transom to lift the motor out of the water using the motor handle, I get a shock.

When I test the rail and the positive terminal on one of the batteries, I read 52 Volts of DC.

I know very little about electricity, but enough to know that I shouldn’t be getting zapped from the aluminum rails.

I suspect a grounding problem, but all the battery wires check good.

Any suggestions?

John

Hi John,

If you are reading 52 volt DC on the rail, the positive lead of your 48 volt system is making a connection to the frame or rail of you boat.

Trace the positive cable from the battery to the motor. Trace the positive battery charger lead connected to the same positive lead.

If you cannot find the problem, it may be a wiring problem with your Torqeedo.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Adding An Extra Battery

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Kevin,

Can you help me with the boat wiring plan needed to add an additional battery and charging system to my older 28′ Manitou Pontoon Boat?

I am planning on

  • Connecting the ships (+) to the boat battery selector switch
  • Connecting the ships (-) to the number one battery
  • Connect the ships (-) to battery two and then
  • Jumping the #1 and #2 battery (-) together using 2 AWG battery cable
  • Connect the battery selector switch (+’s) to #1 and #2 batteries using 2 AWG.

There are two field spots on the selector switch but I’m not for sure if my alternator needs this or needs this or not?

Then finally directly connecting the Guest battery charger’s cables to #1 and #2 batteries (+) and (-) post.

Is this logical? Should I use a ground bus? If so how? My plan is to have one battery for starting and the other for the house items and as a backup for starting.

Thanks Manitou Pontoons feature underdeck lighting as seen on our partner site EzAcDc

Bryan

Hi Bryan,

The field wires are for externally regulated alternator. Here is a link to the wiring instructions if you have an externally regulated alternator. These are not very common.

Your battery and charger boat wiring is correct. I prefer using a ground bus to eliminate the need for extra wires connected to the battery. Smaller gauge ring terminals connected with larger ones usually lead to loose connections. At bare minimum, get rid of the wing nuts on the battery connection and replace them with some form of lock nut.

Hope this helps,

Kevin