Category Archives: Ground issues

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.

Posted on by

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

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

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

Posted on by

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

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

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

Crazy!

Posted on by

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

Pump switch replacement

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Hello Kevin,

I appreciate any boat wiring help you can give me!

I have an older I/O pontoon (1977) with a lighted switch that turns on and off the livewell pump. The switch broke, and I need to replace it.

Pulling the switch out of the panel, I was surprised to find that all three wires connected to the switch are black, and the boat wiring to which they connect doesn’t help me to figure which wire is which and where to connect them to the new switch. I’m not an electrician, but I know enough that just connecting wires to the new switch by guessing could cause a good bit of additional trouble.

Here is a picture of the current broken switch. The switch is a Carling. I noticed the 1, 2, and 3 at the bottom of the switch where the wires are inserted. How do I know which is Earth, which is Load, and which is Supply?

Thanks!

Dane

Hi Dave,

The easiest way to sort out your boat wiring is which is with a voltmeter / ohm meter.

On a DC volt setting, connect your negative meter lead to a known ground. Probe each of the three wires to determine which is constant power (probably the center one).

On an OHM setting, keep you negative meter lead on ground an probe the other two wires. One will have nearly a 0 ohm reading (the switch light ground) and one will not (the blower). My guess is that the blower wire will be on the opposite the side that the toggle is switched to turn the blower on. If the switch clicks to the right to turn the blower on, the blower tab is probably the left.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

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

Twin 24v Bank Bus

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Hello Kevin,

I hope you can help verify something for me.

I am trying to help a friend with his pontoon boat wiring.

He has:

  • 2 x 24v battery banks of 2 x 12v batteries each bank wired in series
  • 1 manual battery switch; 1, 2 both, or off positions
  • Battery switch is wired correctly with positive leads from each bank

Can you please confirm that if I had a common ground block, all I need to do is wire the negative from each 24v battery bank to the block and then connect the trolling motor negative to the block?

Thank you.Ground bus

Gene

Hi Gene,

You are correct.

The battery selector switch only connects to the positive leads.

The negatives for both battery banks will connect together at a common ground block. Keep in mind that not all four battery negatives connect to the ground block, only the two that are the actual 0v position for your 24v volt systems.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thanks man. I appreciate your help. I understand the series ground connection from each bank.

Take care,

Gene

Three on a switch

Posted on by

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