Category Archives: Navigation Lights

Color Bind

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Kevin,

I have a 2002 Manitou pontoon boat.

Recently, I had my instrument gauges and stereo stolen. To grab my stuff, the crook just cut all of the boat wiring.

I’m trying to put everything back together, and I need to know what colors are what to rewire.The best boat builder use standardized boat wiring colors

Thanks,

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Luckily all of the better boat builders – and Manitou is definitely one of them – use a standardized set of colors for their boat wiring. You can find it here on our sister site, Fishing Boat Wiring.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Dead Battery Cause?

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Hello Kevin

I spoke with y’all several times last spring and bought a bunch of stuff from your partners at EzAcDc for my 28′ double decker party barge restoration project.

I got their boat wiring harness, marine electrical switch panel, battery cables, and smart battery switch system. I installed all new LED navigation lighting on the boat with new wiring for everything, and I have a 4-speaker stereo system.28 Double Decker

The only thing that really draws any power is the stereo….well, that and the tiny water pump that we turn on for a few minutes every now and then to pump water up to the swimming pool slide. The pump uses 7.5 amps at startup and 5 amps continuously, but like I said, we don’t use it but a few minutes at a time. I installed all of this and put in two brand new “dual purpose” batteries that I purchased at Academy Sports. My thought was that the dual purpose batteries would give me more power for running accessories and still be more than enough to start the 1996 120hp Johnson 2-stroke outboard.

However, things didn’t work out quite like I expected. Before the summer was over, I was already having trouble keeping the batteries charged. I guess the Johnson motor’s alternator isn’t strong enough, or the motor being slow to crank and warm up takes too much out of the batteries. Anyway, I’ve gotten myself stranded with a dead battery twice already.

Question #1:

Given this setup, do you think that I would have better luck using two “starting” batteries rather than the “dual purpose” batteries?

Question #2:

Is it a bad idea to have different types of batteries running together on that smart switch system, i.e. one starting battery and one dual-purpose or deep cycle?

Thanks for your help. I’m sending a picture of the boat so you’ll know better what we’re talking about.

Paul

Hi Paul,

If everything is working correctly, the water pump, stereo, and DC accessories should not be able to draw your engine battery down below 12.7 volts and cause you to not start.

A have a few questions:

  • When you run your boat, what position do you put the battery switch in? It should be in the ON. If you run in the COMBINE position, your house systems will be able to draw down you engine battery.
  • Are any components connected to the engine battery? Either on the battery itself or on the back of the battery switch?

If you run the switch in the ON position and no components are connected to the engine battery besides your engine, it is possible that even though the engine is charging while running, it may be discharging when the engine is turned off and causing your engine battery to become flat.

The one battery should have plenty of reserve capacity to start your engine. To a certain extent, the engine alternator doesn’t really care what type of battery (starting / deep cycle) it is connected to. Problems arise when you mix and match battery types like AGM and lead acid. They both have unique charging characteristics are really don’t like to be forced to charge together.

Kevin

One switch to light them all

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Hi KevinAttwood is the marine industry's top manufacturer of navigation lights

I am redoing my pontoon boat wiring and would like to have one toggle switch turn on only the bow lights or turn on the bow and all-round bimini lights.

How do I wire this? I’ve seen it done on other boat, but am not sure how.

Thanks.

Mel

Hi Mel,

This is fairly simple to connect. It all depends on what type of toggle switch you have.

Check out these instructions for the panel rewire kit offered by our partners at EzAcDc. The section on Navigation/Anchor light switch wiring on the second page will explain it all.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Boat Wiring Resources

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Hello,

I have a 1987 Sanpan and am refurbishing it this winter.

I want to replace the gauges on the dash. However when I looked at the panel from behind I saw a nightmare of boat wiring dynamically connected all over the place and could make no sense of it at all. Godfrey Sanpan

Now I’m thinking that it may be easier to start from scratch, rather than try to get on the same page as the original designer, however, I’d need a solid understanding of DC circuitry with respect to gauges, as well as their attachment points on the engine.

Is there a resource for novices on this subject?

Thanks for any help you could provide.

Yours truly,

Neil

Hi Neil,

Several great boat wiring books have been written by Don Casey, Ed Sherman, and John Payne on the subject.

Some of these are even available for download on your Kindle.

Good luck,

Kevin

Switch Should Help

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Kevin,

I have pontoon boat wiring that runs the battery down when the boat isn’t running.

I put an amp probe on it and it is drawing 1 amp, but I am not sure what to do next.A simple on/off switch can disconnect the battery when not in use.

Frank

Hi Frank,

With you amp probe installed, remove fuses or disconnect circuit breakers one at a time to determine which circuit is creating the draw. I would put my money on your stereo being the problem.

A simple solution to your issue would be to add a classic ON/OFF battery switch. You could use it to completely disconnect the battery from the rest of the boat wiring when you aren’t using it.

Happy boat wiring,

Kevin

Wiring Navigation Light Switch

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Hi Kevin,Attwood is the industry's top source for pontoon navigation lights.

I am the recent part owner of a 15 year old Party Craft Pontoon boat (no manuals available). Someone before me has wired the lights in a very strange way.

I had a problem with the docking lights, which I think I have solved. Someone had broken the light off and tried to put the boat wiring back and did a bad job. I spliced in some new wires and got it working.

I am now working on the next problem, which is putting the folding all-round stern light on a different switch. Someone put the stern light on the same switch as the red and green navigation lights. The switch is a two-position switch with the center position “off “. This only lets us put one light on at a time.

It would be nice to know how these switches are supposed to be wired if you have any boat wiring diagrams.

Thanks.

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

Your pontoon boat wiring should have the navigation and anchor lights on the same switch. While in the navigate position, the red, green, and white lights should be on on. While in the anchor position, only the white light should be turned on.

If you switch only has three terminals, power goes to the center, red/green go to the bottom, and white goes to the top. Add a diode similar to this between the top and bottom post.

The diode will allow current to flow in one direction, but not the other. When you put the switch in the nav position, power will go to the red/green lights and also flow through diode to allow the white light to illuminate. When you put the switch in the anc position, power will go to the white light, but the diode will prevent power from travelling to the red/green lights.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin

Thanks for the information.

Where do I get a diode like your talking about? Do I have to solder it to the terminals or can I create a small jumper wire with the diode?

Thank you.

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

You can get that diode at most Radio Shacks. If the leads are long enough, you can actually crimp them into the same terminal with your nav and anc boat wiring.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Lights Out

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Kevin,Marine Navigation Lights

I have a 2003 Manitou pontoon boat. Both the port and starboard navigation lights don’t work.

I don’t have a boat wiring diagram. Are the light fused and if so where would they be located?

Thanks in advance

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I would check for corrosion on the bulbs before jumping to conclusions on boat wiring.

Once you have made sure that corrosion isn’t the problem:

The port and starboard navigation lights are fed their power by the gray/green wire. This wire runs from the navigation light switch, through the 15 position connector below the helm, and then you towards the starboard navigation light.

Near the light, there is a second gray/green wire spliced into the harness the heads over to the port navigation light. The ground wires have a similar path. Since neither light works, the problem is in the gray/green wire between the helm and the splice near the starboard nav light or in the ground between the starboard navigation light and the ground splice area under the helm.

Using a meter, test for 12v power at the gray/green wire at the switch and 15 position connector when the switch is on (use ground source other than the navigation light ground wire). If there is power, test at the navigation light (remove the bulb or probe the wire). If there is power at the lights, the ground is bad. Un-tape the ground splice below the helm and locate the ground problem.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Low voltage on electric boat

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Kevin,

We have a 16′ pontoon boat with a Ray450 electric motor (6 battery) plus a trolling motor with separate battery charger.

About a week ago I noticed that the live well pump was working at a slow rate and then the radio started to cycle on and off. I Motor Guide makes the world's finest trolling motorschecked the, boat wiring, the batteries and motor – everything seemed fine. But, now nothing works off the auxiliary panel including the navigation lights, horn, livewell pump or radio. I can’t find any blown fuses.

Any ideas?

Thanks
MJ

Hi MJ,

A slow livewell pump and a cycling radio is a sign of low voltage. I would check the battery bank that your accessory panel is connected to and ensure it is charged properly and that all connections are good.

On multi-battery electric motor systems, sometimes a middle battery can be bad and cause 12 volt items connected to it to slow/shut down. If the other batteries are still charged, the complete marine electrical system will still have a high enough voltage to keep the electric motors running.

Kevin

Now we’re cooking.

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Hi Kevin,

I need your advice for a commercial pontoon boat wiring project.

I bought a 1993 32’ Sun Tracker Party Cruiser. It has a Mercury Black Max 150 with one battery powering everything including the cabin lights, the navigation lights, radio, refrigerator, gps/depth finder, and the starter for the motor. I think that’s everything. The boat also came with an AC marine shore power panel and one large, long power cable.

I’m going to use the boat as a floating food vending service so I’ll need lots of power and I’m not sure how to make it happen. I’m hoping you can help me out here.

I bought a 4,000 Watt generator but I’m hoping to be able to run everything off of batteries most of the time if possible?

I’m going to be powering a MAK Grill, a coffee maker, some form of food warmer, and probably a couple other small appliances.

I’m also rebuilding my console so I’ll need new gauges. None of the old ones work.

I really have no idea how to work with a marine electrical system, but I’m a very quick learner. Please let me know if you need more information.

Thank you for your help,

Darren

Hi Darren,

I would recommend a three battery system with one to start the the engine and two for everything else. They would all be connected through the VSR which would allow your engine alternator to charge them while underway.

Our partners at EzAcDc have most of what you will need. Here are the items that I would recommend:

I am not familiar with the MAK Grill. If the AC draw is not too large, you may want to consider buying an inverter/charger that can run the grill off of battery power, but also charge the batteries while you are plugged into shore power or while using your generator.

My experience is that portable generators don’t work well on boats. CO is a constant issue and the cause massive vibrations and rattles. If you use the generator on the boat, pay close attention to grounding. Since the ground and neutral will be connected together on the generator, any AC fault on the the boat will try to jump from the metal from of your boat to the generator frame. Never touch the generator and the frame of the boat (or railing) at the same time.

As for your gauges, most quit due to poor wiring. But, before you replace the gauges, check the wires.

  • Tachometer – gray (tach signal) purple (power) black (ground) blue (gauge lights)
  • Voltmeter – purple (power) black (ground) blue (gauge lights)
  • Fuel – purple (power) black (ground) blue (gauge lights) pink (sender 240 ohms empty 33 ohms full)

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Killing lights raises temperature

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Kevin,

Hoping you can help me with my I/O pontoon boat wiring.

My problem is when I turn on my navigation lights, my temperature guage instantly increases and eventually sets off the temperature alarm. Attwood is the world's premier source for navigation lights

When I turn off the navigation lights the temperature guage instantly goes back to normal.

This only happens with the navigation lights, I can turn the anchor light on and everything runs normal. The anchor light and navigation lights are on separate switches.

Could this be a ground problem? If so where do I start and what do I look for?

Keep in mind I am not very mechanically inclined!!

Thanks,

Mike

Hi Mike,

Check the ground for your forward navigation light/gauge panel ground. You will find that the forward navigation light ground is connected to your helm panel. All of the gauges are grounded here also.

There is a bad connection between this ground area and the negative post on your battery. You can either run a new ground wire or search for the problem.

The first place I would look would be where the boat wiring harness connects to the engine. There is a round black plug about 1 1/4″ in diameter on the starboard side of your engine. Remove the clamp and unplug the plug. You will probably find that one of the 3/16″ terminals is corroded in the plug.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Wiring boat navigation lights

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Kevin,

I am helping a friend install his navigation lights on his pontoon boat. Since the prior boat owner thought that navigational lights were not needed and all of the boat wiring from the on/off/on switch is no longer in the boat, I have to start with nothing.

The switch is a toggle style with six posts. That is all that I have to start with. Back to Boating has navigation lights for your boat wiring project

I’m looking for a little help getting the lights to turn on properly, anchor light by itself and then all of the navigational lights (bow and stern). I was looking for some type of diagram on how to wire the navigational lights at the switch.

Thanks in advance and the web site is great.

CB

Hi CB,

Please check out my post from a few weeks ago. I think it that should help you wire the switch.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin

Light’s not right

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Dear Kevin,

I have a pontoon boat and the stern light seems to short out every once in a while.

This boat wiring goes through the bimini frame work. There is a connection at the wiring connection clip where the wiring exits the framework of the bimini top. The connection is provided as a disconnect in order to remove the top in its entirety. Pontoonstuff is the world's number one source for Attwood bimini tops

I do not plan on ever removing this top other than laying it down or raising it up. So as far as my question goes, the wire running through the framework is grey to this connection is grey. I cannot seem to find any color coding between the positive and negative wire. Is this a concern as it is in AC wiring? Does it matter if any one wire goes to the one side of the light and the other wire goes to the other side of the light or do I need to find some sort of difference on the wire to designate which wire goes to which post?

I hope you understand this question – it is hard to explain without seeing.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

David

Hi David,

Unless you have an LED stern light, polarity is not an issue. You can connect your light either way.

It is very important to solve your shorting problem. It is a safety hazard to not have stern light at night – and a short in a DC system on aluminum boats can cause extreme corrosion. There is too much resistance to current flow on an aluminum boat to cause a circuit breaker/fuse to blow, but definitely enough to cause some very damaging corrosion.

Hope this help,

Kevin

Wiring the nav/anc switch

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Hello,EzAcDc has Attwood navigation lights for your boat wiring project

I have been having trouble with my Attwood navigation lights since installing them last spring.

I am looking for a boat wiring diagram that shows me how to wire the bow and stern lights to a three-way switch, allowing me to turn on both when moving (one position) and only the stern light when anchored (second position).

The problem I have is that both lights go on in both switch positions and I am unsure how to remedy this. I am certain I followed the instructions included in the packaging; however, I have since lost these instructions and have been unable to find any applicable information online.

I have a 16 foot Gillgetter fishing pontoon and keep it simple with a livewell switch, navigation lights, and fishfinder.

Thank you in advance for any information you can give me on this matter.

Joe

Hi Joe,

How many terminals are on the back of your nav/anc light switch?

Thanks

Kevin

Kevin,

My apologies. I have a three-way (on-off-on) switch wired to the bow/stern lights as follows:

  • Main power from battery (inline 20 A fuse) to middle terminal on switch
  • Two wires from stern light (+): one to the left terminal and one to the right/spliced with bow light (+) so they both go on in one position
  • Both bow and stern lights are grounded on the battery.

Thanks you for your quick response.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Here is the boat wiring info you are looking for:

Three-terminal switch

  • Stern light to the left terminal. Power to the center terminal. Bow light to the right terminal.
  • Install a Diode between the right terminal and the left terminal. Size the diode based on the wattage of your stern light. You have a 50/50 chance of installing the diode in the correct direction. If the bow light turns on in both switch positions and the stern light only turns on the anchor position, the diode is backwards.

Six-terminal switch

  • 12v power to both center terminals
  • Stern light connected to both bottom left and bottom right
  • Bow light connected to top right

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin,

Thank you so much for your help thus far.

I picked up a six-terminal, DPDT switch and I will follow the wiring instructions you gave me; however, I have one last question:

I currently have one power cable running to the switch and I want to know if I need to run a separate power for the second terminal on the switch, or if I can simply attach a short ‘jumper’ from one to the other?

Thanks again and hopefully I will be up and running very soon.

Joe

Hi Joe,

You can certainly run a short power jumper wire for the second power terminal on the switch.

Kevin

First Time Pontoon Project

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Kevin,

I recently purchased a fixer-up pontoon boat, no motor and the wiring in a dangerous condition.

After reading the postings on your site and Pontoonstuff forum, and the EzAcDc site, I have a few questions that I would like to ask. This is the first thing I have owned that goes on water and am not at all familiar with any boat wiring.

  1. Does a pontoon boat need two batteries if only starting, boat lighting, radio, and bait aerator are used? I would like to use one for starting , the other for accessories.
  2. If I do use two batteries, at first I was going to purchase the selector switch from EzAcDc to control one or the other battery. Reading your recommendation to use a VSR in boat wiring systems, I was wondering why have a selector switch, or is one needed,Pontoonstuff has everything you need to fix your old pontoon boat if the VSR will switch to the batteries when needed, and have the alternator charge both?
  3. Where are the batteries grounded on a pontoon?
  4. Last suggestion, could it be possible for you to have simple wiring diagrams for connecting all of the electrical devices that you mention, as I said before not too familiar with boat wiring at all.

Thanking you in advance for some great information and your help to the novice boater.

Paul

Paul,

Good battery management is key to fun and safe boating. A second battery is always a good thing to have on a boat.

“Does a pontoon boat need 2 batteries if only starting, lights, radio, and bait aerator are used? I would like to use one for starting , the other for accessories.”

NO. A second battery is not a requirement. Thousands of pontoon boats are built every year with a single battery, but the first electrical system upgrade is almost always a second battery.

“Why have a selector switch with a VSR? Where are batteries grounded on a pontoon?”

I would not recommend a selector switch combined with VSR. It is too easy to put the switch in the BOTH position and defeat the purpose of the VSR. I would use a marine On/Off switch to provide a master disconnect for the system. When the switch is OFF, the system will not discharge. Never use the metal frame of your pontoon boat as the ground. Connect all grounds for the boat at a common ground buss near your battery(s) and run individual cables from the buss to each battery.

“Last suggestion, could it be possible for you to have simple wiring diagrams for connecting all of the electrical devices that you mention, as I said before not too familiar with boat wiring at all.”

I will work on adding wiring diagrams for all of the components we mention on www.easyacdc.com Most DC wiring connections are simple. They have a positive and negative.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin,

Thank you very much for the quick response.

Yes, all of the information really was helpful and I think easy to follow, except for the buss part.

Do I hook up the cables to the buss + and – and have the on/off switch on the + cable from the battery? Similar to a house wiring switch?

Again thanking you in advance for your help

Paul

Paul,

Sorry for the confusion.

I would definitely start out with a ground buss – something similar to this BEP unit. I would connect all of my boat grounds to this buss.

You could a second BEP covered buss bar as a power buss. This bar would need to have circuit protection on the wire that connects it to the the battery or battery switch. To keep the cost under control, I would use a MAXI fuse system, if installed in an environment that does not require ignition protection (bilge, fuel tank area, etc) and an ANL fuse system, if ignition protection is a must.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Clever “QuickConnect” for DIY Pontoon Electrical

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Several of our readers have alerted us to a very slick offering from the folks at Pontoonstuff.com. Their new QuickConnect line goes a long ways towards alleviating the confusion (and headaches) caused by adding major electrical components to – or totally rewiring – an older pontoon boat.

Pre-loaded and pre-wired to make installation exceptionally easy, the Pontoonstuff QuickConnect system includes OEM quality gauge panels, switch panels, accessory harnesses, and even a deck-mounted light holder complete with sidelights, horn, and docking lights. And, as the name suggests, all of these parts are engineered to be quickly connected together by the boat owner.

It is obvious that a lot of thought went into this system, which is built from the highest quality marine grade materials. Everything is strictly first-class, from Carling switches and Faria gauges on the panels to the Attwood and AFI components in the light pod. All of these parts are then wired with the finest quality copper wire – tinned for superior corrosion-resistance. As you would expect, both the wiring and the circuit protection accurately anticipate the usual amp draw for each accessory.

This QuickConnect family of products assures that DIY electrical work can be done both quickly and safely – at least for pontoons. One wonders why a similar system couldn’t be offered for other types of boats?