Category Archives: Panel Rewire

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?

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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!

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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?

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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

Depth Deployment

Posted on by

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

Gauging Gauge

Posted on by

Hi Kevin,

I’m working on my pontoon and need some boat wiring advice.

What gauge wire should I use to go from a deep cell battery in the rear of the boat to an 55 lb thrust trolling motor in the front of the boat.

The overall distance is approximately 19 feet.Click to download Kevin's boat wiring size calculator

Pam

Hi Pam,

For a 12 volt trolling motor, I would run 6 AWG boat wiring. For a 24 volt trolling motor, I would run 8 AWG wire.

Also, here is a boat wiring size calculator that might be helpful for your future projects.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Sanity Clause

Posted on by

Kevin,

I’ve recently placed an order on your partner boat wiring site, but I have the butterfly’s about my marine electrical design.

Can you please give me your opinion (and a sanity check) on this boat wiring diagram?

Thank you very much!

Steve

Hi Steve,

Nice schematic!

The only change that I would make would be to run the top battery charger output to battery #2 either at the battery switch or directly to the battery. This will allow the house battery to charge in any battery switch position. If you want to also charge your engine start battery, simply switch the battery switch into either the ON position or the combine.

If your pontoon boat has a bimini top and you are planning on attaching your all-round white light to the top of the frame, you many want to consider switching to this navigation light kit, which has a light base that easily mounts to the frame.

Thank you for your order,

Kevin

Switch Advice

Posted on by

Kevin,

After considerable testing, it appears that my boat’s ignition switch is bad.

I have no boat wiring schematics and have found several ignition switches to choose from online.

Last year I bought several hundred dollars worth of really great stuff from your partner boat wiring site, EzAcDc. So, while trying to figure out which ignition switch to buy, I figured I might as well ask my favorite “electrical guy”.

Or, if EzAcDc sells switches, that works for me too.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Thanks Much!

Donatella

Hi,

Something like this will work great for you.

All of the terminals will be labeled the same. It should only take a few minutes to replace the switch.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Maybe it’s too loud

Posted on by

Kevin,

I just upgraded my pontoon boat with a new stereo 50 watt x 4 connected and matching speakers.

When the volume gets to 22 or higher the stereo kicks on and off. When below that it plays fine.

What is wrong?Turn it down?

Thanks, Mike

Hi Mike,

The power feed/ground wire is too small.

As you increase the volume, the current increases. As the current increase, there is more voltage drop in the wire. When the voltage gets too low, the stereo shuts off.

If the stereo is connected into your existing boat wiring, either increase the main power feed/ground for the fuse panel or run a separate new wire for the stereo.

This will solve you problem,

Kevin

Navigation Light Wiring

Posted on by

Hi Kevin,

I have a old pontoon with no navigation lights.

I put a red and green light up the front and a white light up on the pontoon bimini top frame.Attwood is the world leader in navigation lights

When I hook them up directly to a 12 volt battery they work great. I have an on/off switch, so I put the positive on one side and the negative on the other side of the switch it sparks and carries on, can you tell me what I need to do?

Thank you,

John

Hi John,

Here is the proper way to wire your simple navigation light circuit.

  • Within 7″ of your battery, install an in-line fuse holder with a 5 amp fuse.
  • From fuse, run a wire to one post on the switch.
  • From second post on switch, connect 2 wire leads. One will connect to one of of the wires on your red/green light and one will connect to one of the wires on your white light.
  • From second wire on red/green light and white light, connect wires to negative terminal on the battery.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

What wire where?

Posted on by

Hi Kevin.

I’m restoring my pontoon boat wiring with my daughter.

I’m hooking up the intrument panel and not sure what wire goes where. It is a 1969 Evinrude 55hp.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you,Boat wiring

Randy

Hi Randy,

Here are the standard boat wiring colors that should work for your project:

  • Red – power in
  • Purple – ignition power from key switch
  • Gray – tachometer
  • Pink – fuel quantity
  • Black – ground
  • Black/yellow – magneto ground
  • Yellow/red – start
  • Tan/white – trim position
  • Brown/white or purple/white – choke
  • Tan – water temperature
  • Blue – instrument lights

Hope this helps,

Kevin