Category Archives: Voltmeter

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe it’s too loud

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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

Ear Shift

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Kevin,

I have an 2008 pontoon boat and I have recently replaced the radio and speakers.

With the engine off or running it works great. But, as soon as I put the motor in gear it the radio cuts out and you can just barely hear music mixed with a lot of popping noises. When I shift back to neutral the radio works fine.

Any suggestions as to how I should troubleshoot the boat wiring?Alpine Radio

Justin

Hi Justin,

What happens when you shift the engine while it is not running? If the radio still cuts out, I would look at the boat wiring for the speaker that is routed near the shifter.

If not:

Check the power supply to the radio. Connect a DC meter to the radio power supply, shift the engine into gear, and watch the voltage. If it drops, check your connections.

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

DC Outlet Testing

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Hi Kevin:

I’m stuck troubleshooting the DC outlets on a recently acquired pontoon boat, and I’m hoping you can help. Here’s what’s going on:

  1. With one exception, none of the appliances I’ve tried (GPS, USB/DC adapter, AC converter from Radio Shack, etc.) work; that is, they behave as if they are not plugged in. The one exception is the USB adapter; it works very intermittently, I’d say once in 50 attempts.
  2. Two DC outlets are wired into the same switch on the panel. Neither one functions.
  3. Using a voltmeter, I tested the voltage of both outlets, and they both match the voltage on the battery meter, so the circuit seems okay.
  4. I tried installing new outlets; no effect.
  5. I’ve tested two of the appliances in my car to test the appliances themselves are working, and they are.

With very little boat wiring experience, I’m now stuck as to what could be the problem, or what else I might test. Any thoughts?

Many thanks,

Tim

Hi Tim,

The best way to find your boat wiring problem is to have your voltmeter connected to the receptacle and then plug in a device.

If the voltage starts normal and then drops when you plug in your device, there is a bad connection/corroded wire in the system. Search connections until you eliminate the drop. The voltage drop across the bad connection (high resistance point) increases with current. Since the meter draws very little, the drop is not noticed on the meter. AS soon as you increase the draw, the drop increases, and your device will not turn on.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Which wire?

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Dear Kevin,

I am installing an hourmeter on my 26′ Sunchaser with a 200 HP Yamaha engine.

The positive side of the meter is supposed to be wired into the ignition circuit that has 4 wires, i.e. red, blue, green and yellow. As I only want the meter to function when the engine is turned on, how should I connect the boat wiring? Which wire do I attach to? I think it is the yellow one.Hourmeter

Thank you,

Arthur

Hi Arthur,

The easiest way to answer your question is either with a dc meter or test light. Test each wire individually to determine which one is the switched power when the key is turned on.

My best guess would be yellow, but use a meter to be sure.

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

Battery Switch Basics

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Hi Kevin,

I am redoing the wiring on my pontoon boat and am hoping that you give me a bit of help here!

Could you please tell me what the contact points are for a Guest Battery Switch 2111? I know the following:

  • Battery 1 is Contact 1 and Off
  • Battery 2 is Contact 2 and Off

    • Guest Battery Switch

  • Off is open both batteries Preventing the batteries to make contact with any circuit.

Now here is the part that I don’t know. When the switch is in the Both Position, is the conatct made between the Battery 1 and Battery 2 and off or is it just Battery1 and Battery 2?

I have a continuity tester and can check it, when I finally receive the switch for my boat wiring project, but I don’t have it as of yet.

Thank you for your help.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Your boat systems/engine are connected to the COM post. Battery 1 is connected to the BAT 1 post and Battery 2 is connected to the BAT 2 post.

  • When the switch is in the BAT 1 position, the COM post is internally connected to the BAT 1 post. The boat will run off of battery 1.
  • When the switch is in the BAT 2 position, the COM post is internally connected to the BAT 2 post. The boat will run off of battery 2.
  • When the switch is in the BOTH position, the COM post is internally connected to both the BAT 1 post and the BAT 2 post. Your boat will be running off of both batteries.

Hope this clears it up,

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

Engine Works. Gauges Don’t.

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Kevin,

I have a 2005 Sun Tracker Party Barge 24 with a 50 hp Tracker by Mercury Marine outboard.

I had the engine rebuilt due to a broken ring. After I got it back, I noticed that there isn’t any power to the console gages. But, you can turn on the ignition switch and the engines starts like it should.

Does the power for the console gages go through the motor before it goes to the console?

I’m thinking that maybe the boat wiring was hooked up wrong when the motor was reconnected. Can you tell me where I would need to look for the wire and what color code it may have? Also, do you know where it hooks up in the motor area?

Thanks Suntracker 24 Party Barge

Kenny

Hi Kenny,

The same boat wiring that provides power to the start position on you key switch, provides power to your gauges.

Usually, there is a red or red/purple wire in your engine wiring harness. This is the power feed to the ignition switch (position B on the switch). The gauges are fed power from the the purple wire coming off of the I position on your key switch.

If you engine starts, but the gauges do not work, I would check the purple wire between the ignition switch and gauges for 12v power and confirm that the ground for the gauges is still connected.

Hope this helps,

Kevin