Archive for the ‘Testing’ Category

Marine electrical questions?

June 28th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Marine Ac/Dc attempts to answer your questions about boat wiring and marine electrical techniques, concepts, and products. We get lots of mail from folks in mid-project or who are just curious about their boat’s electrical setup.

There are loads of post already on the site which we hope you will browse through. If you’re trying to track down info about a more specific category, please use the search box in the upper right of this page or check out the list of various subjects farther down on this page.

If you aren’t able to find the info that you need to complete your particular boat wiring project, please send us an email at boatwiring@gmail.com.

Thank you for visiting. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that you will be able to come back often.

Posted in Battery Charger, Battery Switch, Boat Wiring, Bow Thruster, Circuit Protection, Corrosion, Cruisers, Gauge Panels, Harnesses, Marine Electrical, Navigation Lights, Pontoons, Runabouts, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels, Testing, Trolling Motors, Uncategorized, VSR, Wipers | Comments Off

Maxed Out

August 30th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Kevin,

I recently bought a used boat. It was improperly grounded and burned some of the boat wiring out. My mechanic repaired several problems, but one problem still remains.

When you switch on the ignition most gauges jump to their maximum. For example the trim is maxed out to the right no matter at what level the outboard really is. The oil pressure gauge does nothing. The tachometer goes clear to the right. The speedometer goes to about 10 miles an hour and stays no matter what speed the boat is moving.

Other electric things work correctly, such as the horn, the starter motor, the trim mechanism, bilge pump, bilge blower, and so forth. The stereo system, the marine radio, and GPS seem to be non-functional.

What is that it that can cause all gauges to fail like this? By the way, the boat is a 2002 Chaparral 180SE with a Mercruiser 3XL engine and outdrive. The boat has been badly mistreated, and has required a lot of work to get it functioning again.

Thanks for any suggestions you can give.

Steve

Hi Steve,

It sounds like you have a combination of marine electrical problems.

My guess is that you have more burned out wires.

You should start by checking for 12 volts at each gauge. + on purple and – on black

Then, using an ohm meter check the following

  • Trim position – brown/white – 60 ohms down 11 ohms up
  • Oil pressure – lt blue – over 240 ohms 0 psi 33 ohms 80 psi
  • Fuel – pink – over 240 ohms empty 33 ohms full
  • Tach – gray – test for continuity through harness to engine

As for the speedo, check for a plugged or melted pitot hose, if so, replace the hose. You should also clean up the pickup and check for a bent axle on paddle wheel

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Boat Wiring, Cruisers, Gauge Panels, Horn, Ignition Switch, Marine Electrical, Navigation Lights, Runabouts, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels, Testing, Trim | Comments Off

Test before replacing charger

August 23rd, 2010 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Kevin,

My boat wiring includes a Guest 2623 marine battery charger, it is about seven years old and the middle lights for the charger no longer come on.

Does this indicate that the charger circuit is bad and a new one is in order?

Thanks,
Dana

Hi Dana,

I asked a friend of mine at Guest Marine Electrical about your situation. He wrote that, “…this may be just be the LED is going out and the charger is still good. You could check the output of the leads to be sure. The charger will go through its algorithm as long as it has output.”

In other words, you will want to test the output voltage with a digital volt meter to see if the charge may still be performing even though the lights are not on.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Wiring, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Shore Power, Testing, Voltmeter | Comments Off

Boat wiring a chart plotter

August 2nd, 2010 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Kevin,

Just came across your web page and it seems great. I couldn’t find an answer to my question, so here it is.

I have a 1992 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer. It has two 7.4Ltr engines and 3 batteries. I want to replace the stereo and add a chart plotter.

My question is where do you run the boat wiring? I assume you don’t just splice it to another wire. How do you know which battery you’re wiring it to? Is there a buss somewhere that you tie in accessories?Sea Ray - Where Land Ends, Life Begins

Thanks for any info,

John

Hi John,

Your marine electrical setup has one battery for each engine and one for the house systems – your stereo and chart plotter should be connected to the house battery.

If you are replacing the existing stereo, I would use the existing power wires. These probably run from the stereo to a main DC distribution panel in the cabin or to a breaker panel in the helm. Stereo power boat wiring has not changed color for years. You should have:

  • Yellow (constant power)
  • Red (switched power)
  • Black for ground.

The speaker wires are:

  • White-white/black,
  • Green-green/black,
  • Gray-gray/black
  • Purple-purple/black.
  • You may also have a blue wire from the stereo that is the remote turn on for an amplifier.

Finding power for the chart plotter may not be as easy. In your helm, there should be a ground buss for the negative wire. You will need to do some exploring to locate an adequate power supply. I would look on your helm breaker panel for an electronics or helm accessory breaker. If one is open, use it. Confirm that the breaker rating is the same as the rating required by your chart plotter manufacturer. If too large, install in in-line fuse at the correct rating.

If a helm breaker is not available, your two options are to piggy back your power from another helm accessory or run a new wire to the battery or distribution are. Either way, install an in-line fuse as close as possible to the power source to protect the wire and your new electronics.

My preference is to piggy back your power from one of the helm breakers. Most plotters do not draw an excessive amount of current and it is much handier to have all of your circuit protection in one location.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin

Posted in Boat Wiring, Cruisers, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Testing | Comments Off

No down side to guessing

July 19th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Kevin,

I am replacing a Sea Ray 225 Weekender ignition switch 4 prong with a new 4 prong.

I understand the boat wiring color scheme however there are two red and purple wires that are exactly alike that could be the battery or the assessory wire. The only difference in the two wires is that one of them has a white tag on it that says I 03.

Any ideas which goes to battery and which goes to accessory?

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Unless the key switch breaks the connection between the ACC post and the BAT post when your are starting the engine, it really doesn’t matter.

You have two choices.

  1. Use a meter and test to see which wire has constant 12v+. This wire goes to the BAT post.
  2. Take a guess. You won’t hurt anything. If the ignition switch breaks the connection between the ACC post and BAT post during starting and your boat will not start, then you guessed wrong. Swap the wires and go boating.

Kevin

Posted in Boat Wiring, Cruisers, Gauge Panels, Ignition Switch, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Switch Panels, Testing | Comments Off

Reconnecting boat’s ignition switch

July 6th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Kevin,

I hope you can help me. I have a 1998(?) Starcraft pontoon (called Starfish 240 Classic) with a three position (OFF-RUN-START) push-to-choke ignition that I lost the boat wiring sequnce. I don’t know what color wires go on which prongs. Here’s what I have:

Boat Wiring Colors

  • Yellow w/black stripe (connects to center prong…that’s the only one I know)
  • 3 Purple wires

  • 2 Black wires
  • 1 Black and Yellow wire
  • 1 Red and Black wire

Six-prong ignition markings (reading clockwise):

  • C – is center prong
  • M – top
  • B – two o’clock
  • M – four o’clock
  • I – seven o’clock
  • S – ten o’clock
  • A – empty (no prong)

Thanks for your help.

Mike

Hi Mike,

See below. It appears that your are missing a yellow/red wire that would connect to the S (starter) on your key switch also.

Good luck,

Kevin

Boat Wiring Colors

  • Yellow w/black stripe – connects to center prong
  • 3 Purple wires – all 3 connect to the I post
  • 2 Black wires – both to one of the M posts
  • 1 Black and Yellow wire – the other M post
  • 1 Red and Black wire – B
Posted in Boat Wiring, Ignition Switch, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Testing | Comments Off

Boat wiring resource for boat owners

August 27th, 2008 by Kevin Hannula and Nick Kroes

Everyone at Marine Ac/Dc is very excited about the recent launch of EzAcDc. These guys could easily become the internet’s premier source for boat wiring systems and marine electrical components. Even with just their initial offering, they appear to be an excellent resource for boat owners.

EzAcDc offers engineered boat wiring solutions including:

We recommend their products and services without reservation.

Posted in Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Corrosion, Cruisers, Electrician's Log, Gauge Panels, Harnesses, Harnesses-AC, Harnesses-DC, Harnesses-Dash, Navigation Lights, New Products, Pontoons, Quality-Control, Runabouts, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels, Testing | Comments Off

How to troubleshoot a boat wiring voltage drop

June 10th, 2008 by Kevin Hannula

We received the following email from Jack about a problem that he is having with his Aqua Patio pontoon:

I have an on again off again electrical problem.

The boat is pontoon, Aqua Patio.  When boat was purchased the live well in rear had a factory problem.  the live well leaked over the switch mechanism; the boat yard rewired the system to a console accessory swich.  It worked for a few years but I am convinced it is a ground problem.

As soon as the motor receives current it works at a very low speed (not enough to pump).  The motor works when placed across the battery directly.  The voltage is 12 volts at the motor when turned on.  When the motor is hooked up and tested it may or may not work for a minute.  When motor is disconnected and the voltage remeasured the volt reading is somewhere between 2-6 volts.  I have voltage at the console but the same senario occurs when I connect and reconnect motor.

The boat is still out of the water so it is easier to track wiring.  It is so many splices because of the rewire that I hate to start cutting wires to isolate. The port and starboard rear courtesy lites I think do not work which are connected in the circuit.  Cell phone or portable courtesy lite receptacles are in the circuit (have never used but don’t think they work). The old switches that were part of the courtesy/live well circuits are disconnected and by-passed.

The new wiring to the console is blue to ground, the hot is brown.  The new circuit is connected to the black in 2-3 different places, of course, difficult places to get to, so dismantling is necessary.

Can you give me a starting point since it is difficult to trac this by yourself? Is there an isolation proceedure that can be done without cutting all the wiring?

Thanks.

Jack,

This is a common occurrence on boats that are made of metal.  Godfrey Marine, like every other pontoon builder, does not use the metal framework on the boat as a ground.  This helps prevent stray current corrosion (galvanic corrosion), but causes strange ground problems like the one you are having.

Another problem that occurs on pontoon boats is when the boat wiring harness is not properly secured to the underside of the deck.  Even if properly secured, wires can be damaged even under normal use, e.g., the wires could be caught by the trailer or perhaps damaged during a “stunt docking” maneuver.  Whatever the cause, the boat wiring may now be able to make intermittent contact with the metal framework of the boat.  While the resistance is high enough to not trip the breaker or blow the fuse, it can still cause extremely low voltage readings under load conditions.

The best solution to your problem is to run two new wires to your live well pump.  Disconnect the existing wires.  Connect a new ground wire from the negative of the live well pump (usually black wire) to your battery negative or a negative buss near the battery.  Connect a new live well power wire from the positive of the live well pump (usually brown) to the accessory switch on your console.  I would recommend using at least a 16AWG good quality tinned copper boat wire.

This is my simplest solution to your situation.

Good luck,

Kevin

Posted in Boat Wiring, Electrician's Log, Harnesses, Harnesses-DC, MarineAcDc Forum, Navigation Lights, Pontoons, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels, Testing | 1 Comment »