Archive for the ‘Marine Battery Switch’ Category

Plane Pain

September 13th, 2011 by Marine Ac/Dc

Hi Kevin,

I have a 1991 Sea Ray 220DA with a 2006 Mercruiser 5 litre mpi.

Last time we were out on a trip, we were on plane and everything was fine. All of the sudden, we lost all power and the boat shut down.

After messing with the boat battery cables, the engine compartment blower came on, so I thought maybe it was just a loose connection.

I start the boat and go to get on plane and lose everything again, no power what so ever. Again I went through the wiring from the batteries to the battery switch and back to the starter and all seemed to be in good condition with good connections. So, after a while of just sitting there the blower comes back on and everything is back to normal.

Again, I start the boat and put it in gear and again it dies and we have no power. As you can imagine this was a very frustrating trip, this continued to happen the whole weekend and I never figured out the problem.

The last time it happened after messing with everything under the engine hatch with no luck I moved to messing with the boat wiring under the dash near the ignition switch just by giggling the wires blindly then all of the sudden we had power. I should mention that before just losing everything all of my gauges would bounce down to nothing then back to normal real quick and at the same time the engine would die for that second then back then do it for good.

So, obviously there is something loose and when we hit a wave or too much vibration we would lose the connection. After the trip, back at my house, I took the dash panel off and looked at everything but cannot figure out what the problem is.

Any thoughts on what I should look for? I don’t know what would cause total loss of power.

Hope you can help.

Thanks,

Dewayne

Hi Dewayne,

My best guess would be to look at the main boat harness plug on the engine. It is a black, molded plug that is about 1 1/2″ in diameter. It usually on the stbd side of the engine.

When you unplug it, the two big terminal pins are the main positive and negative that feed power to you helm and gauges. Intermittent connection of this positive pin would cause these problems. Engine temperature and vibration would amplify it.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thank you for your quick response.

I just checked the plug and you were right! I turned the battery switch on and the bilge blower, when I moved that plug the power cut, moved it again power came back.

There was a hose clamp helping to hold it in, so I loosened the clamp and pulled the plug. The pins looked ok so I plugged it back in and tightened the clamp. Seems to be ok, but was able to cut power by giggling it hard.

Hope this fixes my problem.

Thank you I appreciate your help,

Dewayne

Posted in Blower, Boat Batteries, Boat Battery Wiring, Boat Wiring, Cruisers, Ground Issues, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Marine Engines, Testing | Comments Off

Houseboat Grounding

May 31st, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I have questions on grounding both the 12 volt and 120 volt marine electrical on a houseboat. I have read the old threads regarding this matter but I am still thoroughly confused. Sorry that my post is long, but I am trying to explain clearly but simply:Boat Wiring Store has marine electrical products for your boat wiring project

Here is my set up:

The boat is 1976, steel hull. It has a shore power connection but because I am on a permanent mooring I do not connect to marina’s shore power.

Here are the original marine electrical systems and the boat wiring:

  1. 12 volt starting battery. Hot goes to engine starter and Negative cable on this battery is also landed at the engine. In looking how the engine is mounted, I don’t think that the engine (outboard) is isolated from the steel hull / frame.
  2. 12 volt house power: hot and negative battery cables go to marine electrical bus bars for each. These bus bars (hot and negative) then go to my 12 volt distribution panel, and to my 12 volt stereo/amp system. This 12 volt house system is not grounded anywhere that I can see. Question: Should it be grounded?
  3. 120 volt AC shore power system: Plug connection goes to a distribution panel. Typical 3 wire set up: Hot (black), Neutral (white), ground (green). I have not looked to see if the ground or neutral buses in this distribution panel are grounded anywhere on the boat. I don’t think it is, but I need to look again. Question: Should this be grounded? Because I am on a mooring, not in a slip, I never connect to actual land based shore power. When I do use this connection it is via my own portable generator on the boat. Fire up the genset, run a 30A shore power cord from gen. to shore power plug.
  4. New installation: I have connected a small 700W inverter from my 12 volt system just to run a few items (tool chargers, 120 volt rope lights, etc). The inverter has 2- 120V receptacles, no hard wire 120V. In the past I have plugged in an extension cord from the inverter to my rope lights. But, now I want to connect my rope lights through a permanently wired receptacle. I connected a 3-prong utility type cord (male plug on one end and open wires on the other). Intent to be to run this cord into a J-box where I could then run in conduit and wire to a switched receptacle for the rope lights. Funny thing is that when I checked the power coming from the 120V cord I get the following readings:
    • hot – ground: 110V
    • neutral to ground: 95 – 105V

    5. Is this correct? Shouldn’t this be 0 volts?

Everything works fine, but is this set up correct?
My biggest questions are: How should 12V system be grounded, How should 120V shore power be grounded (even though it doesn’t go to land based source), and is inverter power with current going through neutral correct?

Thanks very much for any help or clarity you can provide.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Regarding each of your boat wiring questions:

  1. You are correct. The engine is not isolated.
  2. The negative from your house battery should be tied to negative on your starting battery.
  3. Your AC ground and DC ground need to be connected to give a low resistance path to ground in the event of a major fault.
  4. Should be 0 volts.  Neutral and ground should be tied together at the inverter.
  5. AC ground should be connected to DC ground.  You should have a voltage reading of 0 Volts between AC ground and AC neutral.

I hope that this is helpful.

Kevin

Posted in AC Wiring, Battery Charger, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Corrosion, Cruisers, Galvanic Corrosion, Generator, Ground Issues, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Shore Power, Voltmeter | Comments Off

Twin Inboard Wiring

May 23rd, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Hello Kevin,

I’m trying to figure out my boat wiring and whether it is how it really should be wired.

It’s a twin inboard engine boat with two starter batteries and a house bank. The system includes a generator and Magnum inverter/charger. There’s also a Magnum Smart Battery Combiner wired in, as well as VSR smart battery switches on both starter batteries.

It appears that the house batteries only supply the inverter – all the 12 volt house load is on the starter batteries.A smart battery switch system takes a lot of confusion out of your marine electrical setup

There are also 3 battery on/off switches. One for each starter battery. The other is inline with the generator but I’m not sure which battery – I’m still investigating.

Given these components, how would you recommend that I hook everything up?

Thanks for your help!

Sang

Hi Sang,

My recommendation would be to either connect the 12 volt house loads to the house battery bank or add a second bank for your house and keep the inverter separate. My preference is to always have fresh starting batteries (or at least one).

If you add a bank, you can simply add another VSR smart battery switch between the house and inverter bank to allow all batteries to be charged while your engines are running.

Happy boat wiring,

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Runabouts, VSR | Comments Off

Which Wire Where?

May 9th, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I have a 2004 Trophy 2002 boat with dual batteries and a battery switch (off, 1, 2 both).Boat Wiring Store offers the internet's most complete line of battery cables.

I am confused with the boat wiring for the batteries.

  • The battery on the left facing the back of the boat has two wires. I assume red for positive and yellow is negative. I really can’t see where they are coming from.
  • The other battery  where the battery switch is located has a red wire coming from the battery switch which I assume is positive and a yellow coming from a grounding block (at least that what it looks like) which I assume is negative to the battery.

Then I have two more wires one black and one yellow. I assumed negative but not sure if I am correct and what they are for. Do you have any explanation if I connected these wires correctly or what those two extra wires are for?

Thanks,

Frank

Hi Frank,

Before making any assumptions on which wires connect to which posts on your battery, I strongly recommend tracing them to their origin.

In general, Red is battery positive and Black or Yellow is battery negative.

If you trace the red wires to a battery switch or distribution panel, you can assume these are the positive leads.

If you trace the yellow and black to a ground bus or engine negative terminal, you can assume these are the negative leads.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Galvanic Corrosion, Ground Issues, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Testing, Voltmeter | Comments Off

Boat Wiring Standards

May 2nd, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I understand the need to switch the positive wire in a car’s electrical system, but why is it standard practice to do it on a boat that does not have a chassis ground?

I am working on a solid state circuit that would be far easier and cheaper to build if I can switch the negative lead. Is this just unconventional or will ABYC frown on it if I mass produce it for the marine market?

Thank you,Setting standards for safer boating

Kurt

Hi Kurt,

ABYC E-11.6.2.1 reads “A battery switch shall be installed in the positive conductor(s) from each battery or battery bank with a CCA rating greater than 800 amperes”. There are exceptions for trolling motors and emergency equipment but nothing for switching the negative side. The NMMA has adopted the AYBC standard for their electrical inspection. Most of these standards were written when all pumps were metal case without safety grounds and most hoses were conductive.

I see the benefits for both a negative switched and a positive switched system, but getting the industry to re-write the standard would be a challenge. I would first contact the ABYC to see when the next E-11 technical committee is meeting and find out if you can attend.

Kevin

Posted in ABYC, Boat Wiring, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, New Products | Comments Off

Boat Wiring Diagram for 1966 TriHull?

March 7th, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

Ok, so I just recently purchased a 1966 18ft Caravelle trihull boat. Caravelle Trihull

Are there any boat wiring diagrams or anything like that for me to use for the rebuild?

Jake

Hi Jake,

Probably not. You may be able to use our standard boat wiring color table combined with a meter to decipher the wires. Most likely you will end up pulling new wires for circuits that just don’t work anymore.

Our partners at EzAcDc have everything from bulk boat wire to snap together boat wiring systems that would work great in your boat.

Good luck,

Kevin

Posted in Bilge Pumps, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Gauge Panels, Harnesses, Harnesses-Dash, Harnesses-DC, Horn, Ignition Switch, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Navigation Lights, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels, Trim, Voltmeter, VSR | Comments Off

How many VSRs?

December 20th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I have a 1988 32′ Bayliner with two engines. There are four batteries on the boat: two for starting -one battery for each engine – and two batteries for the house.

I am considering the addition of a VSR smart battery switch to my marine electrical. How would I do the boat wiring for this? Would I need more than one VSR?1988 Bayliner 32

Also, I have two battery selector switches, one for each bank, shore power, and battery charger.

Bill

Hi Bill,

I would recommend two VSRs for your application. One between your port engine and house battery and another between your starboard engine and house battery.

Each VSR would be connected around your battery switches.

  • Run an 8 awg wire from one VSR terminal to the BAT1 post on your battery switch and another 8 awg wire from the other VSR terminal to the BAT2 post on your battery switch.
  • Bat 1 for each switch will be the respective engine battery and Bat 2 will be the house battery bank.
  • Under normal operation, put both battery switches in Pos1. The engine will charge its battery first and then charge the house battery bank.
  • If only one engine is running or only one alternator is working, once the house battery has charged above 13/7 volts, the VSR on the other engine will engage and charge the other engine battery.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Cruisers, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Shore Power, VSR | Comments Off

Smart switching with two alternators?

December 6th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula

Hello,

I’m replacing all of the batteries and the battery charger on my marine electrical system.

I have two starters (one for each engine), and a house bank of batteries. I’m going to install a new two or three channel three-stage electronic charger for the batteries. Volvo Penta alternator

The one part I’m not clear on is what I need in between the two alternators (one per engine) and the starter and house batteries. Should I use just one VSR smart battery switch in between just one of the starter batteries and the house bank? Or, is there someway to wire all three together using multiple VSRs?

Thanks for the help,

Jason

Hi Jason,

I would recommend two VSRs for your boat wiring.

You will want one between your port engine and house battery and another between your starboard engine and house battery. Each VSR would be connected around your battery switches.

  • Run an 8 AWG wire from one VSR terminal to the BAT1 post on your battery switch
  • Run another 8 awg wire from the other VSR terminal to the BAT2 post on your battery switch
  • Bat 1 for each switch will be the respective engine battery and Bat 2 will be the house battery bank
  • Under normal operation, put both battery switches in Pos1. The engine will charge it’s battery first and then charge the house battery bank.
  • In an emergency situation, turn your battery switch to either BOTH to get your engine started.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Cruisers, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Runabouts, VSR | Comments Off

Fuse placement and size

November 29th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I am fixing my marine electrical system and after a lot of reading and forum exchanges I came up with this boat wiring diagram.

The problem is, I can’t figure out the size of the fuses on the wires from the two banks to ACR and the boat battery switch. Currently there are no fuses at all, and the previous owners did not have any problems for many years. From the common on the switch power is used for navigation lights, cabin lights, anchor lights and stereo system. Nothing else.The boat wiring diagram

Is my diagram working? What size should the fuses be?

Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Horia

Hi Horia,

All circuit protection should be as close as possible to the source of power.

With the marine electrical setup in your diagram, if you put the battery switch in the both position, the fuses in the leads between the battery switch and the battery with blow when you start the engine.

I would remove both of these fuses and use a minimum of 2 AWG between the boat batteries and the switch. I would use a minimum of 2 AWG for the ground wires between the batteries and the boat ground bus. If the ground bus is petite, I would run my common ground wire from battery negative to battery negative or increase the size of the bus.

There should be circuit protection in the lead that runs from the common on your battery switch to your distribution buses. This should be sized at either the load requirements of your distribution system or the maximum current carrying capacity of the components leading up to the load center. For example, if you panel board requires 100 amps, but it is fed by a 10 AWG 105C wire, I would feel safe with a maximum breaker size of no more than 50 amps.

The lead from your battery to your bilge pump and stereo power bus bar should also have circuit protection. The individual leads to your bilge pump and stereo should also have circuit protection. Determine the bus protection rating based on the total size of the loads and the individual lead protection based on the requirements of the components.

Here is a link to determine the size of the fuse required for your ACR.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Thank you very much.

I only have one question. The outboard is directly connected to Bank 1. Why do you say that the fuses between the batteries and main switch will blow if the switch is on C?

Best,

Horia

Hi Horia,

If the battery switch is in the both position, the batteries are connected in parallel. The engine will try to start from both batteries and blow the fuses.

Thanks

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Cruisers, Ignition Switch, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Shore Power, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels | Comments Off

Big Boat Battery Basics

November 1st, 2010 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I have twin Volvo engines and Westerbeke generator and would like your advice on my marine electrical setup.

With both engines running and/or generator running with all batteries combined is there a conflict from the three alternators? Do they all put out equally or is one of them going to do most of the work?

Engines are each about 65 amp and generator is 50 amp. Then with generator running, I have built-in charger connected to house and start batteries.Westerbeke Generator

I am looking for a couple of options on how the boat wiring could be set up? All alternators are factory. Starboard engine cranks off house agm batteries and port and generator crank off a single battery bank.

Bo

Hi Bo,

This is a very common marine electrical configuration. The batteries limit the output and there should be no harm to your alternators.

My preference would be to have a battery for each engine and a separate battery or bank of batteries for the house/generator.

Two options configuring your boat wiring:

Manual switch operation

  • Use a battery selector switch for each engine.
  • The port engine start cable is connected to the common post on the switch.
  • The port start battery is connected to the #1 post on the switch and the house battery bank is connected to the #2 post.
  • The starboard engine start cable is connected to the common post on the switch.
  • The starboard start battery is connected to the #1 post on the switch and the house battery bank is connected to the #2 post.
  • The generator is connected directly to the house battery.
  • The house loads are connected to the house battery with circuit protection.

How it works

  • While underway, run the battery switches in BOTH,1, or 2. BOTH parallels the entire system, 1 will run the engines only off of their start batteries, and 2 will run the engines only off of the house battery.
  • While anchored or running DC loads without the engine running, put the switches in any position BUT BOTH. This will help prevent a dead starting battery. If one engine battery is dead, put both battery switches in the BOTH position to perform an emergency parallel

Automatic

  • Use an on/off battery switch for each engine.
  • The port engine start cable is connected to one post on the switch.
  • The port start battery is connected to the other post on the switch.
  • The starboard engine start cable is connected to one post on the switch.
  • The starboard start battery is connected to the other post on the switch.
  • Use an on/off battery switch between the port and starboard engine batteries as an emergency start switch. This would be connected between the two positive battery posts.
  • Install a VSR between your port engine battery positive and your house battery positive.
  • Install a second VSR between your starboard engine battery positive and your house battery positive.

How it works

  • While underway, turn both engine battery switches on. The VSR will do all of the logic that decides when to start charging the house battery.
  • There is no need to change the battery switch position while you are anchored. The VSR will automatically disconnect the circuit between the house battery and the engine battery if the system voltage starts to drop.
  • The third ON/OFF battery switch is only turned on in a emergency start situation.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Battery Charger, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Cruisers, Marine Battery Switch, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Shore Power, VSR | Comments Off
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