Archive for the ‘Circuit Protection’ Category

There she blows

August 29th, 2011 by Marine Ac/Dc

Kevin

I have a 2002 Rinker Captiva 232 BR.

My transom light assembly blew and popped the breaker on the dash navigation light switch.

I reset the breaker and have nothing. In fact, nothing on that panel works including the radio! I still have the bilge blower and ignition. The rules of navigation lights for your boat wiring project.

Are there fuses somewhere or a main breaker that I could be missing?

Thanks!!

Justin

Hi Justin,

Your boat wiring should have a main feed breaker at the battery switch panel that provides the main power.

It is possible that your transom light tripped this breaker also. Some Rinkers used the ignition feed to power the blower. This would explain when the blower and ignition work, but nothing else does.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Anchor Lights, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Marine Electrical, Navigation Lights, Pontoons, Runabouts | Comments Off

Automatic Attwood

August 22nd, 2011 by Marine Ac/Dc

Kevin,

Hello and thank you in advance.

I have an Attwood bilge pump that I would like to install. It has wires with three colors – black white and green.

I want to connect the pump to a switch which is labeled Automatic, Off and Manual. The wires on the pump are Positive, Manual Positive, and Negative.

Could you please tell me which wire goes where?

Norma

Hi Norma,

Here is how to set up the boat wiring for your new Attwood pump:

At bilge pump:

  • Black wire to pump negative
  • White wire to pump positive
  • Green wire to pump manual positive

At the switch:

  • Black wire to ground (not on switch)
  • White wire to automatic
  • Green wire to manual

Supply power to switch using appropriate circuit protection.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Bilge Pumps, Boat Batteries, Circuit Protection, Cruisers, Harnesses-DC, Marine Electrical | Comments Off

Direct Connect Inverter

July 18th, 2011 by Marine Ac/Dc

Kevin,

I have had a Marinco ConnectPro 12V DC outlet wired directly to my battery and mounted on the outside of my boat. The plug end is wired to a 750W inverter.

I was trying to come up with a way to power my boat lift since I cannot get shore power down to my dock. I would rather not connect the invertor directly to my battery for various reasons. 750 watt inverter

I can plug in a small inflator and everything works fine. Using a bigger inflator or my boat lift, and both devices cycle on and off like they are getting power , then losing power continuously.

According to the web site, the ConnectPro is rated for 30 amps.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

They cycle off and on because the voltage drop in the circuit is too great – the wire for the circuit is too small.

As soon as the current starts to climb, the voltage drop in the wire increase, the voltage to the device decrease, and they shut down due to low voltage.

I would not recommend using the ConnectPro for this application. A 750 watt inverter has the ability to draw over 60 amps. Even if you size the wire correctly, the plug will still overheat.

I would recommend connecting the inverter directly to the battery.

Good luck,

Kevin

Posted in Boat Batteries, Boat Lift, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Marine Electrical, Shore Power, Shore Station | 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

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

Ammeter Wiring

April 25th, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Kevin,

I have a 1998 Trojan 400 Express (built by Carver). I accidentally shorted out my port side ammeter and lost the ability to conduct current through the wire to the meter. I checked the meter and it functions. I can’t easily trace this boat wiring to its origin. Faria ammeter

Is this wire fused? It was always hot, whether the battery switch was on or off. I don’t see it attaching directly at the battery, so I think it may originate at the input side of the battery selector switch.

I would appreciate any information you can share on this.

Thank you for your consideration.

Rich

Hi Rich,

The ammeter is usually a direct connection to the alternator output.

To protect the wire, there should be an inline fuse or circuit breaker near the alternator. The fuse may be a fuseable link the looks like a smaller piece of wire.

Good luck,

Kevin

Posted in Ammeter, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Cruisers, Gauge Panels, Marine Electrical, Pontoons, Runabouts, Sailboats | Comments Off

Hull Ground?

February 28th, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Hi Kevin,

My aluminum boat wiring has the negative returns and negative side of the battery all tied to the hull.

I would like to isolate the negative return and run all negative returns to the battery with the hull isolated.

My question is: What do I ground the aluminum fuel tank to? It is connected to the hull.

Thanks,

Scott

Hi Scott,

Grounding to an aluminum hull is un-avoidable. Some components just end up being connected. You are actually at risk of even greater galvanic corrosion if the hull is not tied to the negative side of your system.

I would recommending running grounds for all components and not using the hull as a conductor. To comply with the USCG requirements, the metal components on your fuel tank (the tank itself) need to be connected to the boat’s DC negative ground also.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Corrosion, Cruisers, Galvanic Corrosion, Marine Electrical, Navigation Lights, Pontoons, Runabouts, Signaling Devices, Switch Panels, Testing | Comments Off

Rectify This

February 7th, 2011 by Kevin Hannula

Hi Kevin,

I have a 1988 Carver 36′ Aft Cabin on which I just replaced the 12 volt batteries.

In the middle of this boat wiring project something didn’t seem right and I looked around the boat trying to figure out what. As it turned out, when all of the 12 volt batteries were disconnected (both negative and positive wires), turning on the house 110 volt AC resulted in the 12 volt bilge pump indicator lights up on the bridge to light up like a christmas tree (much brighter than usual). I also noticed a funny smell up on the bridge and turned everything off. The bilge pumps themselves did not turn on.Dometic Refrigeration

As I continued investigating I found that when I disconnected the negative starting wire to one of the engines and checked the voltage across that wire and the negative terminal of the battery my voltmeter read 0.00 V. However, as soon as I switched on the 110 AC power there was a voltage of 13.5 V (read on a DC scale). There was no battery charger plugged in.

I’m totally confused. Thinking that perhaps there is a short in the AC system going to the 12 V ground somehow. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Hans

Hi Hans,

My best guess would be the AC to DC rectifier(s) used for your refrigerator(s). I would turn off all AC breakers and then turn them on one at a time to determine which device is causing the problem.

With the batteries disconnected, the bilge pump switch light may have been able to receive a higher voltage across it from a leaky rectifier. When the cables are connected, the batteries become a filter for this higher voltage.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in AC Wiring, Battery Charger, Bilge Pumps, Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Cruisers, Galley, Marine Electrical, Refrigerator | 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

Six batteries to ground plate?

November 8th, 2010 by Kevin Hannula

Sir,

My marine electrical system has two 12 volt batteries in series and four in parallel.

Should I ground each boat battery (each negative of each battery) to my Guest Dynaplate – or just the negative one used in the end run?

Also, any problem with using the same plate for multiple voltage grounding (i.e. 12v, 24v etc.) ?

Thanks in advance

James

Hi James,

  • If your two 12 volt series batteries are only used for a trolling motor and not connected to any common charging system, I would completely leave them off of the Dynaplate – just run a ground wire from the ground bus to the dynaplate. Run a battery cable from the ground bus to each battery negative in the four in parallel pack and limit the boat wiring connected to each individual battery.
  • If you have a charging system similar to the BEP Trolling Motor VSR – do not connect the grounds to the Dynaplate.
  • If your four in parallel pack battery ground is already connected to one of the two 12 volt battery grounds, it is already tied to the Dynaplate.
  • If you want to keep the parallel batteries connected to the series battery, I would run a battery cable from your ground bus to the negative on the first battery in series. I would call battery #1 the one that has a negative cable connected to your trolling motor (or other 24 volt device) and the positive cable connects to the negative of battery 2. DO NOT run a cable from the negative of battery 2 of the 2-12v series batteries to your Dynaplate. This will create a dead short with no circuit protection and cause a fire.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Posted in Boat Batteries, Boat Wiring, Circuit Protection, Corrosion, Cruisers, Marine Electrical, Voltmeter, VSR | Comments Off
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