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DennisS
Contributor
Rig up a PVC frame and a tarp for shade,so you can move it around, that sun will fry you. I've been working on my boat for the last 3 weekends-it's hot out there. Ice water and shade are your friends.
Welcome to the wonderful world of boats, the people at west marine will soon greet you by your first name
Here's a good place for electrical supplies. You want the tinned marine wire
Genuinedealz > Marine Wire, Boat Wire, Boat Cable, Marine Grade
Have fun with your project
Welcome to the wonderful world of boats, the people at west marine will soon greet you by your first name
Here's a good place for electrical supplies. You want the tinned marine wire
Genuinedealz > Marine Wire, Boat Wire, Boat Cable, Marine Grade
Have fun with your project
Heath Sapp
Contributor
pete how are things going on her?
OP
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Slow. She's not a pressing project by any means. I keep exploring the electrical system and am amazed at how complex it is for just a few circuits. I am about to pull all the wires and just start over from scratch. The fuse panel is completely toast and none of the wires appear healthy. There's a lot of verdigris and cut wires here and there. The amount of tiny sized wires coming off ot both positive polls of the batteries as WELL as the positive poll of the starter is amazing. Its utter chaos.
Starting over sounds like your best bet, a new fuse/junction panel and wiring will be safe and reliable
DennisS
Contributor
There are three books that I would recommend, total cost would be less than $100 (marine electrician hourly rate)
1)Powerboaters Guide to Electrical Systems-Ed Sheridan
2)12 Volt Bible-Brotherton
3)Boat Owners Electrical-Wing
They break it down to simple circuits, one circuit at a time. There's no frame to ground things to
It's a lot easier sometimes to get rid of the spaghetti and start fresh.
OP
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I am struggling with switching power or switching ground. There are good arguments for both. In a car, the ground is always at the device, but not so with a boat. Most of the devices are near the batteries, so running a ground from the back of the boat seems reasonable. I think I'll just keep the fuse box in the cockpit area (drier) and so will run a single #8 AWG wire to the cockpit from the battery switch. Its a ganged fuse block using 10 blade style fuses. The fuse block has a detachable ground gang as well utilizing spade connectors. I think I'll mount that in the stern area or possibly get one that uses screw down connections.
I see that I will need these circuits that I will run on #12 AWG:
I see that I will need these circuits that I will run on #12 AWG:
- Engine Run (Breaker Point Ignition, electric fuel pump & Alternator)
- Engine Start
- Trim up
- Trim down
- Bilge Pump
- Running Lights
- Interior Lights
- Marine Radio & GPS/Depth Finder
- Engine Oil Pressure Light
- Engine Oil Pressure Gauge
- Tachometer
- Voltmeter
Peter_C
Contributor
I would never just rip out the old wiring harness. I would remove it with cutters in many places for ease, but mark where they came from. It is your current wiring diagram for your boat. Then you can start from scratch. I probably wouldn't bother going all out by soldering and heat shrinking everything. Too much work for a boat that only carries so much value. 
Heck first thing I would be looking to do was get it out on a lake and make sure it goes! Even if that required a jumper wire here and there.
Heck first thing I would be looking to do was get it out on a lake and make sure it goes! Even if that required a jumper wire here and there.
I am a strong believer in switching hot. This keeps the energized portion of a circuit in a smaller area which may help prevent problems if wires chafe or some other similar action. Also, I like to keep to one standard when wiring thing... helps me remember how I did it years down the road
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