New M360 Addendum-Drain Wire

[G48]

Just got the new M360 drain wire addendum:

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link...a-a194f1ef768f

It essentially says the drain wire is either grounded to the boat chassis or to a separate ground lug on a fuse panel...not twisted together or taped off.

[Wayne P.]

Well twisted together with the neutral wire is no different than connecting the neutral and drain wires separately on the same terminal strip.

[Wayne P.]

Also if the purpose is to have the negative circuit exposed to water grounding, that would eliminate a standalone battery for power unless a wire was connected to the outboard of a fiberglass boat, the hull of a metal boat, trolling motor housing, or an added wire exposed to water contact.

[G48]

Also if the purpose is to have the negative circuit exposed to water grounding, that would eliminate a standalone battery for power unless a wire was connected to the outboard of a fiberglass boat, the hull of a metal boat, trolling motor housing, or an added wire exposed to water contact.

So how would your analysis relate to a fuse panel connected to a house battery with these new instructions? Good, bad or indifferent?

[Crabnbass]

Twisted mine together. Guess we'll see what happens. I live about a mile from the ocean, so if it's going to rust I should know shortly.

[cevans]

Do NOT ground to the boat chassis especially if your boat is a aluminum chassis. You will loose the Mega 360 in your depth finder, have to default, maybe do a complete disconnect of the mega 360 and the depth finder,,it’s a pain and took me over 40 minutes to get my Helix 10+ MDI to even recognize the Mega 360 again. I have no idea what it will do to your units if grounding to a fiberglass chassis and the R& D division of HB in GA told me to either twist the drain wire to the ground wire and ground to your negative side of your fuse block or the negative battery post.

[cevans]

My Mega 360 now works perfectly with the shield wire and negative wire twisted together and attached to the negative side of my fuse block. I was informed the reason for doing this is to prevent rusting of the wet switches and screws that are used in housing on the outside of the Mega 360.

[lauzon4]

Wayne, you’ve probably had your m360 as long as anyone, have you experienced any corrosion or discoloration yet?

[Swampseed]

I did a on-line chat with Humminbird couple months ago and they told me to tape off drain wire. I have not had any problems with it, should I run it to the negative fuse panel??

[Wayne P.]

Wayne, you’ve probably had your m360 as long as anyone, have you experienced any corrosion or discoloration yet?

No I have no rust, do discoloration, and no wet switch issues with taped drain wire. I am using the same power cords that I used with the 360.
Some of the waters I fish, the 360 is in the water all day since the trolling motor is my only propulsion.

Just took this picture:

[cevans]

My personal opinion even tho it’s not scientific or fact backed is,,after 3.5 months of testing and finally getting my mega 360 to work and working with different tech support and R $ D HB Engineers is,,it’s a new product,,takes time to work the bugs out of it,,most everybody’s setup can be alittle different. There has been a couple of Mega 360’s that have experienced rusting of the wet switches and screws. Is the installion of the shield wire to a negative post or negative side of your fuse block a cure all? I don’t have the answers and I am not sure it’s a cure all. Time will tell. My Mega 360:works with the shield wire taped as well as I see no visiable change with it grounded to your electrical system. If it does prevent rusting,,I went ahead at the request of HB and grounded my shield wire as per instructions to the electrical system.

[G48]

My personal opinion even tho it’s not scientific or fact backed is,,after 3.5 months of testing and finally getting my mega 360 to work and working with different tech support and R $ D HB Engineers is,,it’s a new product,,takes time to work the bugs out of it,,most everybody’s setup can be alittle different. There has been a couple of Mega 360’s that have experienced rusting of the wet switches and screws. Is the installion of the shield wire to a negative post or negative side of your fuse block a cure all? I don’t have the answers and I am not sure it’s a cure all. Time will tell. My Mega 360:works with the shield wire taped as well as I see no visiable change with it grounded to your electrical system. If it does prevent rusting,,I went ahead at the request of HB and grounded my shield wire as per instructions to the electrical system.

I will do the same in case this turns into a warranty issue.

[C130]

I had my drain wire taped off on my mega 360 just like I did on my 360. Yesterday, I wrapped it around the wire going directly to the negative side of the battery and reconnected it. I have my mega 360 wired directly to the cranking battery via an in line fuse and a switch. Is this correct according to what Hummingbird wants now?

[lauzon4]

No I have no rust, do discoloration, and no wet switch issues with taped drain wire. I am using the same power cords that I used with the 360.
Some of the waters I fish, the 360 is in the water all day since the trolling motor is my only propulsion.

Just took this picture:

Thanks Wayne, I may wait a little while before changing mine. I just hate messing with something that’s working so well...

[19trx Patriot]

I have my m360 for almost a month with the shield wire taped and there r no signs of corrosion.

[tweakjr]

Is there a consensus on putting the drain wire to boat chassis or battery negative terminal?
The addendum and tag on M360 power wire seems to favor boat chassis.
My electronics battery is isolated from boat chassis.

Scott

[cevans]

Either twist the shield (drain) wire to the black negative and hook both to negative post of your battery powering your electronics, or fuse block if using that. Do not attach to boat chassis.

[tweakjr]

The drain wire measures 0.9 ohms to the screws on the M360 and measures 1.2 ohms to the M360 negative black wire.
Electrically there's not much difference between drain and negative black wire internally.
There may be a reason to ground the case screws of the M360 to the boat chassis when the boat is submerged in a body of water and pinging.
I've been following your issues, Cevans, so I see where you're coming from.
I'll start out by connecting the drain to the electronics battery negative unless I start noticing discoloration of the screws then maybe I'll experiment by grounding the drain to chassis.

[cevans]

Personally, everybody that had a gen 1 360 taped the drain wire. A lot of guys that got their Mega 360 first, taped the drain wire and had no issues. Then a couple of users in this forum had issues with rusted screws and wet switches. When I was having issues, the engineers at HB Informed me to ground the drain wire to prevent rusting and that they were rewriting the installation guide with these instructions to the fuse block or neg post of the battery. A tech support woman from the Main Jonson Office when I was in communication with tech support wanted me to ground the drain wire to the aluminum hull of my boat. I tried that and it was mass confusion with the Helix MDI + not recognizing the mega 360. Mine is twisted and ground to my fuse block opposite the power wire in the fuse block and have no issues. Enjoy the mega 360 as it rocks.