Battery Running Down

[GoHogs]

No “Snake Oil” selling in my post and not from Kentucky. Real life personal experience as I have the same boat and “had” the same issue. Voltage drop (as read on Units) was not insignificant and causing both Units to blink when hitting start. As I also stated, the X2 alone did not fix my issue. I ran the dedicated 10g wiring to the Units and now holding 12.5v at the bow (longest point of the run) versus 11.6v. Very Simple $65 fix and everything is perfect now.

[RGK456]

Can we please try to help Mick rather than blow smoke up his arse to sell him stuff. Ranger runs a dedicated 12 gauge wire from console to bow terminal block, it's not a small conductor-it's rated for 20 amps and doesn't have a "very high" voltage drop in 10' to the bow terminal block. Mick's 9" graph pulls less than 3 amps! Let's please not condemn Rangers wiring on a 2 year old boat, it's more than sufficient!!! Mick is running a single 9" bow unit. Ranger runs a very large wire to the console, it's at least an 8 gauge, maybe a 6 gauge. That's the supply wire that feed all accessories, not the dedicated 12 gauge. Quite simply Mick and others can power up their console units and bow units and observe the displayed voltage reading and view the insignificant voltage drop!!!!! Mick has a 2018 Ranger, the wiring is more than adequate and doesn't need an upgraded "SNAKE OIL" harness. Micks battery is a 31 Interstate AGM, probably needs a new battery, they're not the best. This forum is for Ranger owner to communicate and help other Ranger owners, not promote and sell SNAKE OIL!!! Seems strange everyone from Kentucky has an issue with Ranger wiring?????

No SNAKE OIL here either. I will agree that the the video for the Sea Clear cables have errors. But, it’s a good product for those that simply want to purchase a pre made cable to length.

I have no ties to any of those products. And, yes I’m aware of the conductor sizes from the battery to console and bow. And yes, I was trying to help him and not sell him anything. And yes, regardless one does need larger dedicated wires to feed the loads of multiple electronics at the bow to eliminate excessive voltage drop.

Yes, there are cheaper options for cables, but that is what I used.

BTW, there is a 2.65% voltage drop in that 10’ of cable at 10 amps. That number #12 AWG conductor might be rated for 20 amps, but I sure wouldn’t do that. You would also have over 5% voltage drop at approx .6 volts drop.

Does he need a better battery, obviously yes. But, IMHO when have multiple units at both the bow and the console, you need to think about installing dedicated larger conductors to eliminate the voltage drop. When you add the VD from the small conductors on top of a battery that is discharging to a lower voltage and then add the battery voltage drop on top of that when you start the motor, yes the control heads will drop off.

With his single CH at the bow, the #12 installed by the factory is probably sufficient and all he needs is a better battery. Long term if he adds additional electronics, the factory wiring probably is not sufficient. Not putting Ranger under the rug, but for what we pay for these boats, a few minor extra dollars installed at the factory would be all that Ranger would need to do vs skimping on few pennies and making their customers correct poor engineering.

[JR19]

So its perfectly fine to agree that Interstate batteries have the reputation of poor quality but if a person thinks he can see better performance buy upgrading wiring its not okay. Even if he does not upgrade to 10 AWG I would recommend reading what his Lowrance install manual says. It may be possible Lowrance is okay with 12 AWG for the length of wire run he has. I don't know but I do know per: the Garmin install manual the Panoptics install directions diagram plainly shows the unit does not share power with anything. It also goes on show in the chart the extension cable from the head unit to the black box should be 10 AWG for 15 ft or less. It also states that the extension cable from the black box to the battery should be 10 AWG if 15 ft or less. Longer than 15 ft they recommend 8 AWG and longer than 23 ft they recommend 6 AWG. Maybe the people who think its okay to use factory wiring that is not 10 AWG and shares power with other sources should notify Garmin their install instructions are wrong. Again it will work doing it the way people are doing it with factory wiring but they can experience performance issues. For best picture quality, processor speed and units that do not blink, flash or experience other performance issues I would go buy what the Garmin install manual shows. Some people are okay with good performance but some people want great performance so you just need to ask yourself which one do you want and does the cost justify from going to good to great. If you feel my statement about wiring and how to wire the unit is wrong then please advise the manufacture they are wrong because I am just stating what's in the install manual about how to wire a unit.

[DoctorJJ]

Can we please try to help Mick rather than blow smoke up his arse to sell him stuff. Ranger runs a dedicated 12 gauge wire from console to bow terminal block, it's not a small conductor-it's rated for 20 amps and doesn't have a "very high" voltage drop in 10' to the bow terminal block. Mick's 9" graph pulls less than 3 amps! Let's please not condemn Rangers wiring on a 2 year old boat, it's more than sufficient!!! Mick is running a single 9" bow unit. Ranger runs a very large wire to the console, it's at least an 8 gauge, maybe a 6 gauge. That's the supply wire that feed all accessories, not the dedicated 12 gauge. Quite simply Mick and others can power up their console units and bow units and observe the displayed voltage reading and view the insignificant voltage drop!!!!! Mick has a 2018 Ranger, the wiring is more than adequate and doesn't need an upgraded "SNAKE OIL" harness. Micks battery is a 31 Interstate AGM, probably needs a new battery, they're not the best. This forum is for Ranger owner to communicate and help other Ranger owners, not promote and sell SNAKE OIL!!! Seems strange everyone from Kentucky has an issue with Ranger wiring?????

It’s not just the gauge of wire that’s pulled to the front. It’s all the connections and branches off of it before it gets there. I’m not from Kentucky, I have nothing to do with any of these wiring companies but I can tell you a SeaClear Harness absolutely fixed all of the issues I was having. After I had ruled out everything else, I bought one, installed it and presto. All is perfect.

[JR19]

It’s not just the gauge of wire that’s pulled to the front. It’s all the connections and branches off of it before it gets there. I’m not from Kentucky, I have nothing to do with any of these wiring companies but I can tell you a SeaClear Harness absolutely fixed all of the issues I was having. After I had ruled out everything else, I bought one, installed it and presto. All is perfect.

Please refrain from injecting valid facts into this post unless your from the hillbilly state. You will make the great people from the state of Oklahoma look dumb according to some people.

[electritek]

No SNAKE OIL here either. I will agree that the the video for the Sea Clear cables have errors. But, it’s a good product for those that simply want to purchase a pre made cable to length.

I have no ties to any of those products. And, yes I’m aware of the conductor sizes from the battery to console and bow. And yes, I was trying to help him and not sell him anything. And yes, regardless one does need larger dedicated wires to feed the loads of multiple electronics at the bow to eliminate excessive voltage drop.

Yes, there are cheaper options for cables, but that is what I used.

BTW, there is a 2.65% voltage drop in that 10’ of cable at 10 amps. That number #12 AWG conductor might be rated for 20 amps, but I sure wouldn’t do that. You would also have over 5% voltage drop at approx .6 volts drop.

Does he need a better battery, obviously yes. But, IMHO when have multiple units at both the bow and the console, you need to think about installing dedicated larger conductors to eliminate the voltage drop. When you add the VD from the small conductors on top of a battery that is discharging to a lower voltage and then add the battery voltage drop on top of that when you start the motor, yes the control heads will drop off.

With his single CH at the bow, the #12 installed by the factory is probably sufficient and all he needs is a better battery. Long term if he adds additional electronics, the factory wiring probably is not sufficient. Not putting Ranger under the rug, but for what we pay for these boats, a few minor extra dollars installed at the factory would be all that Ranger would need to do vs skimping on few pennies and making their customers correct poor engineering.

Mick does not have the load of multiple electronic devices on the bow of his boat. He indicated he has a 9" unit. BTW, his 9" unit pulls less than 3 amps, not 10 amps. At a generous 3 amps load he would experience a .009 VDC voltage drop or 11.905 VDC at his front graph with his Ranger installed 12 gauge wiring. Upgrading to a 10 gauge wire at 3 amps, Mick would experience a voltage drop of .06VDC or 11.94 VDC at his front graph.
How much time and money do you suggest Mick invest in upgrading the wiring in his 2018 Ranger to gain .035 VDC??? The factory installed wiring on his 2018 Ranger is sufficient for his application!!!!! Maybe he needs to check his battery and charger, not invest in a new wiring harness??

[electritek]

Please refrain from injecting valid facts into this post unless your from the hillbilly state. You will make the great people from the state of Oklahoma look dumb according to some people.

It is very hard to argue with facts, only a fool would try

Mick does not have the load of multiple electronic devices on the bow of his boat. He indicated he has a 9" unit. BTW, his 9" unit pulls less than 3 amps, not 10 amps. At a generous 3 amps load he would experience a .009 VDC voltage drop or 11.905 VDC at his front graph with his Ranger installed 12 gauge wiring. Upgrading to a 10 gauge wire at 3 amps, Mick would experience a voltage drop of .06VDC or 11.94 VDC at his front graph.
How much time and money do you suggest Mick invest in upgrading the wiring in his 2018 Ranger to gain .035 VDC??? The factory installed wiring on his 2018 Ranger is sufficient for his application!!!!! Maybe he needs to check his battery and charger, not invest in a new wiring harness?? This is a Ranger forum, not Craigs List.

[electritek]

Please refrain from injecting valid facts into this post unless your from the hillbilly state. You will make the great people from the state of Oklahoma look dumb according to some people.

It is very hard to argue with facts, only a fool would try

Mick does not have the load of multiple electronic devices on the bow of his boat. He indicated he has a 9" unit. BTW, his 9" unit pulls less than 3 amps, not 10 amps. At a generous 3 amps load he would experience a .009 VDC voltage drop or 11.905 VDC at his front graph with his Ranger installed 12 gauge wiring. Upgrading to a 10 gauge wire at 3 amps, Mick would experience a voltage drop of .06VDC or 11.94 VDC at his front graph.
How much time and money do you suggest Mick invest in upgrading the wiring in his 2018 Ranger to gain .035 VDC??? The factory installed wiring on his 2018 Ranger is sufficient for his application!!!!! Maybe he needs to check his battery and charger, not invest in a new wiring harness??

[JR19]

If you want to go down the worm hole of Ohm's law then I am familiar with how it works but before I go there no matter what size wire he has I would like to see how his owners manual describes the way it its to be wired. I would be surprised if it says anything other than head unit/disconnect/fuse and then battery. I would bet money the diagram does not recommend sharing power and recommends going straight from the unit to the battery wired as I just described.

[electritek]

We can go down the worm hole of Ohm's law, that's my area of expertise. I am Nationally certified ISA CCST, your credentials please??? Don't even think about blowing smoke up my ARSE Voltage drop, wire size, load charts are issues I deal with every day. Stop bashing Ranger wiring, it's more than sufficient for his application!!!!!!!!!! Troll on to another forum.

[JR19]

For those that believe tapping into existing factory boat wiring is the recommended way I suggest you contact Lowrance and let them they are telling the customer to wire their units incorrect. While you at it contact Garmin and also let them know they are giving the customer wrong information. Also let Garmin know that where they recommend 10 AWG wire for a 15 ft run they are wrong. The experts have spoken so use factory 12 AWG wire on a run and tap into a circuit that shares power with other devices...

This Lowrance owners manual is wrong per the BBC experts...

https://cache.tradeinn.com/images/pd..._hdscarbon.pdf


This Garmin owners manual is wrong per the BBC experts...

https://static.garmin.com/pumac/Pano...Install_EN.pdf


I am familiar with Ohm's Law, I can read an owners manual and I can look at a diagram and figure out how wiring is recommended but according to the experts here Lowrance and Garmin don't know what they are talking about.

[JR19]

We can go down the worm hole of Ohm's law, that's my area of expertise. I am Nationally certified ISA CCST, your credentials please??? Don't even think about blowing smoke up my ARSE Voltage drop, wire size, load charts are issues I deal with every day. Stop bashing Ranger wiring, it's more than sufficient for his application!!!!!!!!!! Troll on to another forum.

How well is your reading comprehension. Do I need to explain this on a more basic level in reply #9. I plainly said Ranger as well as other boat manufactures commonly run 12 AWG wire. At zero point in time has this been a Ranger bash so stop grasping from straws and start posting facts from the owners manual of the manufacture. The OP has a Lowrance I posted the Lowrance manual and page 24/25/26 in the install portion suggest directly to the battery.


So to the OP from my first reply until this one I have tried to help. My sole intent was to advise you so you can have better performance with the correct size wire and not sharing power with any other device. This post has turned into what seems like an argument and for my part of keeping it going I will apologize to the OP...with that being said I have joking said many times in the past that a person should not argue with stupid people because they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. With that being somewhat true I tap out on this one. I hope you resolve your issue and I hope you resolve it in a way that gives you maximum performance from your units.

[electritek]

Ranger wiring is sufficient. Mick doesn't mention a Garmin. All you are doing is trying to blow smoke. I would suggest Mick's boat was a cup boat and electronics were factory installed correctly. Go to Javelin forum and promote your snake oil theory.

[jc2bg]

You two guys can PM each other with additional remarks. Anyone who has read this thread so far has potentially learned something—maybe useful, and maybe not. But IMO we’ve reached the point in this discussion where mostly arguing for the sake of “being right” is taking place. And it doesn’t seem like either of you is open to persuasion. — JC