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  1. #1
    Member Meadows's Avatar
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    Mounting Active Target on ZXR

    I’m trying to mount a HDS Carbon 12 and active target in addition to the Helix 9 at the bow that the boat came with.

    A couple questions...

    1. Where are y’all mounting the AT module? Is it safe to mount it in the bottom part of the starboard rod locker?

    2. It seems that there’s only 1 bus bar beneath the bow panel and it only has enough spots for the existing graph. It also seems to be mounted to the fiberglass itself. Do I need to put a separate bus bar (panel) in to power the additional graph and the AT module?
    2022 Skeeter ZXR20
    Yamaha 250 SHO

  2. Member Meadows's Avatar
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    #2
    I take that back, it looks like the only bus bar panel below the bow plate is for the trolling motor wiring.
    2022 Skeeter ZXR20
    Yamaha 250 SHO

  3. Member
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    #3
    I mounted my livescope black box in the starboard rod box on the side facing the center compartment. I also ran new 8 gauge wire for the box and new 10 gauge for the locator at the same time. There was another set of wires to hook up to under the bow panel but I figured I might as well pull two pairs from the battery if I’m pulling wire in case I need more later. I used the large disconnect at the rear of the boat to kill power to both the black box and locator when I am hooking up the battery charger.

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    #4
    I agree with okskeeter, DON'T mount the box to the floor, use the side facing the center compartment.
    Be careful where ya drill or screw! That use to be my motto in life as a young man....

  5. Member Meadows's Avatar
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    #5
    So I mounted the box to the side panel of the starboard rod locker, but I still don’t see an extra terminal block to hook up the power, so I ran 8 gauge wiring back to the battery. But after looking at the terminal block at the battery that goes to the breaker, it looks like my 8 AWG might be too large? Did y’all hook up your wiring directly to the cut off switch or to the terminal block?
    2022 Skeeter ZXR20
    Yamaha 250 SHO

  6. Member
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    #6
    I hooked up an 8 gauge and a 10 gauge directly to the big cutoff switch at the rear of the boat once I had installed the inline fuses on each of the hot wires. Then hooked up the negative wires straight to the battery post. I haven’t had any problems at all after installing it this way and so far haven’t even had to upgrade the battery. I do not tournament fish and run livewell pumps either so if that were the case I may have needed a larger cranking battery than what came with my ZXR.

  7. #7
    My dealer mounted mine under the console behind the throttle. Plenty of clearance and is clean!

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    #8
    I'm about to take on this same wiring task in my '18 ZX225, which I believe is mostly similar to the newer model.

    I have the original dealer installed wiring to the helm and bow with a Lowrance set up and I just installed at 125aH Ionic to power these units and noticed a remarkable drop in voltage as you move from the battery (13.4V) to the graph at the helm (-1V) and another small drop in voltage at the graph on the bow. I'm not electrician, but it's clear that having various connection points such as a bus and the rocker switch that terminates power has a loss in voltage as you move down the circuit.

    This leads me to ask the question if you run 10g wiring direct from the battery to each individual unit without a circuit disconnect do you worry about any parasitic drain on the battery even if the units are off? I'll be running a Carbon 16 at the bow along with AT and a Carbon 16 at the helm.

    I honestly do like the idea of using the rocker switch as that is a simple confirmation the power is terminated, but will it affect the performance of my bow set up?

    Does anybody have photos they are willing to share of the placement of their AT (module/box)? I want to make sure where I'm mounting it is acceptable for screws (nothing hidden that I might tap into).

  9. #9
    My dealer put the module behind the hotfoot attached to the fiberglass, it’s so clean and doesn’t take up any space.

  10. Member Meadows's Avatar
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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by WattoFish View Post
    I'm about to take on this same wiring task in my '18 ZX225, which I believe is mostly similar to the newer model.

    I have the original dealer installed wiring to the helm and bow with a Lowrance set up and I just installed at 125aH Ionic to power these units and noticed a remarkable drop in voltage as you move from the battery (13.4V) to the graph at the helm (-1V) and another small drop in voltage at the graph on the bow. I'm not electrician, but it's clear that having various connection points such as a bus and the rocker switch that terminates power has a loss in voltage as you move down the circuit.

    This leads me to ask the question if you run 10g wiring direct from the battery to each individual unit without a circuit disconnect do you worry about any parasitic drain on the battery even if the units are off? I'll be running a Carbon 16 at the bow along with AT and a Carbon 16 at the helm.

    I honestly do like the idea of using the rocker switch as that is a simple confirmation the power is terminated, but will it affect the performance of my bow set up?

    Does anybody have photos they are willing to share of the placement of their AT (module/box)? I want to make sure where I'm mounting it is acceptable for screws (nothing hidden that I might tap into).
    I ended up finding a separate terminal bar that the existing graphs were using and had 6 gauge wiring from that back to a cut off switch at the battery. The cut off switch shouldn't create a drop in voltage and I would recommend using it because the Active Target module has the yellow "wake up wire" that you connect to the yellow wire on the harness to the graph itself. It wakes it up, but doesn't shut it off when you power the graph off so it constantly stays running. Evidently there was supposed to be an update from Lowrance to fix this but I'm not sure if it's out yet. Even if it does power it off, I've always heard that the graphs will draw a small amount of voltage even when powered off, so it makes sense to run it to a cut off switch.

    In your case I would just run your wiring harness from your AT module and Carbon 16 to a terminal bar, and 6 gauge wiring from the terminal bar back to a cut off switch at the battery. This is my second boat with this setup and running 3 graphs and I've never had an issue with just running a 31AGM Batteries Plus X2 as my cranking battery and all other power.
    2022 Skeeter ZXR20
    Yamaha 250 SHO