Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Cedar City, Utah
    Posts
    36

    Livescope Wiring

    I previously had a 73sv Chirp on the console and a 73cv Chirp on the bow, with a PS22 on the trolling motor. I bought the Livescope system, which means upgrading to Echomap Plus units. I wanted them to share data, so I ended up getting two 93sv units, the network port expander box and the Livescope system (Merry Christmas to me). My boat already had an accessory lead on the bow that I used to power the 73cv and the PS22. I'm pretty sure the wires are 18 awg. Now I have to power the 93sv, Livescope black box and network expander box all on the bow. The instructions for Livescope call for wiring directly to the battery with the 7.5 amp fuse 8 inches from the battery. It calls for 10 awg if adding a 15' extension. Does the black box really draw that many amps? Would I be ok powering all three things from my existing leads or am I going to have to run more wiring up to the bow. Any suggestions and comments are appreciated.

  2. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Fontana, NC
    Posts
    5,460
    #2
    You are in a difficult situation. You are asking if it's going to be okay to significantly deviate from the instructions. You may not find many people willing to do that. Most of us tend to go in a different direction and go beyond the instructions in the other way. My suggestion is to install a Blue Seas fuse panel. Size the wire by what it would take if the fuse panel was full.
    My wife asks if I'm going to fish every day. I can't fish every day. Some days I might be sick.

  3. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Cedar City, Utah
    Posts
    36
    #3
    I’m sure that’s the safe play. I actually already have a Blue Sea panel, switch and wire saved in my amazon cart. After spending this much money to upgrade my system, the last thing I want to do is cause a problem with faulty wiring.

  4. BBC SPONSOR BassFishin Electronics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    523
    #4
    I had mine wired to the factory wiring and I had power issues. I ran 12 awg directly to the battery and it has resolved my problems. I think it does draw quite a bit bc I had my starting battery die on me and it’s brand new. There was a combination of things like not running much, etc but I never had the issue until I installed Livescope.

  5. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Cedar City, Utah
    Posts
    36
    #5
    I ordered some marine 10 awg, but I think that's probably overkill based on the length of wire I'm running, but oh well, too late to change the order. I'll be powering the 93sv, the network expander box and the Livescope off that 10 awg and fuse block, so I guess bigger can't hurt. The main power leads from the factory coming off my battery are only 12 awg. I'm sure there's a Garmin guy on here who knows better, but I was talking to an electrical guy from the railroad who works on complex electronics and he suspected that the circuitry in the Livescope black box may not like voltage drop and that's why the manual calls for such heavy wire when running an extension.

  6. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Imperial, Missouri
    Posts
    360
    #6
    I'm getting ready install this same setup and I have to say I wasn't preparing to run 10GA wire to do so. Honestly I'm surprised by the requirement given 7.5a fuse. Makes me wonder how many of the "thousands" of installs actually pulled a 10ga wire for this...and/or how many of those who didn't are actually having issues.

    I was planning to run 12ga wire from accessory battery to 30amp toggle at the helm. From the toggle I was planning to power a small fuse block at the helm and small fuse block at the bow. Powered from this setup would be (2) 93sv, network expander, LiveScope, NMEA backbone, USB phone charger. The toggle would be a power switch for all.

  7. Banned
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Florence Al
    Posts
    1,308
    #7
    Quote Originally Posted by tobyfrommo View Post
    I'm getting ready install this same setup and I have to say I wasn't preparing to run 10GA wire to do so. Honestly I'm surprised by the requirement given 7.5a fuse. Makes me wonder how many of the "thousands" of installs actually pulled a 10ga wire for this...and/or how many of those who didn't are actually having issues.

    I was planning to run 12ga wire from accessory battery to 30amp toggle at the helm. From the toggle I was planning to power a small fuse block at the helm and small fuse block at the bow. Powered from this setup would be (2) 93sv, network expander, LiveScope, NMEA backbone, USB phone charger. The toggle would be a power switch for all.
    The guy that does mine installs every boat with 10ga to the bluesea under the console and 12 from there to every device on the bow. He uses some kind of high quality heat shrink fitting and a good fuse holder. He does at least three pro boats this way and has done a lot of others. Many of his installs are four 12 inch units and one is actually a five mixture of 12 and 10 inch. He says that not a single person has come back to him with a power issue. SInce I have 1/10th of a volt drop from battery to bow I believe it.