Cleaning Up Stern Wiring

[Albertan]

In the ten years I've owned my boat, I've never had much need to go poking around the cranking battery since I removed the electronics to a separate system. But the boat's been in to the shop several times since then to add trim tabs, jack plates, electric downriggers, and on an on. Apparently, none of the shops ever thought it might be a good idea to stop adding stuff to the house battery studs and create a proper marine electrical system off the cranking battery...


So there is no more ignorance is bliss with this mess. I fish in some really remote locations prone to rough water, and this mess is becoming a potential safety risk. It's time to pull the battery out, figure out what wires are for what, and create a properly-powered fuse panel similar to what I did for the electronics system. Here's what I've come up with so far...



1) I'll need to add up the all the amp draws for everything to make sure another 125 amp fuse panel will be adequate. The plan is to then run the proper gauge of wire (as indicated by the attached chart), with a properly-sized circuit breaker off the positive stud of the battery. Energizing the fuse panel will be controlled by a battery switch.


2) I'm not sure if the main outboard is normally controlled by the battery switch, or if it should remain directly connected to the battery.


3) I've heard some people leave the outboard's tilt/trim wired directly to the battery so it can be operated at the boat launch without having to climb in the boat to turn the battery switch on. Is this viable? Are there even separate wires for this or is part of the main power for the outboard?


4) While I am thinking about it, is there anything that should bypass the battery switch and be wired directly to the cranking battery?


5) Any recommendations on how to determine what each wire is for without tracing them all the way back to their origin? That looks like it could be difficult for some of them. Just pairing the positive and negative leads is going to take a bit.


6) I'm not sure where I'll mount the fuse panel or battery switch as I have a new MK230PC charger to replace the MK106 currently tucked under the livewell. I think it's going to take most of the space between the battery and the current MK106.

[lpugh]

You have got to find a good marine tech or automotive guy that know wireing. This really is not a DIYS job, but if you attempt is,start by drawing diagrams and grouping devices by Constant power and switchet power. Plan out all locations of runs, buss bars fuse blocks and circuit protection before doing any actual work.
A word of warning most will say sure I can do that job, fact is most can not do it right. Ask to see their crimping tools and or work samples can tell you a lot.
Do not use the amp chart you have posted for low voltage DC current, it would be overkill and has no detail for circuits under 20 amps which many will be
The main power and ground runs should be on the heavy side tough as they are the longest and will supply the buss bars and fuse block
The down riggers should be kept on their very own circuit straight from the battery with their own circuit protection.
There are battery post buss bars that provide more connection points. Blue sea has a good line of supplies that will aid you in this job

[Albertan]

The work shown in the pictures is what the local "marine techs" put out...that's how I arrived at this mess. Short of a 1500 mile round trip visit to the west coast, I'm not likely to find anyone better around my parts (about 13 hours north of Montana in northern Canada). Based on how my electronics wiring turned out, I'm pretty sure I can improve the current situation with a little guidance. :)

I'm curious why the down riggers should be on their own circuits. I knew the bilge pump and charger cables went direct to the battery, but was not aware of the down riggers. Is it due to potential interference issues?

I'm thinking I'll run the outboard and kicker (electric start and electric trim/tilt) direct off the battery to a dedicated battery switch just for the outboards.

Any other tips, tricks and other feedback is greatly appreciated. Time to go out and pull the battery and start labeling everything. Wish me luck. lol.

[Albertan]

So among the many things (12 leads onto each battery post!) connected to my battery are my two cannon Digi Troll 10 down riggers. While reading through the manual to find what size fuse they need (30 amp each) I read that it is not recommended to run them off your starting battery unless it is recharged by an alternator while trolling. It doesn't appear that my 9.9 Suzuki charges the battery. I'm wondering if it might be prudent to move the down rigger leads to my TM bank. I wouldn't typically use the down riggers and the electric TMs at the same time (typically using gas kicker with DRs).


If that's doable, I would also like to confirm that I could connect the Pos & Neg leads for one down rigger to say Battery 1 in my 36v bank, and the leads for the other down rigger to Battery 2. Thanks for any feedback.

[lpugh]

So among the many things (12 leads onto each battery post!) connected to my battery are my two cannon Digi Troll 10 down riggers. While reading through the manual to find what size fuse they need (30 amp each) I read that it is not recommended to run them off your starting battery unless it is recharged by an alternator while trolling. It doesn't appear that my 9.9 Suzuki charges the battery. I'm wondering if it might be prudent to move the down rigger leads to my TM bank. I wouldn't typically use the down riggers and the electric TMs at the same time (typically using gas kicker with DRs).


If that's doable, I would also like to confirm that I could connect the Pos & Neg leads for one down rigger to say Battery 1 in my 36v bank, and the leads for the other down rigger to Battery 2. Thanks for any feedback.

...Yes you should and yes you can

[Albertan]

More information on the 12 leads that were on the battery.

1. Leads for the Suzuki 300
2. Leads for the Suzuki 9.9
3. Suzuki Precision Control fly by wire throttle system & Ignition
4. Warrior Rigging (two bundles - 10A, 20A, 3A, 15A, 3A)
5. Some yet undisclosed accessory (3A)
6. Lenco Trim Tabs (20A)
7. Atlas Jack Plate (40A)
8. Starboard DigiTroll 10 (30A)
9. Port DigiTroll 10 (30A)
10. Leads to the MK106 charger (replacing with MK230PC charger)
11. Warrior Leads for "Power Charge" system

The factory rigging has fuses in waterproof holders. I hadn't considered that could be a concern in the stern, but it makes sense. So now I am not sure if I should be wiring everything into a fuse block, or just wire everything onto a buss bar and keep the inline waterproof fuse holders and add them where aftermarket accessories were wired in without waterproof holders.

I was thinking about going with another fuse block for the Warrior rigging lines and the as yet unknown 3A accessory. I was going to energize the Trim Tabs and the down riggers directly off the battery terminals using a terminal mount fuse block. The Atlas Jack Plate may need to be wired direct tot he battery as I am not seeing anything rated for a 40A circuit.

As an aside, I think I may have an issue with my bilge pump but I'll make a separate post for that later. It looks like the wiring for the bilge is currently in the Warrior rigging.

[Albertan]

Thanks Leon.

[kry29]

Put the motor leads and the charger on the battery. The hot wire going to the cut off switch you can put the auto bilge(probably your misc 3amp fuse wire) or anything else that HAS to have constant power when your not in the boat. Your motor control might fall into that category but that I wouldn't trust anywhere except the battery itself. How I did my stuff after the battery cut off may be a little different but I have a wire to a buss bar for pos and neg that controls the talons and stuff in the rear of the boat and another leg that goes to the rod box for all electronics and such. You got me thinking but I'm pretty sure they are both running thru a main breaker, they should be.

[bobcoy]

Big job! The only comment I feel a need to mention is about hooking up to the trolling motor batteries. I am assuming you are not running your digitrols from your fish finders so that should not be an issue. However be aware those batteries will still be hooked to your DR's. The wires will still have the PWM noise from your TM on them. Routing close to your electronics wires(power and transducer) could cause noise on you finders. Bob

[Albertan]

My digitrolls aren't connected to my MFDs, since I am not running Hbirds. My electronics are in fact on a completely separate, isolated system. The wiring for my Digitrolls runs into the starboard side of the boat. My transducers are running down the port side. ;)

[Albertan]

Also, I'm in a bit of a holding pattern with this project as I mull over what kind of cranking battery to use and where to put it. Any feedback on that matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[rakkc]

recommend pictures before and after along with labeling all the wires so in case you ever have to rework anything you know where it should go, (Ptouch machine or white heat shrink and a fine point sharpie), I also installed adel clamps to secure all the loose wiring to prevent any potential chaffing issues, keeps everything cleaned up and out of the way, most of the time you do not have to drill any holes and can use existing screws holding something else in place.

https://www.amazon.com/ADEL-187-Adel.../dp/B0055EFQAK

[Albertan]

So I mentioned I had an issue with the bilge. First of all, when I couldn't find a wire on the battery that corresponded to the bilge I went exploring. It turns out power for the bilge pump is on Warrior's harness. The looped wires in the foreground in the photo run to the bilge and the live well pumps. I've never had an issue with my bilge. In ten years, I only recollect it coming on once when I forgot to put the plug in years ago. So the float switch and pump must be constantly energized through the harness. I also have a switch on my dash that allows me to manually activate the pump, which I have done several times over the years and gotten a small amount of water out that I presumed wasn't enough to automatically activate the bilge pump. The problem is, I'm not sure if I really trust this system. I'm thinking I should wire the pump and the float switch directly to the battery. Or somehow keep this pump as it is so that I can manually activate it, and add a second bilge pump wired directly to the battery. It's also a ten year old pump. Maybe it's time to replace it as a precaution. Thoughts?


The second problem I have is that the plate the bilge is mounted to has obviously come loose. I've read lots of people just leave their bilge pumps sitting in the bottom of the hull and don't worry about securing it. I'm not so sure that's sage advice. But I also have no access to the bilge area without pulling the fuel tank...major work I'm really not looking to undertake. Right now I cannot reach the pump...I only managed to lift it up by pulling on the wires. I was thinking about maybe putting a deck plate in the middle of my splash well to gain access to the bilge area. I see lots of marine boats have these, but I haven't come across them in boats I see around here...not that I've looked a lot.

[bqtoot]

Albertan - In reference to your bilge pump, the factory wiring is actually correct and meets ABYC/Coast Guard standards. Although you may not see the brown wire from the pump connected directly to the battery, it is still a constant hot wire. The factory harness has a constant hot lead (I assume red) down in the bilge that the brown wire from the pump connects to. The factory harness constant hot wire alleviates the need to run the brown pump wire all the way to the battery every time the pump needs changing (not all boats have the battery in close proximity to the pump). So the setup is a good functioning setup that I would not change as long as you know the pump is still functional. Many different ways to test that though. Adding an extra pump...to each his own.

[Albertan]

Thank you very much for the information. As I mentioned, the Warrior rigging harnesses were attached to the battery via two ring connectors (there were several leads connected to each ring). I'll try to test the functioning of the pump and float while I have the little access I do currently. Any thoughts on just leaving it in the bilge area without having it siliconed in position as it came from the factory?

[wmitch2]

WOW !! What a mess !! I'd definitely clean that up and make any trouble shooting 100x's easier and look 1000x's better !! Not really a difficult job, but will take some time, lol !! I'd add 2 mounted fuse blocks, one hot all the time for anything like auto bilge pump or what ever needs to have power all the time. and one that is switched so what ever is connected can be turned off when the boat is stored. Connect the motor wires directly to the Battery, then run a wire to the switch, then to fuse block 1 and another set of wires from the Battery to Fuse block 2. (un-switched)

[Albertan]

Yeah that's more or less what I'm doing. I think I'll just use bus bars and keep the inline fuses instead of fuse blocks though. I have some ideas for a panel when I get the black starboard in. ;)

[wmitch2]

Yeah that's more or less what I'm doing. I think I'll just use bus bars and keep the inline fuses instead of fuse blocks though. I have some ideas for a panel when I get the black starboard in. ;)

Yep, that'll work. I prefer the fuse blocks as then ALL the fuses are in ONE location and easily accessible.