Switch Panel

[copyman96]

I have a 1994 Stratos 264 and I am trying to determine why I have no power to the switch panel. While cleaning out a spot in my garage to keep it I had it covered with a boat cover which was water resistant not water proof and during a period of heavy rains the water accumulated in the bottom of the boat and came up over my batteries. Long story short I got it drained and dried out but then noticed the trim button on the throttle nor the trim switch on the front of the boat would work. I pulled out the wires from behind the switch panel and it was corroded and a wire had pulled loose. I repaired it and that fixed the throttle trim but nothing works on the switch panel, the bilge pump, aerator pumps wont come on. The power switch doesn't light up on the switch panel at all. I have checked power coming in and cannot find anything hot. Is there a fuse somewhere under the console where the steering wheel is ? Everything on the main console works...all the guages work great just nothing on the switch panel. All the wires are connected to the battery. Can anyone help me get to the bottom of this ?

[billnorman1]

Get a new battery. The effects of being submerged can ruin wiring and batteries. What can happen is the electrolyte gets out of the cells and turns the area atop the battery into a conducting surface. I have seen this effect eat the posts right off the battery. You will probably have to remove the terminal lugs off the battery wires, remove corroded wire back to where it is not corroded and then properly install new terminal lugs. I could be wrong, but since you found corrosion at the switch panel, it too might have suffered electrolysis damage. I have literally seen the terminals eaten off the back of instruments after being submerged for less than 24 hours. I hope you are not "in this boat".

[JR19]

"Typically" there will be an inline fuse or push to reset breaker on the wire that feeds power to the master switch at the dash. At the battery start looking at the + post for a wire that runs to the dash panel. "Typically" the fuse or breaker is very close to where the + wire is attach to the battery. Mine is an push to reset breaker. It looks like a small box and it attaches directly to the + post and the wire comes out of the box, then it goes to the dash. Ones that have a fuse "typically" have a short wire coming off the + post then a fuse then wire that goes to the dash.

In a electrical circuit its best to have the fuse/breaker close to the battery/power source. If you don't have one there then it very well may be up under the dash near the end of the run but from an electrical safety standpoint its best to have the overload close to the power source. I would start at the battery and make my way to the dash looking for a fuse/breaker that is tripped.

This may not help but there is some wiring information on the sticky thread at the top of the Stratos discussion board here at BBC...http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=90567

Kind of late now but anytime you store a boat that has the potential to get rained on always remove the drain plug. If your batteries were submerged under water they are probably shot or have been compromised. billnorman1 brings up a good point about corrosion. The only thing I will add is once you get the connections clean apply some dialect grease to the connections and re-attach them.

[copyman96]

Thank you billnorman1 ! The batteries were submerged but the switch panel was not under water . The wire that I found corroded and the wire had came loose from the connector was running along the bottom of the boat going to the switch panel on the bow. I am going to get a new battery and start from there. Thank You again .

[copyman96]

Thank you JR19 for the information ! On my trolling motor battery there is a breaker mounted to the + post but there isn't one on the battery post that runs the switch panel so I will trace the wire to the dash and see if there is a fuse or breaker inline. The switch panel wasn't submerged but the batteries were. I had always removed the drain plug but on this occasion I forgot to do it. Thank you again for the help !

[billnorman1]

If you have a sealed battery it might still be good but if flooded cell the odds go down. Once you see a battery and control panel with the terminals and battery posts burned off when submerged you never forget. 12 volts can do strange things.

[copyman96]

Problem solved, I replaced the battery but that didnt help so I spent a couple of hours tracing down circuits and finally found the problem. A wire had come loose . Re attached wire and everything came back to life ! Thanks guys !!

[billnorman1]

Good troubleshooting. Beats a sharp stick in the eye.