boat schematic

[KGCommo]

Just wondering if anyone out there has a wiring schematic for a single battery boat. I bought an old Savage Ranger in need of a little TLC (totally stripped down) and all I have left is to re-wire it. Just want to make sure I do it right.

Cheers

[Noelm]

don't think such a thing would exist, most are just wired according to the owners uses, and stuff is added and removed as the years go by, it is a pretty simple thing really, if you don't feel confident, call a mobile guy to come and do it.

[Zooter]

Im with NoelM Mate, I personally went down the dual Battery road as i knew i would be adding 12VOLT devices, (sounder,radio,navlights,bilge,etc) and didnt want to spoil my fishing trips stressing out whether there would be enough charge left to crank my motor over when its time to go.

I didnt have a clue on how to wire it up , Just took my time and did it myself, And asked a shytload of questions on forums like this :P Nothing better than the self satisfaction of doing something urself and saving a few bucks on the way :)

GL with it!

[mowerman]

Gday mate.

Totally rewired the old Haines about 3 years ago.
Dual batteries but they are not connected thru a switch.

Main battery, 660CCA, runs the 90 yam, gauges, trim and tilt and auto bilge pump.

2nd battery,420CCA, runs all the electrics, radios, sounder , lights etc.
This battery also has enough grunt to crank the motor if needed.
Just a matter of undoing a couple of wing nuts and moving the cables.

Main gets most of its charge from the motor. I just use a 5w solar panel to trickle charge the 2nd batt. And if I havent been out for over a week I put the panel on the main batt for a couple of days.

Before I got the solar panel I used to charge the 2nd batt after about 6 bay trips.

Hope this helps.

Also, with 12volt, everything must go thru a fuse.


Rod.

[BM]

KG,

I started a long winded explanation for a single batt setup but then figured bugger it, it was easier to draw it for you.

Enjoy.

Cheers,

Nick

[KGCommo]

Thanks people. And thanks Nick for the diagram.

Just one question: Do i require a buss bar for both the positive and negative wires or just the Negative?

Looking forward to wiring it up on the weekend.

Cheers
Aaron.

[Noelm]

for neatness and service later on, a connector/buss bar fitted and correctly labled for both Pos and Neg is a good idea, in fact if you don't care about tidy and service, you could just "twist" all the negs together and solder them and cover in tape, same goes for the Positive side, but 6 months down the track, you might need to add something else, or have a fault in an item, it then becomes a nightmare if it is not all set out well.

[BM]

Yep KG, as noel said.

Having a buss bar means you have very easy connection of equipment, easy wire tracing when fault finding and its simply a professional and neat way of setting out wiring.

Mind you, most recreational boats are a bloody birds nest with 50% of it not even used and belonging to no longer present equipment etc etc

You can make your own buss bar out of a plastic terminal strip that you get from Dick Smith or Jaycar etc etc. Run a set of wire links along the top or bottom row to common up all the terminals. Join your main "power in" cable to one end of the buss bar (wire link side) and then you have a full set of linked terminals. The plastic type allows you to be as long as you want to cater for future devices.

Or you can buy a dedicated buss bar. Much more expensive than the above option but you don't have to spend any time turning it into what you want it to be.

cheers

[codseeker88]

hi could u draw me a diagram of a duel battery set up where a solenoid exists between the 2. i want to run the leccy off the deep cycle up the front and when that battery gets down i want the solenoid to cut out the 2nd battery allowing me to still start my motor with the charged aux battery.. all my lights,finder,pumps will run off the AUX battery. could you possibly help me out on this? it would be GREATLY appreciated!

leigh

[Zooter]

Depends on what ur gunna use m8,

I got the sidewinder VSR, orsm unit.

This will automatically isolate your cranking battery when your motor is off.

It basically has 3 connections,

I think...

the left positive is your to your cranking battery
middle is Negative/earth
th right positive goes to your 2nd/AUX battery

ok just read ur post again and am confused.lol

So how many batteries do you have m8?

Cranking, Aux , plus a deep cycle for your lekky??

[TheRealAndy]

for neatness and service later on, a connector/buss bar fitted and correctly labled for both Pos and Neg is a good idea, in fact if you don't care about tidy and service, you could just "twist" all the negs together and solder them and cover in tape, same goes for the Positive side, but 6 months down the track, you might need to add something else, or have a fault in an item, it then becomes a nightmare if it is not all set out well.

Have to laugh at this one as the latter is exactly how my boat is wired. Its a complete dogs breakfast. You would think being trade qualified as an instrument tech (sparky) I would know better. Considering I also spent quite a few years doing electrical engineering makes it even worse. I keep promising myself that I will get in there and fit a nice box box with busbars etc but I just never seem to have the time.

So here is a tip, do it right first time ;D cause once you have wired it you will never change it!

I have not had any problems yet but trust me, i wont be surprised when it happens!

[Noelm]

I know exactly what you mean, I installed another radio to my Boat and just "hooked it up" quick, because I will do it properly later, that was a year ago, it is still just as it was, but I now have some other dramas (long story) and will rewire the whole lot again now.

[Heath]

Nick pic BM. But shouldn't there be a fuse between the battery & bussbar?
15 - 20A would be plenty & then all electronics will be individually fused as per their installation instructions.

If rewiring the whole lot, make sure you use LED lighting. Uses stuff all power & lasts heaps longer.

[BM]

If you incorporated a switch panel most of those are fused on each switch point. But yeah, probably should have shown a switch panel and fues in the diagram.

Cheers

Codseeker, got your pm and sent a pic via pm. Didn't realise you had asked here in the topic or i'd have popped it up here. Sorry mate.