Matt, you are welcome, and I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I have a lengthy background in the automotive 12-volt industry and a good amount in wiring boats. I just do not want to introduce unnecessary technical information and terminology that will serve to confuse more than it will help. I have done my best to use terms and wording that is accurate and understandable to those who may not know anything about DC voltage, and wiring. I am in no way saying you or anyone else in particular does not. Generally speaking it is easier to explain something it terms all can for the most part understand. I hope that I succeeded in my goal.:big_smile:
This is how I would do it and suggest. I am not saying my way is best but it works. Look through my boat mod journal if you want to see how my work looks and ends up. I showed some pictures of just a little of my wiring in that thread.
Everything starts on paper. Get a game plain of what you are going for. Get your supplies ready. I usually go about 30% over on wire just in case. Shipping will eat a project up if you have to re order several times. Order extra the first time and save it for later if there is any left over. (Usually there won't be as much as you figured would be left)
Go for quality in you electrical parts like switches, breakers, fuse holders (both in line and fuse blocks), wire (I have expressed my thought on using marine wire, use it), connectors (terminals), heat shrink (adhesive lined), solder and necessary tools. Good tools are a very wise investment for electrical work. A quality soldering iron, crimper's and a quality set of wire strippers are all very important to have. That is if you are going to be doing this type of repair and maintenance to you boat or boats.
If you ever have a fact based doubt on the wire size, increase one size in wire gauge. In addition, never cut the wire to size until you are making the connection and never pull that connection tight and then cut. Leave yourself a little "wiggle" room with the wire. It is easier to tuck some away than it is to stretch the wire if it is short.
Find you location for your switches, breakers and or fuseing. Make your runs with the necessary wire. I use a small 3M adhesive tape numbering/marking tape to index the wires. Masking tape marked with a pin will also get the same results. Label both wires in a set, one label can easily pull off or torn off and that leaves you testing or guessing. Be sure to write down on your notes what wire color / number goes where, could save hours of guesswork and testing later. If possible do not use all the same color wire for your hot leads to you accessories.
Example:
In my latest project, the 12-volt outlets were red and black 14-ga wire. The courtesy lights were 16 ga wire, yellow, and black in color. The outlets for the blacklights were 14 ga white and black wires. All connections crimped where necessary (terminals), then soldered, covered with liquid tape, and the adhesive lined heat shrink. Sounds like overkill but it will most likely never fail.
Make your runs with the appropriate size and color wires (according to you labels and notes) to the accessories you are adding. Leave extra length in the wire, a few inches is usually plenty. These smaller gauge wires (usually 16 or 14 ga) should be run from the fuse or breakers panel, to the appropriate switch and then to the accessory.
Be sure you use quality sealed switches rated at the correct amperage for that accessory. Quality switches can be and are very expensive but they will last (when correctly sized and installed) a long time.
You will need to run a main positive (hot wire) and main negative (ground) lead from the battery to the fuse / breaker distribution box. Place a main (high amp) breaker or fuse within 18 inches of the battery on the positive wire. This is not to protect the accessories; it is for protection in case the wire was to short out on something in the boat. I run no smaller gauge than 10 ga and usually run larger 8 ga wire for the main leads (+ & -, both always the same size). This may sound like over kill on wire size but I would rather have too much than not enough. If radio's (FM & VHF), accessory lights, fish finder / Gps units, spot lights, 12 volt accessory outlets, gages, running lights, navigation lights, blacklights, bilge bumps, live well pumps, and any thing else you can add will be ran into the fuse box, the drain can add up in a hurry. Connect this main positive wire to the fuse or breaker distribution. It is also easier to run the main ground wire to a grounding lug or barrier strip and connect all the grounds to that location. Do not try to connect twenty grounds to the negative terminal of the battery. :crazy: Most high quality marine fuse / distribution panels are available with provisions for grounds built in. I have used Blue Sea Systems fuse blocks on my last couple of projects and I can say they are quality made products, just a little pricey so shop around for a better deal. They are available with ground and positive connections in one unit. I can provide item numbers if interested.
Any time you run high amp draw accessories link trolling motors, power anchor retrieval systems, large stereo amplifiers, etc. You will need to run separate wires. Never tie them into the fuse distribution system for the rest of the boat. The fuse block is not for that purpose and is not rated for that purpose. In addition, you do not want all you accessories (lights) to go out if your trolling motor or anchor winch trips the breaker. For this type of accessory, you only need one breaker (fuse if you must but I suggest manual reset breakers) within 18 inches of the battery for that accessory. Run you ground and hot wires directly to the trolling motor or other accessory with as few connections as possible. Connection in wire can act like a resistor (figure of speech) and reduce the wires capability to carry the necessary power for your accessory. Resulting in continues tripped breakers / blown fuses and premature failure of your accessories. Restricted power flow creates heat; heat will kill your electric motors. Bad Ju-Ju!
A quality battery and a quality charging method are necessary for you to get the full benefit of your work and accessories. The best batteries in the world are only as good as the charge that you supply them. Half-charged batteries will not last as long as fully charged (common sense) and incorrectly charged batteries fail prematurely. You need a charger designed for your batteries, not a 30 min or 1 hour hot charge from the 39.95 charger from Wal Mart (again, figure of speech). Fast chargers like that build up heat and will reduce the life of the battery. Most quality marine chargers will take between four and eight hours to correctly charge a battery. They will also change modes in order to top off the battery and again to maintain the battery once it reaches max charge.
I hope that I covered it all with this post but I am sure that I have missed some things and some things are not as others would do or have done them. This is just how I would do new wiring and suggest to others as a good method to not have wiring (electrical) problems because of re worked wiring in your boat.
So please take this for what it is worth, as my opinion and my methods for wiring. This post and methods are nothing more than my opinion and results that have worked for me on way to many projects over the years.
I hope this will be of help to you and possibly others.
David
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