Reconnecting Battery -- Which Terminals?

[thehemi]

So I disconnected the battery on my Bayliner 185 4.3 and forgot to take note of which cables when to which connections. The main cables are red and yellow. What is the best way to verify which is positive and negative? I believe the positive should have a wire which goes direct to the starter?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Alumarine]

The ground or negative will go to the block.
Do you have a multimeter?

 

[Grub54891]

Yellow it the new black, "ground" Red is the positive. They changed the black ground to yellow on boats so there is a difference between 12 volt systems, and 110 volt systems. Imagine hooking up to a 110 volt system, to a 12 volt system! sparks would fly, and you could get electrocuted.

 

[thehemi]

The ground or negative will go to the block.
Do you have a multimeter?

I certainly have a multimeter. What's a good thing to test?

 

[thehemi]

Yellow it the new black, "ground" Red is the positive. They changed the black ground to yellow on boats so there is a difference between 12 volt systems, and 110 volt systems.

Interesting. Thanks for the info!

 

[thehemi]

Of course, one problem down only means on to the next one.

No power to the cluster (thus no starting). Vent and bilge run fine. I have ~13V on the battery. The red/purple wire runs to the cluster, which obviously isn't getting any power. The red/purple wire is off the battery's positive and it has an inline fuse which is good (verified with continuity tester). I'm NOT seeing any power on the red/purple wire (nor the red wire) as they reach the poles on the 50A fuse on top of the engine. I assume this is their first hop after the battery? Should I be seeing power on the red/purple and red wires as they go into the 50A fuse regardless if the fuse has failed or not? How hard am I suppose to press to reset the 50A fuse if it's blown? I've tried pretty hard, I'm assuming it's not blown?

 

[thehemi]

I'm NOT seeing any power on the red/purple wire (nor the red wire) as they reach the poles on the 50A fuse on top of the engine

OK, if I'm understanding some wiring diagrams I'm finding, the wiring actually goes through the starter before the 50A fuse. So I imagine I should check/replace the fuse on the starter solenoid as my next step.

 

[gm280]

Yellow it the new black, "ground" Red is the positive. They changed the black ground to yellow on boats so there is a difference between 12 volt systems, and 110 volt systems. Imagine hooking up to a 110 volt system, to a 12 volt system! sparks would fly, and you could get electrocuted.

Yea but on 110 volt system black is the hot lead while white is return and green or bare wire is ground. Most DC systems I've worked on used black for return or ground and red for hot. So a person really needs to understand the different systems they are working on.

 

[Grub54891]

Yea but on 110 volt system black is the hot lead while white is return and green or bare wire is ground. Most DC systems I've worked on used black for return or ground and red for hot. So a person really needs to understand the different systems they are working on.

​Exactly, The very reason they switched black to yellow on 12 volt systems. if the 110 and 12 volt systems both go to a main breaker panel, and not separated properly ,especially on older boats, it can be easy to mess up for a new boater. You have to know what you are looking at in there. ABYC standards are a good reference to study up on. I just re-certified this summer with ABYC electrical, diesel, and gasoline systems. The bigger the boat, the more wiring, and more systems. Looking at the systems class next.

 

[bruceb58]

Yea but on 110 volt system black is the hot lead while white is return and green or bare wire is ground. Most DC systems I've worked on used black for return or ground and red for hot. So a person really needs to understand the different systems they are working on.

On RVs, white is ground for DC

 

[Grandad]

On RVs, white is ground for DC

Right on. And RV's can sometimes have dual voltage systems with single light fixtures having twin sockets at differing voltages. A half century ago, my Dad's old Pyramid trailer had one with twin sockets, one intended for "standard" 120 volt light bulbs and a second intended for a 12 volt rated lamp but they had similar screwbase dimensions. You had to source 12V lightbulbs at specialty RV places. I hope they're not still available today. - Grandad

 

[poconojoe]

+1 on the yellow wire being the negative. I have the same boat . Mine is a 2003 Bayliner 185 also with the 4.3L. If you need a wiring diagram, Bayliner has them on their site.