bow and stern lights

[stl]

I have a 14 ft jon I am wiring bow and stern lights from scratch. I am usin a dpdt switch mounted in a plastic project box. I was planning on using inline fuses. My question is all of the info I have read says to connect the ground to the buss bar on the fuse panel, of which I don't have. Is it ok to tie all of the negatives back to the negative terminal on the battery?

 

[ricksrster]

Re: bow and stern lights

Yes

 

[firehog6305]

Re: bow and stern lights

you bet, its the best way

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: bow and stern lights

that does the same thing as connecting to the buss bar. just not as neat, and harder to service.

 

[stl]

Re: bow and stern lights

I was planning on using 14 guage wire. Is it alright to use this from the battery to the switch? Or should I use something bigger for that section. Also do I put a fuse between the battery and the switch or one on each wire leading to the lights after the switch? Thanks

 

[Sig_Mech]

Re: bow and stern lights

STL, a buss bar is just a point in the electrical circuit where you can make many connections at a common point. A fuse panel will have connections for the main positive cable and the main negative cable. The main positive cable will then branch off and feed through a fuse for every switch that it feeds. The negative cable will usually have multiple connection points for the ground from all your switched circuits, this is the negative buss.
I would recommend that you put a fuse on the positive line between the battery and the switch. 14ga wire is rated for 15 amps and that should be fine for just a bow & stern light.