Wiring Gauges
Wiring Gauges
The number of questions regarding wiring of the gauges on a boat is never ending and even though there are schematics/diagrams in the stickies, folks can't seem to follow them. So here is a pictorial of how to do this. Four gauges are shown connected in a daisy chain fashion. This is the preferred method for wiring since it ends up with a single wire connection for power, ground, sense, and light wires. Wiring the gauges individually would result in a bundle of wires at the power, ground and light sources. A fuel gauge, a voltmeter, a temperature gauge and a tach are represented in this example. It should be plainly obvious how to add additional gauges (such as a trim gauge) as they have the very same connections. In this example, the internal light connections use "spade" terminals which the other connections use ring terminals. 16 AWG wire is adequate for this wiring. Using heavy gauge wire is a waste of money and makes it difficult to create a neat harness due to bend radius issues. Gauges using ring terminals on threaded posts should always use the double nut connections. The nut closest to the housing merely secures the post to the case. Place the ring terminal on that nut and then install another nut which will usually have a star washer attached or it may have a speparate washer.
