New Terminal board

The electrical board on my '04 Carolina Skiff is located up in the center console on the wall behind the dashboard. In other words... where no human being can access them.

Can I build another secondary board and attach it in another, more convenient location. Just something I can easily attach electronics to?

Does it need to be fused?

What size fuse for Garmin GPS and Lowrance bottom machine?

Can I find a hot, unswitched or switched wire and ground and just split off that?

Any suggestions on a small circuit bar?

Thanks,

Derrell

Re: New Terminal board

Any suggestions?:redface:

Re: New Terminal board

We have some ideas but it would take a very long question and answer session to decipher exactly what you are trying to do. Your terminology doesn't help much. What do you mean by "terminal board"? If you mean "Fuse or Circuit Breaker Panel", why add another one when you already have one. If you want to add another panel, yes you can do that. Yes it needs to be fused (input to it and each circuit out of it). I have no idea what size fuse your Lowrance and Garmin equipment needs -- that is specified in the owners manual. If you don't have one, go to their web site and download it. I have no idea what you mean by a "circuit bar".
"ground bus" or "+12 Volt bus" perhaps?. Yes - you can find a hot wire under the console somewhere and no you should not tap into that and then split off from that. ALL added circuits should be sourced from a unused fuse location on the fuse or circuit breaker panel

Re: New Terminal board

Thanks, Silvertip.

Sorry for the bad terminology.... yes I mean a fuse and terminal block. While I already have one on my skiff, it is in an area that only Houdini could visit. I mean it is ridiculous to work on, check out, or attach things to.

I want to come off of a hot wire and mount a board with 4 fuses and connections (I bought one today at West Marine);

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...=true&storeNum=5002&subdeptNum=9&classNum=295

Can I find a hot wire from the battery and jump from there to the new terminal block? I also plan to tap into an existing ground wire. I will install an inline fuse before the terminal block and will fuse each leg going to my accessories. I will check the manuals for fuse size.

Is what I am attempting do-able?

I realize this may sound like a needless workaround, but I really, absolutely cannot get to my current terminal without removing a bench cooler seat and built-in gas tank, then I have to stand on my head to reach it.

Re: New Terminal board

Sounds like something I would do. I fact I did. I abandon the old fuse panel, removed all the wires and put a new one in a more convenience location so I could check the fuses if something wasn't working.
Perhaphs you can still use the main feed wires from the old fuse panel and work from the new location.

Re: New Terminal board

I really find it hard to believe you need to remove a fuel tank to reach the fuse panel. Splicing into existing wiring does not solve the problem but creates another one. If the existing panel is a problem and you left it like it is, how would you change a fuse if one did pop? Splicing into other circuits is not recommended, especially to drive another fuse panel. The circuit you tape into is not sized to feed a bunch of other circuits. In otherwords just because it is a wire does not mean you can pass any amount of current through it. If this is really a problem, remove the existing panel, lengthen the feed and and ground wires and each of the branch circuits connected to it. Much simpler, cleaner, and just plain more correct.

Re: New Terminal board

Silvertip,

I posted the photo to help you with your struggle to believe.

I prefaced my post with the statement that the panel was inaccessible. Not inconvenient.

Beneath the black bag is the tach and speedo. BEHIND them is the terminal. If I could somehow lie on my back and slip up into the CC far enough, the terminal would be about 2" from my face. The CC depth is about 12" at that point. IF I removed the steering assembly first. The front panel will not pull free form the dash far enough to access the circuits.

The dealership told me they do the electronics first. The 27 gal. fuel tank is an option upgrade. It goes in next and then the bench/cooler seat is installed. They have to reverse the entire procedure to access it also.

It is not my design. The designer should be waterboarded.

The terminal is part of the backside of the panel that is inaccessible (See above).

All I want to do is add an additional 4 leg fused terminal so I can easily wire my GPS and bottom machine. Together I wouldn't think they would overload the system....which leads me back to my original post.

Re: New Terminal board

I repeat! Unless you move the original panel to a spot you can reach you have not solved the original problem. Do it right. Pull the full tank, lengthen the original wires and put the existing panel where you can reach it. It appears to me that the tank isn't even fastened down. You cannot safely "tap" into another circuit to feed four more. Look at it this way. If the circuit you want to tap into is fused for 10 amps and you branched out to feed four new circuits each carrying 2.5 amps you would likely blow the 10 amp fuse that you cannot reach. How handy is that?

Re: New Terminal board

The hot wire that I want to access is the direct incoming feed from the battery, not a circuit from the terminal board.

Would that be possible?

Re: New Terminal board

Does that wire have a fuse or circuit breaker at the battery? If not, it must be fused for no higher than the wire gauge is able to support. So the wire gauge determines the maximum it can be fused for. You cannot then add four additional circuits that total more than what that fuse is rated at. In other words, you can't run 16 gauge wire all the way from the back of the boat and power four additional circuits all fused for a total higher than the fuse at the back of the boat or what the wire going up front is capable of handling. I'm not being obstructive here. I'm trying to keep you from burning up some wiring by making bad choices. Yes you can do what you want to do. How safe it is depends on the factors that have been brought to your attention.

Re: New Terminal board

What about if I just start at the battery at the back of the boat with a dedicated wire, properly fused, just to the new fuse block?

Re: New Terminal board

Alright, here is my suggestion.
1) Add a 20A circuit breaker to the positive battery post.
2) Attach one end of a red 10 gauge wire to the output of the circuit breaker.
3) Attach one end of a black 10 gauge wire to the negative terminal of the battery. (Why another ground you ask? Remember, you send current up the red wire and it must get back to the battery. For the same reason I explaiined earlier, the ground wire must be sized for the circuit as well. So If you run a new hot wire because of current draw issues, you also need a new ground wire for the same reason.)
4) Run the red and black wires to the console, or wherever you will mount the new fuse/breaker panel. (Do not connect the red wire to the panel.)
5) Install a MASTER ON/OFF switch on the console.
6) Connect the red wire to one terminal on the master switch.
7) Connect another red wire to the other terminal on the master switch.
8) Connect the other end of that red wire to the +12 volt bus terminal on the fuse/breaker panel.
9) Connect the black wire to the ground bus on the new fuse/breaker panel.
10 Connect the accessories to the fuse panel.

This is what it should look like when you are done. The diagram doesn't show a breaker at the battery but it standard practice to include one.

Re: New Terminal board

Thanks.