wiring my boat force 50 were to ground

when i bought the boat somebody started to wire it when i put on the lights some wires started to smoke i notice they had a ground to a live on one of the switches so i started rewiring all i have left is the ground wires the last person who owned the boat had the grounds going to the battery i untapped the wires from the wiring harness coming from the motor and found the ground that goes to the wiring relay on the motor it has a end on it that looks like it went to the key switch at one time can i run my grounds to it or should i ground them back to the battery thanks

Re: wiring my boat force 50 were to ground

If the ground wires are under the cowling connect them to a bolt on the engine block using eye connectors

Re: wiring my boat force 50 were to ground

ENSIGN said:

If the ground wires are under the cowling connect them to a bolt on the engine block using eye connectors

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right now all my ground wires are hanging under the dash the black wire that i am talking about runs threw the main wiring harness that goes from the motor to the key switch at the motor the wire is attached to the wiring block or i called it a relay but on the block it says ground wire so if i am right your saying i should run a separate wire from the dash to the motor and ground it to the motor the black wire i am talking about looks like it went to the key switch at one time but somebody took it off and just taped it up thanks

Re: wiring my boat force 50 were to ground

Your ground can either go to the engine block or battery negative post,I would prefer going right to the batt,Just make sure that anything connected to this is really the ground for that device normaly this is a black wire but some po may have used any color.Hope this helps,Ted

Re: wiring my boat force 50 were to ground

ENSIGN said:

Your ground can either go to the engine block or battery negative post,I would prefer going right to the batt,Just make sure that anything connected to this is really the ground for that device normally this is a black wire but some po may have used any color.Hope this helps,Ted

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yea it is a black wire i traced it back to the motor it goes in the wire block then comes out the other side of the block to a bolt on the motor i have a johnson manual i picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents i know my motor is not a johnson but alot of things look the same it shows that wire coming to the key on the m terminal and then the the other grounds to the other m terminal. my old key had a I for the ignition which is my blue to start the motor the new key says A for accessories that's the only live i have with the key on so i put my blue wire to that it starts fine it is a double terminal i had run some of my live wires to a tokle switch like the stereo and marine radio i dont like that idea because if i forget to turn the switch off i will kill my battery i already burnt out my choke solenoid buy running it to a live toggle switch the other boat key switch did not have the push in for the choke i was getting ready to start my boat when the phone rang and i forgot about the switch being on then i noticed smoke and it fried it luckily a friend has one that might work but my point is can i run the the accessories off of it my only concern is when the key is on to listen to the radio wont that make my points live and fry them too. also i have two gages a friend gave me one say volts the other say a amperes which one would be better to use and do you know how i would hook them up i have a purple wire which say generator thanks

Re: wiring my boat force 50 were to ground

If your motor is starting and shutting off ok leave this wiring alone and don't add anything to it.Run two wires,one positive and one negative from the battery to the dash.I would use at least a #10 wire and install a 30 amp fuse at the battery.Then you can use a fuse panel under the dash for all your accessorys when not running the motor.The toggle switch for the choke is a bad idea,use a push to choke key switch and use the voltmeter in the dash
Good luck,Ted