New Batteries brought E problems

Put new batteries in & labeled all of the wires before putting everything back on. I can't find anything that I might have wired backwards, but most of my equipment won't work. VHF, GPS, LIVEWELL, LIGHTS are no but TILT & ENGINE WORK. Without the key in if I turn on one of these electrical items i get the ping that I would when turning the key to the on position and my gauges spike and hold all the way to the top. I have a bilge attached directly to each battery and everything else goes through the panel or straight to the switch itself. Any ideas what could be giving me this trouble.

Re: New Batteries brought E problems

pm213929 said:

Put new batteries in & labeled all of the wires before putting everything back on. I can't find anything that I might have wired backwards, but most of my equipment won't work. VHF, GPS, LIVEWELL, LIGHTS are no but TILT & ENGINE WORK. Without the key in if I turn on one of these electrical items i get the ping that I would when turning the key to the on position and my gauges spike and hold all the way to the top. I have a bilge attached directly to each battery and everything else goes through the panel or straight to the switch itself. Any ideas what could be giving me this trouble.

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did you mark the pos and neg batt #1

pos and neg bat #2

Or just pos and neg


sounds like you jumped the batteries with elect circuit.

IE pos on #1 neg on #2. Then your trying to back feed through the systems
and when you turn things on from the switches your feeding after the other controlling items.
Take everything back off and connect ONE thing at a time and confirm proper operation before you add another lead.
OH if you have a batt select switch conform your position and not stuck in the middle between the two. Makes for interesting problems if you have both batteries online with improper wiring.
Just trace your yourself back. you'll find it.

Oh and welcome..

Re: New Batteries brought E problems

pm213929 said:

Put new batteries in & labeled all of the wires before putting everything back on. I can't find anything that I might have wired backwards, but most of my equipment won't work. VHF, GPS, LIVEWELL, LIGHTS are no but TILT & ENGINE WORK. Without the key in if I turn on one of these electrical items i get the ping that I would when turning the key to the on position and my gauges spike and hold all the way to the top. I have a bilge attached directly to each battery and everything else goes through the panel or straight to the switch itself. Any ideas what could be giving me this trouble.

Click to expand...

It sounds like you have +12v on the neg (black wires) of all accessories controlled from the helm. When you turn a device on, the +12 feeds thru the part, thru the switch, to the + terminal of the key. That will give you the ignition ping and power up the gauges.

Connect an extension wire to a dc voltmeter neg (black), clip it on the battery neg post. Touch the pos (red) to the black wires of your gauges. It should read zero. If you see +12v, there's a mistake in the wiring.