need help wiring boat stereo

yogi1

Recruit
Joined
May 31, 2011
Messages
2
i'm replacing my boat stereo. the old stereo has six wires; 4 for the speakers, ground and 12v. the new stereo has the same wires except an additional ignition wire. i want to use the old harness but where do run the ignition wire?
 

Lyle29464

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Mar 10, 2009
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1,261
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

The extra wire most likely is the memory. Run it to a non switched source. may need to go all the way to the battery.
 

greg82255

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Oct 26, 2009
Messages
781
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

Is the ignition wire yellow? It's supposed to be connected to a constant 12V source. It keeps the clock running when the stereo is turned off.
 

ac0j

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Apr 26, 2011
Messages
98
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

The new stereo probably has a red power wire and a yellow. The red is intended to be switched on and off with the ignition, the yellow is to have power all the time regardless of ignition. This is to retain the time on the clock, and radio station memory. In a boat that is not used every day it is best to just tie the red and yellow together and hook it to a switched source. Otherwise it will drain the battery in a weeks time.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
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Sep 22, 2003
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28,758
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

On a boat you spend hours at a time with the radio on. Since the boat does not have an ACCESSORY position on the ignition switch, that means you must have the switch in the RUN position. If you happen to have an I/O, that means the rather large current draw for the ignition components are active and can draw down the battery. So both the red and yellow wires can be connected to the same, NON-SWITCHED +12 volt source. The radio has an ON/OFF switch. It doesn't need to be wired to the ignition switch.
 

singram

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Aug 20, 2009
Messages
19
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

this thread caught my eye because I just went through the same thing. the old stereo (very old) had a on-off switch integrated into the valoume dial. Turn the volume all the way down and the radio clicks off. No longer drawing any power. I used the old stereo wiring harness for the new stereo. Unfortunately, the red power wire was directly from the fuse panel (no switch). therefore when the new stereo was installed it provided a constant power feed to the stereo. after a week of storage the battery was dead.

To solve this I simply moved the stereo connection on the fuse panel from the original spot to one, linked to a switch that was not being used. In this case wipers. Now I simply hit the switch to provide power to the stereo when desired.
 

yogi1

Recruit
Joined
May 31, 2011
Messages
2
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

On a boat you spend hours at a time with the radio on. Since the boat does not have an ACCESSORY position on the ignition switch, that means you must have the switch in the RUN position. If you happen to have an I/O, that means the rather large current draw for the ignition components are active and can draw down the battery. So both the red and yellow wires can be connected to the same, NON-SWITCHED +12 volt source. The radio has an ON/OFF switch. It doesn't need to be wired to the ignition switch.

there is an accessory switch seperate from the ignition - could the red "ignition" wire be run to that in the fuse box?
 

paultjohnson

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 29, 2010
Messages
1,560
Re: need help wiring boat stereo

That method has worked for me. Red wire to an accessory toggle on the dash. That way I am less likely to leave the radio on after I put the boat on the trailer and go home. [ In case I turned the volume all the way down and forgot its on ] I just make sure ALL dash toggles are off.
Now you have to decide how you want to wire the yellow memory wire. I use my boat at least every week. So I hook my yellow wire up to the fuse box directly so its hot all the time. Then I dont lose station presets and clock. Now if my boat was gonna sit for 2-3 weeks between use. I would connect the yellow and red together and hook em both up to the dash toggle. Now when I shutoff that toggle, aLL current to the stereo is cut off. I lose station presets and clock. But I dont have a dead battery in 2-3 weeks.
 
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