Re: 89 bass tracker
Gotcha! In that case, you don?t really fall into the realm of a standardized wiring diagram. The good news is you do fall into the realm of standard 12V DC wiring. Let?s consider a few things.
1. Do you have an accessory position on your ignition and do you have a battery switch and/or a main breaker? I?ve seen some systems powered on relays that will only work so long as the key is on. That?s not likely on an older tracker, but worth noting. Make sure your battery switch is on and your main breaker is not tripped if you have one. Check your battery connections and play with the wiring to see if there?s not a short in there somewhere. Start with the simple stuff.
2. Do the other accessories wired to the same fuse panel work? If so, then you seem to have power to the fuse panel and that does not appear to be the problem. If not, then you seem to have a problem feeding power to the panel.
3. Does the particular circuit you are connecting to work? Check the fuse to make sure it is blown and make sure you have current running through that circuit. You could test it by moving another accessory to that circuit for the time being (your nav lights for example).
4. Are there any inline fuses between your panel and the fish finder? Mine does. It annoys me but it does. If so check that fuse too.
5. Do you have a good ground? Most boats will have a ground buss you can connect to to ground the finder. If not, you can run a lead to the negative battery terminal to ground it, at least for testing purposes.
That covers basic troubleshooting for DC stuff. I?ve put together a generic wiring diagram for how things should be wired on a basic style bass boat since I?m restoring mine. I can get that posted if you like. Let me know if this helps.