Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

Hello, I bought a 1994 Lowe 2220 Deck Boat a week ago. Had it on water yesterday and all was fine, however, the radio quit working. Today I had 5 kids waiting on me to take them boating and I crawled under the dash to see if there were loose wires. I checked connections and could not find anything. When I crawled back out and checked I had lost all accessories, no horn, no lights, no bilge pump, nada. The boat has a starting battery and a battery for the accessories. The motor will turn over. When I checked circuit, I had no power at power line coming in from accessory battery, but did when checked at the battery.
Here's where I get stumped. I ran a new wire up to the dash, I grounded the circuit tester on a aluminum bracket on the dash , nothing, (the wire to the key lights up the tester when grounded to this bracket.) I took the wire back to the battery and it lit up the tester. I seem to be missing a ground somewhere in the circuit? The wires from the Accessory battery are inaccessible in the Hull, but I think the problem is a connection. I worked at it for over 10 hours today with no success and very disappointed kids. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions and advice anyone might have.

Thanks!!

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

This may sound simple, but could be in-line fuse (if there is one). If not I would start checking connections. It sucks that your wiring is inaccessible, which just may be where your problem is at??? Do you have a battery switch or is the two systems totally isolated from each other?

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

Boats dont have a "chassis" ground like a car. BOTH power and ground should come from the battery. Check for this wire at the distribution panel under the dash. It should have a ground buss. I bet you knocked off the ground input to that.

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

? Is there possible a battery switch that is bad or that you have not located?
? The aluminum bracket will only be an adequate ground if there is a connection to it from batt -, direct or indirect.
? Have you disconnected the accessory batter and reconnected to reset any breakers?
? Take a look at Silvertip?s wiring diagrams at the header of this thread section, this may help in understanding of circuits

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

Using the test light on a hunk of aluminum under the dash won't work unless it is attached to the battery ground post by a wire. Remember, the boat is fiberglass and that piece of aluminum is not getting a ground like a car would.

Check your wiring, starting at the battery, If you lost all 12v+ feed to the accessories, you probably blew the 40A fuse from the battery that feeds the dash.

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

Thanks Everyone I will check all your ideas. One question, if I ground the circut tester to the aluminum dash and touch the power from the ignition battery, it lights up. When I run a wire from the accessory battery (yes its charged and tester lights up at the battery), it won't light at the same ground??

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

You may have a ground wire from the ignition battery making contact with that piece of aluminum somewhere on your boat. Just remember that the wiring for your boat is nothing like that on your automobile. The ground wires will have to be connected to the battery either directly of thru a buss.

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

tfurman6 said:

Thanks Everyone I will check all your ideas. One question, if I ground the circut tester to the aluminum dash and touch the power from the ignition battery, it lights up. When I run a wire from the accessory battery (yes its charged and tester lights up at the battery), it won't light at the same ground??

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I believe this would be possible if ignition switch (battery one) has a connection to the aluminum through a wire to ground (neg batt post). Battery two does not have a connection to the aluminum plate through a ground wire. Essentially, your batteries grounds are isolated from each other. Sounds like your two batts may not be interconnected at all. Is batt 2 charged only by shore power? Is there a possible battery switch you have not found?

Re: Help-Completely Befuddled, Electrical issue- Lowe 2220 Deck Boat

The reason the metal bracket shows ground when testing for power at the key switch is that the engine is bolted to the boat and the mounting bolts therefore create the ground path. The negative cable from the starting battery connects to the engine block so that makes the entire ground -- although it may be a poor one. On the other hand, as was mentioned, the accessory battery does not have a chassis (hull ground). The hull should NOT be relied on for ground. All grounds should be run to a ground buss, and then the buss connected by a single larger wire to the negative terminal of one battery with a jumper to the the other.