77' 16ft Starcraftt ss

[g0nef1sshn]

Hey g0ne - Open up the spot lights and make sure all the connections are good inside. Ya never know if an assembler was having a bad hair day!

Not at that point yet. But for the life of me I am not that well versed in electrical. I put in an led bulb in the bow and I am back to the bow light turns off when any other light is turned on (I even cut out one loop of the most excess wire to shorten up the run. Including the stern light that I put to a separate switch. I am on 24 hours again tomorrow so I have some more reading to do. Than the following Ill be away with work. So not many updates coming and I am not sure i will even have cell coverage where I will be. I am about to scratch where I am at and start over, but I will first get a multi meter and try some readings before I go that route.

 

[Grandad]

One thing about LED's is that if you drop the voltage below a "threshold" voltage, they do not illuminate at all where a conventional filament bulb might still glow. Your problem still sounds like low voltage perhaps worsened by voltage drop that increases as more items are turned on. Get that meter going. - Grandad

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Just picked a meter up today. Ill be watching the tube all night at work learning what to do for troubleshooting.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Going to play alittle when I get home this morning. Found this picture doing some searches. Its on iboats here somewhere. But I think its going to help me get this figured out.




One thing Im thinking I did wrong was consider my length of wire only one way. So instead of them being 15-20 feet long they were actually doubled? Does that sound right?

 

[oldhaven]

Thanks G0ne, (and the original poster), for finding and putting this here. I will be starting from scratch on my wiring, and this is a very clear picture of where to begin.

Ron

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Battery is at 11.56. Goin on the charger.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Can i test continuity on a 5 gang switch that has a red and black wire comming off it to make sure all switches are grounded?

Test between switch in on position and red wire is good. But shouldnt i see something between switch and the black wire also if its a complete loop?

 

[g0nef1sshn]

2 wires connect the rear neg bus to the front. With one disconnected from the rear bus, the continuity goes down to 0 between them with one lead on rear bus and one one the other wire leading back to the front that is disconnected.

If that makes sense. Up 28 hours now and hitting the rack soon.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

I know im posting a lot but im in a zone. I think i know why i cant test the switches correctly. Ill nee an alligator clip from open switch to pos wire, then touch that clip and the neg to close the circuit/loop. Ill stop now.

And your welcome oldhaven. Read up on this stuff a lot prior too. I didnt buy marine grade wires and connectors and shrink wrap like i should have so this wont be a constant battle like i will face until i do. And the meter has helped answer tons of maybe/what if's right off the bat!

 

[Watermann]

So what's marine grade wire going to do, not sure I knew there was such a thing? For the connectors, yeah good idea. My resto buddy helped me out with my dash wiring and I ended up re-doing the connections with Anchor marine connectors and everything sealed up with some really cool double walled epoxy lined shrink tube that makes for a monster tight connection. The only difference I saw in the marine v regular connectors was the thickness of the connector and sheathing was greater on the marine.

 

[BWR1953]

Marine grade wire is tinned to help prevent corrosion.

 

[jbcurt00]

Marine wire is tinned, typical wire is not.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Like they said. If yours is sealed good with no salt water or moisture intrusion you should be ok, but not the best from i read. The tin coating prevents the copper corrosion to keep connections clean.

And my arrempt at the alligator clip didnt work yet. More reading to do.....

 

[Watermann]

Well then Mercruiser doesn't use marine wire for their entire motor wiring harness and neither did Chris Craft and Sea Nymph as I've not found any factory tinned wire in my boats. Guess I better not sink in saltwater. :lol:

 

[Grandad]

Well then Mercruiser doesn't use marine wire for their entire motor wiring harness and neither did Chris Craft and Sea Nymph as I've not found any factory tinned wire in my boats. Guess I better not sink in saltwater. :lol:

Ya, I've bitten my tongue before on this issue cuz I think sometimes people tend to over-engineer such items. An extensive background in electrical methods and regulations over a lifetime has shown me that we can go too far. I still have considerable 1972 wiring in my boat though replacing it would be relatively easy for me. I have seen little to no corrosion issues, perhaps because I boat in fresh water and store the boat in dry conditions. If you're in saltwater, use tinned wire. Wherever you are, always make sure your crimps are tight. A hot spot accelerates corrosion which then creates more heat and a cycle of more corrosion. I also use a dielectric grease at joints that I'm sure helps to exclude moisture. That said, I wouldn't use inferior scrap wire whose insulation may not stand up over time. When you consider how much effort is involved, the incremental cost of using better stuff may be worth it for your type of boat use. - Grandad

 

[GA_Boater]

That's good advice, Grandad.

Much of our wiring is tucked away or wrapped in harnesses so we don't look at it until issues arise. My 50 year old boat and motor, especially the Mercury motor and remote wiring, had little or no insulation left and the wire strands were green and broken. It has only seen fresh water. I don't think I would like to see any of it if she was used in salt water.

 

[Watermann]

and then we run regular wire in something that gets dunked in the lake twice every time we go boating... the trailer. :lol:

 

[g0nef1sshn]

and then we run regular wire in something that gets dunked in the lake twice every time we go boating... the trailer. :lol:

Good point there! my trailer is painted steel so I dont think Ill be playing in salt water until that changes.

So im awake and trickle charged the battery to 12.56. On its own with nothing connected its already dropped to 12.15. Does this mean bad battery too? Its an old 12v car battery.

Im still trying to figure out how to test the switch panel by its self. I also played with the bow light housing for continuity through it and there may be a problem with that. either way. Im slowing down and back to the drawing board learning all this electrical theory stuff.

Id like to just pick up a nice new battery to eliminate that being an issue. Fun stuff for sure.

 

[64osby]

I'd say it looks like the new battery is a great idea.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

So looking into it, im needing a deep cycle agm marine battery, Do you guys break bank for the high cost ones or can you get away with low cost ones? tell me what ya got and use for your trollers and accessories!

Cranking battery will come when I get a motor.