CD Player Wiring....

[HighTrim]

Hey all,

When installing a marine cd player on a boat, where is the best spot to hook up the red accessory wire, suppose to go to existing ignition circuit or switched 12 volt source. Dont want to slow drain my battery. Ive read that taking the face plate off helps too, but still, where should the red accessory wire go? Is it ok to run the ground from the deck to the ground on the battery, my boat is fibreglass and it says to connect it to chassis ground. Ty for all your input.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

With a glass boat you don't have a chassis ground and on an aluminum boat you never use the hull for a ground. So for either installation, the +12V (power) lead goes to a +12V terminal on the fuse panel. There is a "memory" wire that retains the station memory. That wire can also be connected to the same place as the power lead so presets will not be lost. Ground goes to the ground buss at the fuse panel or to the ground terminal on any of the gauges. One thing you don't want to do is connect the positive lead so you have to have the ignition switch on to run the radio. The radio has an On/Off switch so there is no need to install another or connect to a separate "Accessory" switch. You will only forget to turn the radio off once.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

I definately see your point silvertip, connecting the ground to the chassis on an aluminum boat would turn it into a giant battery itself, lol. Interesting that the instructions would say to do so. My BLONDE wife thought it would be a good idea to just ground it to the trailer Do they sell 10 mile long sections of electrical wire?? Seriously though, you say to ground it to the fuse panel, is it ok to ground it to the battery direct , I already have a wire run to a "bus" . And then can i run the yellow wire that has the inline fuse direct to the battery, and the accessory or memory wire to the battery as well or does it have to go to the fuse panel as stated?? Ty each and all.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

Why run wires all the way to the battery when 12V and ground are available on every instrument on the console except for the speedometer and water pressure gauge (if you have one). If you don't want to do that, the fuse panel generally has several extra 12V taps you can connect to. Some fuse panels have a ground bus and some don't so you need to pick up ground wherever it's handy. Gauges again are the most convenient. Yes -- you need a fuse in any lead with 12V on it.

 

[mercslive]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

When Hooking Up Stereo Power Always Make Sure There Is A 12volt Supply To The Wire. I Put An Additional Switch So For Incase I Might Of Forgot To Turn It Off The Stereo. So If U Run Wire From Ur Battery To Ur Stereo Just Make Sure U Have A Little More Gauged Wire For The Amps To Run Through And So The Wire Wont Get Hot!

 

[ziggy]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

looks like st is leadin ya in the right direction to me.

here's what i ended up with. a 6 circut panel i got here on iboats store. ran me a run to the batt. red is fused at the batt. black to neg. terminal. one of the circuts is for the radio. fussed at the panal. red and yellow from the radio hooked together to power from the panal. radio grd to the provided grd buss on the panal. i remove face plate for no batt. discharge.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

If you hook up to a constant 12v source you may find that the faceplate is on all the time whether you turn the unit off or not so you may still need a separate switch (not for the memory wire) or else removing the face plate is the only way to not drain the battery over time.

 

[Big Keepers]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

Why run wires all the way to the battery when 12V and ground are available on every instrument on the console ?

Tapping into your gauges for a 12V or ground source is a bit hacky no?

As far as the yellow memory wire, it draws milliamps per day and is wired direct to a constant hot in every car in America. Unless you use your boat three times a season, there is nothing wrong with sending a lead to the battery for the memory. Disconnecting the face plate isn't necessary either unless you want to prevent theft. If you keep your batteries in proper condition the milliamps of draw won't hurt a thing. I used to wire my car stereos to a constant hot when I was a kid. It was a portable, convenient stereo for tailgating and parties. How many times I left it on for hours only to return and start it right up.

When I'm floating around listening to my radio I have the key off. I don't need it to be on for anything. So going to an ignition circuit is pointless. CD players, VHF radios and GPS/Sonar units should be powered from a fuse panel or bus bar. I have my switch panel tapped into the bus also. I prefer my key to be used to start the motor and shut it off. The easiest thing to do, especially on smaller boats is to use a positive and negative bus and wire in a hardy switch and fuse on the positive side.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

Apparently OFF is not OFF anymore.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

Big Keepers....on a lot of car stereos if you don't disconnect the main 12v source the face plates remain active and it will pull the battery down over a couple of weeks, removing the faceplate will avoid this, in a car it's not a problem as the main 12v source comes off the ignition. I agree the memory wire will not pull it down even over the entire summer.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

Ty all. SilverTip, the only reason i asked about wiring direct to the battery was because there was already a tape deck in the boat and there is wire already ran from that, would just save me time of pulling the dash board apart. And its not wired "direct" to the battery, there is a wooden panel down there with 2 bolts on it , 1 for the pos and 1 for the neg, that some of the accessories run to , that in turn run to the battery, im guessing thats what you call a bus bar? So if im understanding you guys right, if i join the red and yellow wire together, then run it to the bus bar that in turn runs to the pos side of the battery, then run my neg to the neg bus bar that in turn runs to the battery I should be good no?? Tks again guys, I do appreciate it

PS I also assume that I should tie the yellow and red together BEFORE the inline fuse then to the battery correct, that way both are fused?

 

[HighTrim]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

bump

 

[ziggy]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

So if im understanding you guys right, if i join the red and yellow wire together, then run it to the bus bar that in turn runs to the pos side of the battery, then run my neg to the neg bus bar that in turn runs to the battery I should be good no?? Tks again guys, I do appreciate it

yep, only thing ya left out was the main fuse from the + side that is at the batt...... between the batt and the bus.....

PS I also assume that I should tie the yellow and red together BEFORE the inline fuse then to the battery correct, that way both are fused?

that's the way i did mine. though i don't think the yellow wire is all that crittical as it's the memory wire and would only have minimal current passing thru it....it was just easiest for me to hook up that way. the red and yellow together with a long lead to go over and reach my fuse box...note only one wire to fuss panel in my pic.... the splice is up at the back of the radio.......

 

[HighTrim]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

Im not doubting you in any way, just trying to learn for myself. Why do I need another fuse between the bus and the battery if I have an inline fuse going from the deck to the bus? What is the purpose of the second fuse, wouldnt the inline fuse supplied with the deck be sufficient? ANd if not, would I just pick up another inline fuse like was supplied with the deck? Ty again

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: CD Player Wiring....

The main fuse at the battery is to protect the battery from a short happening at the buss or the line feeding it. The smaller secondary fuses you have are only to protect the devices ie:CD player but if the main line develops a short you need a big main fuse at the battery for protection.