Hour meter wiring

[faithful]

Our hour meter isn't working and I found a loose red wire. Looks like the red wire goes in the connector with the purple one. Is that correct? It also looks like the ends (black end and round metal end) of both connectors are supposed to be hooked up somewhere. If so what do they get connected to? or do they just hang there not connected to anything? Basically, I would just like to know what we need to do to make it operable. Thanks for your help.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hour meter wiring

The blue snap locks, the orange wire nut, and the blue butt splice are the work of someone who was not an electrical genius. Those are typically used by those trying to take a shortcut to get power to something else. Black wires are typically ground and red wires are typically +12 volts. So if you stuck that red wire into the blue thing you would likely get sparks. As for the hour meter, they typically require only +12 volts when the key is on, and a ground connection. So look at the wires on the hour meter to determine if what you are looking at are related. I suspect they are not since the red and black wires are way bigger than necessary for an hour meter. Follow the red and black wires to see where they go. We can't really help you since you are dealing with wiring that has been mucked with by someone else.

 

[faithful]

Re: Hour meter wiring

The red and black wires coming from the right of the pictures are the wires that come from the hour meter. The black wire has a red stripe and is attached to the blue snap lock along with another solid black wire. The red wire is not attached to anything right now but it's the only loose wire I can see so I assumed that it belonged with the purple wire in the blue snap lock since it appears to be missing a wire and is "un-snapped".

I get what you are saying about the orange wire nut and blue butt splice....not sure if you were thinking they were related to the hour meter or you were just commenting on the crappy job. They don't appear to be hour meter related in any way. Also, I'm pretty sure a boat dealer did that "great' work. We just got this boat last year and I have seen some of the work they have done on it and and not impressed at all. Very popular boat dealer too believe it or not. I found nuts and pieces of cut off hose clamps and other metal pieces among other things that they just left in the bilge area under the engine. Doesn't seem too professional to me.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hour meter wiring

OK -- so you've determined the red wire is the +12 volt connection for the hour meter and the black wire is the ground. So that then begs one to ask, why isn't the black wire ring terminal bolted to the engine block to provide a ground? Until you figure out what the purple wire is, you should not connect the hour meter to it. That black connector is a spade terminal connector much like the one you would find on your oil pressure or temperature senders. Next question! Do those two gauges work. If not, check those two senders on the engine to see if one or both of them are missing electrical connections. See where all of this leads you? If it is not known why something was done the way it was it is nearly impossible for someone who can't see your boat to tell what the story is. Don't mean tp be critical but you need to be our eyes and feed us as much information as you can -- in detail.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Hour meter wiring

Judging from the open scotch-lok connector on the purple wire and the notch in the insulation near the end of the red wire, it is most likely that, yes, the red wire used to be attached to the purple wire. However, you need to verify that the purple wire provides 12V+ when the ignition switch is in the run position.

But Silvertip is right. That's a real hack job you have on your hands. You would be better off fixing it with the proper connectors.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hour meter wiring

There is still no explanation of where the black connector goes to. If it has +12 volts on it, what is it that is not getting powered.