New to the board and need some wiring help.

[Heart]

Hello to all. I am new to the forum and a novice boat owner. I am trying to learn as much as possible about all aspects of boating. I have purchased a 14' Starcraft tin utility boat with a side console. It is powered by a 35 Johnson Seahorse. I am not happy with the wiring of the previous owners and
am trying to make it better. I don't have much to wire but as I said I am a novice. I have drawn a diagram of the boat and the necessary accessories to wire. If someone could help me and answer a few questions I would be eternally grateful.

1) I presently have an on/off toggle for the nav lights but would like to change it to an on/off/on to isolate the stern light. Do I need a specific number of terminals on the back? Should it be lighted?

2) Should each accessory have it's own fuse or is one at the battery sufficient?

3) Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: New to the board and need some wiring help.

Each accessory needs to be wired with proper gauge wire and should also have a fuse that is appropriate for that wire size and the current draw of that accessory. Typically 16 gauge wire is sufficient for most accessories except for high current draw items like trolling motors and high power stereo systems. You NEVER install one large fuse and then have that fuse protect all accessories. The reason is quite simple -- the wire will burn up before the fuse blows. You have a pair of wires, usually #8 or #10 gauge running from the battery to the fuse panel. The red wire has a 20A breaker or fuse installed at the battery. That fuse protects the run of wire up to the fuse/breaker panel. Each accessory then gets wired to the fuse panel and protected by an appropriate size fuse. A bilge pump for example might draw 5 amps. Therefore you install a 7.5 amp fuse. Nav lights draw very little current and a 5 amp fuse would be appropriate. Look at the sticky (Generic Boat Wiring Diagram) at the very top of this forum (not this page). For an ON-OFF-ON switch for nav lights you can need a six terminal switch and it is wired like this:

Here is a simplified diagram for your boat with one circuit as an example.