Re-wiring for a noob...

[How_May]

This is my first post and I am completely green when it comes to wiring...

I recently bought my first boat. It is a 2006 16' foot Riverhawk B-60 Pro Caster... Powered by a 1993 25 hp 2 stroke johnson tiller.

Some of the wire connections were looking a little corroded so I decided to re-wire the boat. And add a separate battery dedicated solely to the trolling motor up fronts.

Not being very electronically inclined, I have been searching this site and others for help.

I decided to add a group 27 dc battery up front to power the 40lb thrust minn kota power drive trolling motor. I will use marine 8 awg tinned wire from the battery to a 50 amp busman manual circuit breaker then to the TM receptacle. This will be the only thing running off of this battery.

This should work fine for the trolling motor, correct?

I will also be hooking up a minn kota 210d on board charger to the two batteries... That is once I find a suitable place to mount that oversized charger!

Now here is where I am getting confused... I am struggling with how to wire the rest of the boat. I don't have much in the way of electronics... Nav lights and a lowrance x-96 fishfinder up front, bilge pump and rear nav lights in the back.

The original owner had a off-pull-pull switch up front for lights. I would like to remove that and have a 4 switch panel in the rear that has a switch for - 1. Bow light 2. Stern light 3. Bilge pump 4. Possiblly fishfinder (although I may run it straight to the battery to avoid possible interference).

I read that 16 awg should be fine for the majority of my accessories, correct?

Now if I use a switch panel like the invincible marine panel with individual breakers for each switch, I would need to run a buss bar from the negative of the main battery for the accessories neg leads. Or I would have to have all of the individual accessories neg leads connected to the main battery, correct?

What size neg wire would I need to run from the battery to the buss bar if I decide to go that route?

And what about the positive wire from the battery to the 4 switch panel? What size wire should I use?

Would I need a fuse or a circuit breaker from the battery to the 4 panel switch? Which would be preferable in this situation? How large of a fuse or breaker would be needed?

I appreciate all the help you guys and this site have already provided! I have learned a good bit in the short time I have been lurking here.

Thanks

-Alex

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

every thing sounds good.
16g wire will be ok from the switchs to the items listed
You will need proberly a 10g from the battery to the input side of the switch panel (this may have a common buss already built into the back). If you dont plan to add anothing later 12g would be ok
All positive wires are fused with in 6" of the battery. Inline fuses will be ok for what you are running (fuse 30 amp if you use 10g wire 25amp if you use 12g)
dc negative buss is not realy needed for 4 items but it looks neat and will be worth the extra effort (same gauge as the positive to the negative buss)
make sure battery at the front is mounted or it could come loose and end up in the back when you go on plane

 

[trbarret]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

not to bust a thread, but concerning the buss bars i bought a double buss bar from i boats , it has the pos and neg bus bars as one with plastic cover. you just wire one neg and one pos wire from your battery with heavy gauge wire. i used 2 wire, 2 in 1 wire to do this. that way you only run 1 wire with both neg/pos to the buss. i used SS water proof crimp on connectors that seal when you heat them with a flame or heat gun to prevent corrosion. you can also buy a group of 4-6 switches that have 15 amp fuses already attached inline on the pos side for each of your lights, bilge, fish finder, horn etc. iboats has it all and very conveinient for fast setup. not that i am advertising but when you can buy everything in one place it saves on shipping and you can call them with questions onthe product. hope this helps.

 

[How_May]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

Thanks for the info...

After I little more researching yesterday, I think I am going to go a slightly different route...

I am going to run 8 or 10 awg wire from the battery (fused on the + near the battery) to a blue sea systems 6 circuit fuse box with built in - bus.

I like how there will only be one pair of wires on the battery terminal for my accessories. Instead of 4 individual negatives and 4 separate inline fused positives.

From the fuse box, I'll run 16 or 14 awg to a four switch panel and use the same 16 or 14 awg to my accessories.

Now for the questions...

The 4 switch panel that I'm looking at is the Invincible Marine panel with individual circuit breakers. Would this be overkill due to the fact that the switch will be fed directly from the fuse box? Or is it a good idea to have a resettable circuit breaker on each accessory from the switch panel?

Are there other 4 switch panels that would be better suited for the system I described above?

Again, thanks for the all the help!

 

[Don S]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

Here is some general wiring diagrams that shows how things hook up.
Might be of some help.

View attachment Typical Wiring.pdf

 

[Auger01]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

Thanks for the info...

Now for the questions...

The 4 switch panel that I'm looking at is the Invincible Marine panel with individual circuit breakers. Would this be overkill due to the fact that the switch will be fed directly from the fuse box? Or is it a good idea to have a resettable circuit breaker on each accessory from the switch panel?

Are there other 4 switch panels that would be better suited for the system I described above?

Again, thanks for the all the help!

Yes, that would be overkill. I would use either the fuse block or the breakers on the switch panel, but not both. If it was mine and I would skip the fuse block and use the breakers at the switches.

 

[jhebert]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

...I am completely green when it comes to wiring....Not being very electronically inclined, I have been searching this site and others for help.

I recommend reading a good book on the topic of marine electrical wiring. A good book will take you through the whole process in an organized way, giving you some background on electricity and its application to boats. It is unrealistic to think that a few random replies on a boating forum can impart to you all the information you will need to be successful in re-wiring your boat.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Re-wiring for a noob...

Thanks for the info...

After I little more researching yesterday, I think I am going to go a slightly different route...

I am going to run 8 or 10 awg wire from the battery (fused on the + near the battery) to a blue sea systems 6 circuit fuse box with built in - bus.

I like how there will only be one pair of wires on the battery terminal for my accessories. Instead of 4 individual negatives and 4 separate inline fused positives.

From the fuse box, I'll run 16 or 14 awg to a four switch panel and use the same 16 or 14 awg to my accessories.

Now for the questions...

The 4 switch panel that I'm looking at is the Invincible Marine panel with individual circuit breakers. Would this be overkill due to the fact that the switch will be fed directly from the fuse box? Or is it a good idea to have a resettable circuit breaker on each accessory from the switch panel?

Are there other 4 switch panels that would be better suited for the system I described above?

Again, thanks for the all the help!

yep thats overkill. The inline fuse at the battery protects the wire so you can run the positive to one breaker then daisy chain to the next breaker. (daisy chain = make a smaller jumper wire that goes from one breaker to the other on the battery sides). most switch panels are already daisy chained by a brass plate so you might not have to do anything.
The Grounds can use a buss or can be attached to a isolated bolt as theres only 4 then attach the 10g and run that back to the battery. If you plan to add stuff in the future then get the 6 switch/breaker panel and a ground buss