Rewire Electrical

[viscern]

1995 Lowes L1930 Deep V. Aluminum hull. 1995 115 Evinrude.

I need to rewire my boat. I have a short under the dash that is part of a bundle of wires. When they wiggle it causes my rocker switches and radio to go off. Sick of dealing with this and can't find the short anywhere. Assuming its on the negative side because it never blows a fuse.
I want to put in a new fuse box and run new wires into and from there. A few questions/assumptions. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

1. Accessories are run off the starter battery. Motor charges starter battery
2. Trolling motor is ran off the other batteries. ( I have two deep cell and a starter battery).
3. Aluminum hull boat....grounding is done with motor, not to the hull.
4. If number 3 is correct, I don't need to worry about grounding.

 

[briangcc]

1. Most times this is accurate unless you're running a thumping sound system and amp then you might be looking at a battery bank. Assuming your outboard is large enough it probably has a charging circuit.
2. Yes your trolling motor should be run off the deep cycle batteries.
3. Grounding is done to the batteries, not the motor or hull.
4. In any boat you definitely need to worry about grounding.

 

[mike_i]

It doesn't sound like you have a short, you have an intermittent open. Most likely a loose or corroded connection. Shouldn't be too difficult to find.

 

[Silvertip]

Unless the wiring is really in bad shape, re-wiring will likely be a waste of time, money and frustration. Look for the intermittent. Moving that bundle of wires should tell you where the issue is. If the switches are illuminated and they go out you need to determine if the items those switches control also turn off. The accessory panel is normally fed 12V directly from the battery. There is generally a ground buss or post on the panel and all accessories should be grounded there or directly to the battery. There is normally a fuse or breaker very close to the positive battery post so make sure connections are clean and tight at the battery and work forward. Fact is -- as others mentioned you do not have a short. Shorts blow fuses. Opens makes things stop working but they don't blow fuses. My guess is you'll find the problem in the +12V and/or ground feed between the battery and the fuse panel.

 

[Scott Danforth]

your boat has a grounding block under the dash. that is where all the grounds for the helm are run. that is also the cheapest part that the boat builder could buy.

at most, you need to simply clean the crud off the terminals, clean them with a wire brush chucked in a drill, or 150 grit sand paper.

seal every connection with marine electrical varnish.

as @Silvertip stated, rewiring would be a waste of time/money for a simple bad connection.

bet your wiring issues can be solved with a test light, 30 minutes of time and about $3 worth of supplies.

 

[viscern]

It doesn't sound like you have a short, you have an intermittent open. Most likely a loose or corroded connection. Shouldn't be too difficult to find.

I have looked for months. I agree. But I can’t find the damn thing and it’s driving me nuts.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have looked for months. I agree. But I can’t find the damn thing and it’s driving me nuts.

then go at it a different way. start at the battery, clean every terminal on the way to the motor and up to the helm with sand paper. then seal the connectors with marine electrical varnish