Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

[LukeBRoberson]

I am completely redoing a 13' Ray Craft and have removed every wire from it. After re-running the wires to a new switch panel, and bus bars, it's time to connect to the ignition switch.

I'm sure its been asked over and over however Im having a problem finding it. Which wire do I attach my bus bar to at the ignition to have it only be on when the key is on?

I tried the 'A' thinking it was accessory but for some reason couldnt get it to work.

Any Suggestions?

 

[LukeBRoberson]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

Oh yes,

It has 6 places to attach wires,

S-I-A-M-B and another that I cant read.

There is on in the middle and the other are in a star shape around it.

Thanks!

 

[seabob4]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

Oh yes,

It has 6 places to attach wires,

S-I-A-M-B and another that I cant read.

There is on in the middle and the other are in a star shape around it.

Thanks!

Without knowing what type of motor you have, I will hazard to say it is the post marked "I", or ignition.

If you have a Merc, the purple wire in your engine harness is ignition power, only energized with the key on.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

You should not connect your +12 volt bus to the ignition switch but if you do, it goes to the "A" (accessory) terminal. There should be a separate pair of #10 or 8 gauge wires from the battery to your fuse panel. Generally, the +12 volt line in the engine harness and especially the ignition switch itself is not intended to run much more than the gauges. If you have any high current draw accessories like a killer stereo, flood lights, downriggers, etc, you need to power them some other way.

 

[seabob4]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

I am completely redoing a 13' Ray Craft and have removed every wire from it. After re-running the wires to a new switch panel, and bus bars, it's time to connect to the ignition switch.

I'm sure its been asked over and over however Im having a problem finding it. Which wire do I attach my bus bar to at the ignition to have it only be on when the key is on?

I tried the 'A' thinking it was accessory but for some reason couldnt get it to work.

Any Suggestions?

With your ignition in the "on" position, did you check for voltage at the "A" terminal using a meter? If you have voltage there, you may not have a good ground to whatever acc. you want the engine circuit to power.

Silvertip brings up a good point about powering acc.'s from the ignition circuit of the motor. I know what you're thinking, "I can leave everything on, turn off the motor, and everything shuts off". The best way to do this is to wire a feed from the batt, through a 40A breaker, to an on/off batt switch, to a positive bus bar, and power everything from there.

When you turn off the batt switch, you turn off everything except your bilge pump float switch and your stereo memory.

A much better way to go than using your engine's ignition circuit...

 

[jhebert]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

Read

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/ignitionSwitch.html

 

[stylesabu]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

i use 20 amp toggle switch and a relay that handles another 20 amps both a protected by curcuit breakers

 

[LukeBRoberson]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

Thanks for the advice. I had it wired up to "I" for a while, but after reading the advice yall gave me, I'm going to run it through my on/off switch that's currently hooked up to my motor. I don't want any electrical problems, or even a chance at them. Thanks again.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Which wire behind ignition switch for accessories?

i use 20 amp toggle switch and a relay that handles another 20 amps both a protected by curcuit breakers

I like the relay idea- headlight relays have a pretty high current capacity and don't draw much power... I think you just made me decide on a new means of controlling power to my switched accessories. I used to use a headlight relay at the battery to feed my starter solenoid in my Type 1 Beetles and '69 Westy. I hadn't thought about this in a while...

Thanks!