Electical Question

[Tug]

I will try to phrase this question as clearly as i can...i am not electrical minded.I have just resently discovered what a bus is..i think.

I removed my old GPS..Fishfinder and Loran from my boat...i removed the speedometer wheel and transducer from my transom.i cut/unplugged the wiring from the antenna and the GPS on the roof...On the bus i removed the corresponding connections and wires that these electonics were connected to........on the back of the rocker switch panel these wires are still connected( plugged into the back )..rocker switches are labeled interior lights, fishfinder etc......i presume that the bus i connected to the battery.
My question is...lets say i add a new fishfinder, can i use the same wiring from the old fishfinder that already exists and runs to the battery or do i have to remove all the old wiring that runs to the battery and start from scratch. If i can use the old wiring how to i connect the new fishfinder wiring to the bus and rocker switch....Thanks Tug

[thataway]

You can still use the old 12 volt positive and negative wiring. Be sure that it is fused properly on the red or plus side. You cannot use the old transducer. Even if it was the correct impedence and frequency, you would have difficulty splicing the wires (although it can be done).

Often there is a bus bar near the batter, and a second bus bar for electronics under the console, after an "electronics" switch.

[Tug]

thataway....I hadn't planned on using the old transducer...didn't think they would be compatable...here is no bus bar near the batteries but there is one directly below the rocker switch panel that everything was tied into. Is there a correct sequence that has to be followed ...eg..does the top rocker switch correspond to the first connector on the bus and so-on down the line or does this matter....and how to you figure out which old 12 volt positive and negative wiring connected at the battery belongs where.. Thanks Tug

[thataway]

Every boat owner needs to have a digital volt meter in his tool kit, and learn how to use it. You can measure the voltage, and polarity at the switch--this will tell you which switch goes to which lead. (put the leads of the voltmeter on the point where you cut off the fish finder wires, turn the switch on, and see if the meter measures somewhere near 12.6 volts (fully charged battery). The black meter probe goes to the negative or black wire). There should be a negative and positive bus bar.

It really does not make a lot of difference where you take the 12 volts off the bus, but you want to go thru a fuse and or switch. See my comments on your other post.

[Tug]

If one were to take the power for all your lights/radio/electonics from the bus with the proper fuses etc ..i would think that there would be just one positive and negative connection at the battery(s).Curious why there are so many wire connections for both the positive/negative terminal. What would these be for if all you need is one positive/negative wire connection going to the negative and positive bus behind the helm. I put the batteries back in my boat today to check if everything works...all works good as far as i could tell..except for the rocker switches for the removed electonics. Any ideas what all these other battery wires could be for or do i have to trace each wire back to see where it leads.

Tug

[Notayot]

The bilge pumps are many times fed directly from the battery binding posts. Although there should only be one positive and one negative connection there, the bilge pumps must remain energized at all times in order to assure they will work even though the battery switch is left in the off position. So, these may be your extra wires.

[Tug]

Denis ,the bilge and Kodiak Bait tank wires are accounted for on the first battery..... the other battery has the main positive/negative connections along with the motor cable and radar i would guess....but there are so many other O-ring connections on this second battery that it is a tight fit. .....is it possible that along with running the main pos/neg wire to the pos/neg buses that ...eg...fishfinder...someone also ran a pos/neg wire from the battery to the buses or are you suppose to. Very confusing for the non-electrical minded, i may have to check each connection to each operation system by trail and error to see what belongs to what if i am able to re-trace the wires.On the other hand everything seems to be working so maybe i should leave well enough alone.

Tug

[Notayot]

Any wires leaving the positive side of one of the batteries should be protected with a fuse or circuit breaker before leaving the area of the battery. Unprotected wiring can be subject to overheating if a problem develops on the circuit. I think you would be wise to disconnect all of the positive wires while leaving the negative (ground) wiring on the binding posts of both batteries, and then reconnect only one positive wire at a time and record what device is active with that connection. If wires are not needed, I would leave them disconnected, insulate the ends, and marked as such. If wiring is indeed leaving the battery and going more than a couple of feet from the battery, or they are hidden, I would fuse them with a waterproof and ignition protected fuse or circuit breaker panel. Another choice is connect necessary items to the existing fuse and breaker panels at the console up front if there are empty circuits available that will not overload those panels.

Hope this helps!

[Tug]

Everyone is giving me good information that is helping me get a clearer picture of whats going on and what i should do.....The wiring hardness is hidden inside a bilge hose that runs the entire lenght of the cockpit. Think i will see if i can remove it see if i can trace what wires go where....i think that now... that after removing the electonics that there are some wires that need to be removed.....

Installed my BRM4 bow roller on my boat today.....wasn't easy ..it is definitly a two man job putting in a backing plate...LOOKS GREAT..

Thanks Tug