Raymarine "drain" wire question

[Sunbeam]

While we are all here, I have one other question, this one related to the positive feed wire for the Raymarine plotter.

Okay, so my Garmin plotter had its own spot on the helm fuse block, with a 5 amp fuse in it. These connect with what I think you call spade connectors (they are tabs and the connectors slide onto them). I neglected to stock any of those in "pink" 18-22 gauge size (I only have blue along).

However. The Raymarine plotter positive lead already has an inline fuse in it, supplied by Raymarine (glass fuse). I can't remember if the Garmin had this or not, but anyway. Can I at least for now just put a ring terminal on the end of this wire (I have 18-22 ring terminals along of the appropriate spec) and connect it to the screw that is the positive post for the fuse block? This will mean it does not have the "fuse block fuse" that the Garmin had, but it will still have its own, Raymarine supplied inline fuse on the positive wire.

If that's not good, I could go to the hardware store and probably get a "sub standard" (for now) spade connector. Although I question what two fuses in a row would do anyway (?).

Thanks,
Sunbeam

[potter water]

Using the block is nice, but not necessary. Just hook the wire to the supply side of the block and use the in-line fuse. Get fancy when you get home. My boat is wired such that all electronics are grounded at a negative buss behind the panel. If your's is the same, then grounding the plotter at the same buss behind the helm is just as good as grounding at the Bat terminal. In fact it is better because all nose sensitive and producing equipment is grounded at a common point. And that is what helps control the noise between electronics and controls ground loops, which generate noise. As a rocket scientist, that is my best advice. That is how we do it on spacecraft, and we get to mars okay, so your C-dory should do fine with the plotter grounded at the buss bar behind the helm. I imagine that some of the factory advice is assuming you don't have a gaggle of other electronics, and if not then ground it at the battery. Simple language is good for electronic DIY.

Let us know how it works.

Sadly , Susan and I are home now and no longer on the lake. RATS!! No fun.

[Sunbeam]

[colbysmith]

KISS! Too much information and thought going into all this. Our boats are pretty simple and not much "noise" except from the engine electronics maybe. Sunbeam, just hook the drain wire to a negative post on your fuse block, or ignore it. (I'm guessing if you have a drain wire, you also have a shielded cable!) That's what I have done in the past without issue. As for the NMEA networks, I use those wires to get the various units to talk to each other. IE, without those tiny network wires, my radio's AIS receiver wouldn't show targets on my MultiFunction display, and my VHF wouldn't have my position for the DSC! (The last one is a biggy. And probably one of the reason most folks with a DSC radio, don't have access to the DSC!) If you are connecting tiny wires to tiny wires, get some of those button style connectors that squeeze out a little silicone when you close them. (Used many times for phone wire connections.) As for connecting to fuse blocks and the like, use of the red #14 & smaller terminal ends suffices, just as you did. Sounds like you have hooked your stuff up properly, but I'd really encourage you to hook up those tiny NMEA wires also....even though those connections can be kind of confusing. I'm assuming that you have a VHF radio with DSC and would like to know you can depend upon the emergency distress button working! Colby

[Sunbeam]

[potter water]

I'd definitely get the vhf antenna up and away from the plotter. The cables are pretty much a non-issue themselves. But, depending on how well the antenna is matched to the radio and cables, there can be some emissions issue with the antenna that could at least temporarily affect your plotter. I don't think you'll burn it up with a transmission, but following the manufacturer directions unless impossible is the best way to approach any electronics installation. Besides, you've already mentioned that your ante is in a bad spot. If you move it up, your com distances will also improve. Antenna height is the major improvement you can make for com distance and it is sometimes dramatic even if you only gain a foot or two.

[Sunbeam]

[potter water]

Really, no one is going to be able to knowledgeably answer that question for you better than your install manual unless they've been operating a duplicate radio, antenna, wire routing and plotter. The manufacturers spend a lot of money on emissions and susceptibility issues testing associated with their digital equipment. So, they've determined, according to your install manual that you shouldn't install the way you'd like to convince yourself that you can. So, the simple answer is if you don't move the antenna, you may damage or have trouble with your equipment.

You can do whatever you want and run to the manufacturer warranty dept. if it causes grief. But that wouldn't be nice.

Now, if you can get an antenna extension mount that will move the radiating part of your antenna up and away from the plotter over 3 feet, you may be good to go. You can, I'm pretty sure get an extension mast.

[Captains Cat]

Sunbeam said:

"PS: I had a slight puzzlement when I went to strip that tiny wire and, no matter how careful I was (of course the 22 gauge stripper was too large, so I was using a pocket knife) I kept cutting off the whole thing. After a couple of times of that I knew something was up and looked closer: Aha - the wire insulation extended about 2" past the end of the wire, so I was "stripping" just insulation with no wire ever in there. Duh! I also found that I could just "pull back" the insulation vs. cutting it off (once I started with a fresh cut that had both wire and insulation in it). It's very rubbery insulation and moves easily along the wire."

Just a strange thought [british]. Maybe it's called a "drain" because that's where the water runs if the dome leaks? . The water wouln't leak through that great insulation...

Enough, I'll be glad to start installing my new Garmin stuff in a month or so.

Charlie

[Sunbeam]

[colbysmith]

Hi Sunbeam, please don't take offense to my KISS statement. Just sometimes we need to keep things simple. (Not to be confused with JRTFM. All terms I learned in the military...not directed towards the person, but rather the situation!) Nothing wrong with asking lots of questions. I do the same, and when not, do a lot of lurking in the forum to see what I can learn. But I think sometimes the manuals are written for all installations, from simple boats like ours, to mega yachts. Lawyers come into play with a lot of the writing. I have all my wires ran pretty much together from the stern to the bow. So much for keeping distance. Damn near impossible in any size vessel! But I do follow the restrictions (well except for my compass..again pretty much impossible on a small boat), when it comes to distance between antennas and equipment. A shielded cable will have some silver foil or saran wrap like material around the inside wires. As for the "drain" wire, I pretty much treat it like the ground wire in house wire. I understand what those that know electronics are saying about the RF dump, but haven't had any issues of my own by connecting the drain wires to the negative post on my terminal blocks. I'm sure warranties come into play also if one doesn't follow the instruction manual precisely, but I think reasonable can be fought for in the end. Ok, off to the lake to try out my new installation.

[potter water]

The wire is the radiating element. The other part contains coils for what looks like your quarter waver radiating element. In any case, all you have to do really, is get the "wire" bit up three feet away from your digital stuff. Check with west marine or other supplier on an extension mast for your antenna. That should reduce your risks by 90% and give you better com to boot.

[Sunbeam]

Colby,

I hear you, but.... then look at the VHF scenario. Is that "ignorable"? I don't know, and haven't been able to find info from anyone who ignored it and had no problems (or ignored it and did have problems). As potter water says, it's best not to ignore the manufacturer's recommendations. But then as you say, it's not always possible to keep everything ideal on a small vessel. Trick is knowing (or finding out) when you can fudge and when you can't. That's what I was trying to find out now, about the VHF antenna.

[potter water]

You pays yer money and yous takes yer chances. I actually think you'll be okay, but now you understand some of the issues and can make an intelligent choice. Another is to use only your mobile back in the cockpit. Monitoring 16 on the permanent mount, but xmitting from your mobile. of course, mobile is not as great for distance, but I've found it isn't very often that my Icom mobile vhf doesn't do the job on the lake.

Wish I was still on the lake. My trip for the gathering wasn't close to long enough. Great weather coming up for you as far as I can tell.

[Sunbeam]