Boat wiring

[Tucker1968]

Hello all I’m in the middle of restoring a 1983 Eliminator sport cruiser. With a Jet drive. My question is this, has anyone found a book on boat wiring that helped them? I have some knowledge but not sure about wiring the helm. If one of you came across a book that help you, please share. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nailhead]

This helped me out some

Wiring A Boat

Beginners guide: The basics of boat wiring. Wiring schematics, pictures, best practices and tips to get your boat's electrical systems in shape.

newwiremarine.com

 

[mash on it]

Any specific questions?
CP performance has wiring harnesses.
G. M. Color code is common.

Dan'l

 

[Tucker1968]

This helped me out some

Wiring A Boat

Beginners guide: The basics of boat wiring. Wiring schematics, pictures, best practices and tips to get your boat's electrical systems in shape.

newwiremarine.com

Thank you.

 

[Tucker1968]

Any specific questions?
CP performance has wiring harnesses.
G. M. Color code is common.

Dan'l

The gauge wiring has me somewhat confused. I see pictures on here and I see what appears to be loops. I did see the harness at CP. I bought a Blue Sea fuse box and plan on using that. There's been some helpful videos on YouTube, but no real detail on wiring gauges and switches. I maybe making this a bigger deal than it is because i'm pretty green when it comes to wiring. Thanks for replying.

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

Power - Source - Lights... the loops you are seeing are more than likely a power 12v source and lights, these can all link and then you bring in the source or what the gauge is reading. Grounds can be different by gauge but make sure you have a solid ground and things should work good.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Where are you located?

Gauges are super easy, really the whole thing is easy as long as you’re willing to start over vs trying to reuse so much of it. My last boat i went to just fix some started trimming that turned to cutting, than ripped all out lol.
Using that blue sea box is a great start, first thing first a good tinned 8g power and ground from the perko and the engine block to start.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Gauge loops are most definitely for power, ground and back lighting. The only not looped will be your sending unit/instrument wire.

 

[alohajeff]

The ABYC makes wiring "size" selection pretty easy. You also need to make sure the circuit protection is matched to the wire size. Meaning you shouldn't do something silly and fuse a 20 foot length of 18ga wire with a 150 amp fuse.

First you have to decide if the circuit is a critical one or not and how much voltage drop is acceptable. Most charts list the wire size for X amount of feet at X amount of current and then show the correct wire size for a 3% or 10% drop in voltage. The charts also take into consideration the length of the run, the voltage, amp draw and whether or not the wire is subject to elevated temperatures such as in an engine room (or under an engine hatch.

https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

This App is an option too.

https://abycinc.org/page/wiresizer

Aloha

 

[stingray11]

The 1 thing you need to know is to use tined copper marine wire for anti corrosion.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Where are you located?

Gauges are super easy, really the whole thing is easy as long as you’re willing to start over vs trying to reuse so much of it. My last boat i went to just fix some started trimming that turned to cutting, than ripped all out lol.
Using that blue sea box is a great start, first thing first a good tinned 8g power and ground from the perko and the engine block to start.

That’s the key, toss everything and start over.

 

[Outdrive1]

That’s the key, toss everything and start over.

One hundred percent.


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