boat wiring- DIY or pay?

[Rhettley]

I try to do most things on this boat myself but I'm in a bit of a quandary on the rewiring of the electronics. I'm adding two more batteries for a 24 volt trolling motor which isn't that big of a deal. I've added electric motors, depth finders, 12 volt outlets, bilge pumps, etc. to other boats. I'm adding a stereo deck I've already bought as soon as I find a really good deal on two decent speakers. This would be the best time to get this installed too. I've put numerous stereos in cars when I was younger but that was years ago.
This boat re-wire is going to be a booger though. Most of the gauges, including the gas gauge don't work right now, probably due to a wiring problem. This week the depth finder, pumps, and vhf all quit. The rpm gauge was working before this, not sure now. The trim tabs didn't work when I bought it. Todd said the black box was replaced recently and after a couple of uses stopped working. Probably electrical problem too. One of the first things I noticed on the sea trial besides the conglomeration of wires was a lack of fuses. I'm guessing a complete removal of all old wire and a complete rewire is in order to get everything fused and working properly.
One thing I want whether I do it myself or pay someone is to get an education on basic wiring so I can fix anything that might quit while out on the water for safety reasons. I did a brief google search on wiring and found some good diagrams to go by but I need more information than just a generic diagram. Without a lot of studying and time I'm not confident of my capabilities to do this correctly although I expect I'm trying to make this way more complicated than it should be.
So what do you guys recommend? I usually get good advice here. Is there someone who can reasonably rewire it within 100 or so miles of Moultrie and who will take the time to explain it to me? With all the unexpected car and truck repairs and dental bills we had last month I don't want to clean out what's left of my bank account either.

[HewesMan]

I too am in the process of doing this. I may start mine in Jan/Feb. The first thing to do is read a lot. There is a lot of good info out there especially on THT forum.

For the connections get a good crimp tool like this one that will crimp the heat shrink terminals. There are some a lot more expensive that will crimp to MIL specs, but from what I have read and seen tested this one is the best bang for the buck.
http://www.sailorssolutions.com/index.a ... Item=WP042

Blue Seas makes a lot of good stuff. I am going to use one of their fuse panels, battery switches, and rocker switches too.

I am by no means an expert and do not claim to be. Come up with a diagram of how you want to wire everything up. I was told to use the KISS method. The fewer connections the better. Also, use heat shrink connectors with adhesive in them. If you use this type do not put dielectric grease on the bare wires, it will cause the adhesive to not activate correctly. Don't skimp on wires or connectors.

This is a great place for cable.
http://genuinedealz.com/

[Dubble Trubble]

Be sure all wiring, switches and connectors are for marine use.

Solder, do not crimp all connectors and seal with adhesive heat shrink tubing. Those crimp connectors with the little plastic sleeve are junk for a boat.

Dubble

[beer_fixes_all]

I double what Dubble Trubble said

[reelhandy]

I'd say do it yourself. It may be a struggle, but after you get through it you will know where everything goes and how it works. DC wiring is pretty simple, red goes to positive, or HOT, black goes to negative, or GROUND. Chances are the wires are good and the connections aren't. You might not be seeing a lot of fuses because the switches might all have circuit breakers. That's a good thing. If there are hollow feeling little rubber buttons next to your switches, those are the breaker resets. Push the button in hard and if you hear a click it was popped. If it pops again you've got a short. That might need to be rewired. Get one of those little tester LEDs with wires and clips and start one circuit at a time. It's usually the ground wire on the circuit that causes the problem. If you take the tester to something that isn't working and the LED lights up, it's either the connection at the bulb or component you are checking, or they've just failed altogether. If you have a long enough wire making a good ground at your battery, and a tester light, you can check any connection in the boat to see if it's hot. Take your time and start with the circuits that are easy to identify and go from there. You could have something as simple as one major ground wire with a bad connection. If that were to happen all of the ground wires that feed to it would be making bad connections, and nothing that depends on any of those grounds would work properly. I would start at the battery connections and work out from there.

[zload]

I've done all my own electrical repairs and upgrades and as long as you are not dealing with engine wiring harness issues I think it is a DIY given your described past experience. A good set of crimpers (I use an Ancor Double Crimp tool), a wire stripper that presets the strip length so it is right for the connectors and using marine grade materials such as the heat shrink adhesive connectors will cost more up front but make a better and faster job in the end. Marine grade wire is tinned which is supposed to make it last longer and certainly makes it more expensive. Stay away from generic wire and connectors and the cheap crimp tools that come with the kits! You will probably use the crimper and stripper many times each year so they are worth the $.

That said if you don't feel comfortable then hire it out, better to be sure everything is going to work and not cause a fire or leave you stranded than to save a few bucks.

My Key West is pretty simple, other than the engine harness it is two wires wires from the battery (+/-) with a 50 amp circuit breaker to fuse panel in the console, then from the fuse panel to the switches that control devices or groups of devices. Having the fuse panels keeps out all the inline fuses and makes for a cleaner job. The trolling motor is wired direct from the two batteries with another circuit breaker to the TM plug. I suspect you can find a marine wiring book from Amazon or West Marine that may help clear up the design/layout for you. Blue Sea Systems also has some design stuff on their web page as well. It is pretty much battery to overcurrent protection to switch to device and making sure you have a good ground but I worked for 6 hours last weekend trying to find a LED trailer light wiring short, the LED lights are are sealed so hard to test where the short was, ended up being the last marker light at the back of the trailer (of course). Good luck!

Quick look at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Boatowners-Illust ... ine+wiring

[Rhettley]

I need to order the book.

I do have the circuit breaker switches. I assume they are all working. They "look" ok but I haven't done any testing. Problem is the wiring to these switches. The depth finder/gps is wired into the "accessory" switch by having two sections of stripped wire about an inch back from the switch with the unit's wires wrapped around these and covered with electrical tape. Another has one of those combo male/female plugs used to hook up more wires.
I guess I should do it myself just so I know the system inside and out. I'll definitely have to replace all the wiring and connections with the proper marine quality stuff.
The gauges on the dash are a different story. I know they need rewiring because I spotted a corroded and broken wire on the speed gauge and none of the others work either. I have zero experience with gauges but I guess I wire them up correctly and if they don't work I replace them...

Anyone got a rough idea of what someone would charge for a rewire just so I have an idea?

[Sir reel]

You have already had some very good advice from folks who know more about this issue than I do, but one question that I have is...What kind of central fuse block do you have? From the description of your issues, I'd be suspicious of the block depending on what type it is. If it's the type that actually has the fuses in the metal clips, that's a likely problem. If it has reset switches not so much. You may have grounding issues with the non working stuff. Regardless, it does sound like a complete rewire would be the best thing to do. I'd start off with a good type of fuse block, one that will be as water resistant as you can find. Then pay attention to the connectors that others have emphasized. The job may seem overwhelming but just get started one step at a time and it will fall into place.

[onefishtwofish]

If I were going to start all over, I would do it myself. If I were going to just repair as needed, I would pay an expert. Starting from scratch is a lot easier than finding problems, at least for me.

[Rhettley]

No fuses in metal clamps Sir reel. It has the little reset buttons beneath each switch. I'll pull all the wires from the switches, label them, and clean it up to see if it is ok or if I need to replace it. I might want a couple more switches than this one has. Several people apparently worked on the wiring when they borrowed the boat from the previous owner. The 12 volt outlet on the dash was piggybacked onto the vhf power supply too. Wires stripped and the outlet wires wrapped around the bare spot then covered with electric tape on top of the console.

[reelhandy]

If the exposed wire ends are corroded and nasty looking just cut them back to where the wire is fresh and make solid connections there. If there isn't enough slack wire to do that then that would be a wire that needs to be replaced. It sounds to me like you need to add a fuse box. Hewes Man mentioned Blue Seas, they make nice ones. Stuff like your GPS doesn't need to be using a switch. The power feed to the switch panel can feed the fuse box. Then you refeed the switch panel off of the fuse box on a fuse. The rest of the fuse slots are now ready for stuff like your GPS. The horn should be on the fuse panel. Anything that needs constant power or has it's own switch comes off the fuse box. I think if you took your time and made good connections out of bad ones you'd do a lot to fix things up. If your setup doesn't have a battery switch like this http://www.marineengine.com/products/ac ... 4AodI2EAHg you should get one. It'll keep your batteries from draining down and if you put it near where your wiring all comes together, it'll make it easy to kill the power when you are working on it. I like to save the money I would pay to someone to do what I could possibly do, then use it for improvements and tools.

[charlie tuna]

Lots of great information concerning connections. BUT "Wires stripped and the outlet wires wrapped around the bare spot then covered with electric tape on top of the console" qualifies you as "needing" some help. Sometimes people spend more money on things they really don't need, than on the cost of qualified help. Main thing is to have two separate systems, one for critical power or those things that you need to return to the dock!! And an "auxillary power" for those things that are nice to have but not effecting your safety on the water. Most VHS and GPS come with factory "in line' fuses, to connect them to a fuse block just creates another possible connection and more confusion if the unit stops operating. Another issue is to have your "setup" so that is easy to charge everything and i like a method allowing "cross connection" od systems "if necessary"???

[Rhettley]

Charlie tuna I found the wires stripped and spliced into bare spots and covered with electrical tape. That wasn't my doings... I know better, especially on something like the VHF. Reelhandy I do have the Perko battery cut off switch mounted back in the battery compartment. It kills all the power.

Some great info here. Thanks everyone. I'm gonna just study up a while. In the mean time I'll run power to the needed items so I can use the boat. When I have time I'll pull it all and redo from scratch anything that is remotely questionable.

One thing I always do is pick up an extra bilge pump when I find one on sale. I place it in the bilge and run a hose through an upper hole or just leave it where I can open the hatch and put it overboard. I run wires with battery clips to the battery so if the main pump or electronics go out I've got a pump I can hot wire to the battery in a couple of seconds. It can also be put overboard to pump water in to fill a live well or to wash the deck.

[charlie tuna]

Years ago a group of guys from work went down into the lower keys for some dolphin fishing. This one guy was an electrician and had wired his boat with "house switches" and lots of solid wire. We spent hours trying to get his boat straightened out. Good connections and sealing them from the salt atmosphere is critical.