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ZonkaRacing
03-08-2007, 01:57 PM
I need some help rewiring my boat, the wiring is a mess, and i have no idea were to start first. Wut do i need to do first???

The Big Al
03-08-2007, 02:05 PM
well removing what you have first.


There are hundreds of things you can do or change.

It's almost a personal preferance. Most older boats have a "JUST GET BY"
electrical system.

Finding a S&F memeber close to you that has done this will be your best bet, some can post pic's of thier updates. And you will find some nice work.

Al

Superboat Rob
03-08-2007, 02:17 PM
http://www.screamandfly.com/home/hull_tech/wiring_6.6.2004/wiring_1.htm

Good place to start!

-ROB-

ZonkaRacing
03-08-2007, 04:16 PM
thnx, helped lots. do you know any other sites or books that can guide me through the process?

sho305
03-09-2007, 01:14 PM
I did one long ago. I just looked at everything that came to the front, I had power, trim, lights, gauge wires, key switch, ground, and stereo wires for example. I redid those first because some of them like the ignition/trim wires on that boat had their own loom I kept as it was fine. The rest I fixed up or replaced and put them all together in the main loom. Fixed up the lighting wires in rest of boat too and finished off the wiring in the battery area. I ran a bigger wire right from the battery to power whatever at dash and put a new fuse block on it, also a ground with a terminal strip. From those I rewired everything left in the dash last. I made sure I fused the battery wires at the battery also. I moved/added switches before I wired the dash. I got a lot of those loop clamps and SS screws to mount all the wiring stuff, some new switches/wire cover stuff/etc. It was not that bad, just note what stuff is before you tear it out if you are not familiar with boat wiring. Be real careful about where your screws go, make sure they are short and not going out the other side!

Before you start figure out any additional things you might want to wire up in the future, any things to change or add, and get your new switches/gauges and stuff. Inspect what you will have to replace because its trashed or whatever and get wire. If you have questions on specific things you can get help here, like what connectors to use and where to get, stuff like that. I used the regular auto ones but mostly only used end connectors that go to a guage or terminal. I kept all the wires whole end to end as I recall to eliminate failure points. I did split a couple and I soldered the wire into the existing one. I use a Mac crimper that puts the hole in the connector, it works the best for me. You can even shrink wrap or use that black sealer stuff on the ends if you want. This was a weekend boat so I didn't bother and never had a problem with it.

Check out the posts from at100plus, he has put on some pics of nice wiring he did. There are other wiring posts I am sure if you search for a while.

Also be careful about what you use for fuseblocks and such, the moisture will trash them in no time if they are not of good quality or marine.

150aintenuff
03-12-2007, 12:52 AM
I am in the process of Rewiring a Donzi I start with the Dash first and work back install all the gauges fues blocks and terminal strips up under the dash first and then go to the rear and place a master fuse, a battery cutoff switch and the Positive lead from the batery to the switch...

then run all the wires that run the length of the boat at once creatiing a loom th that can be installed in either corigated looming OR TH marine Flex hose. then that loom gets connected to the switches, fuse panel or where ever they terminate. THEN i wire in the Engine and wher the harness makes sence to create a quick disconnect for the removal of a motor or powerhead. once the engine is up go to town wiring in the ignition and constant powered switches that controll the accessories , which leaves that circuts wire on the top. which saves cutting a lot of tye raps out to fix or change ou an accessory when its time to upgrade.

at100plus
03-13-2007, 06:03 AM
[quote=sho305;1064380]Check out the posts from at100plus, he has put on some pics of nice wiring he did. There are other wiring posts I am sure if you search for a while.
quote]

Hey thanks for the kudos!;) I'm actually having the Bob Garone, the guy you see in that article wire my boat this year. No time. Bob's work is phenominal.

sho305
03-13-2007, 10:42 AM
At100plus, I finally found the ones I was thinking of...on your Riot! That is why I could not find them. They are on this page: http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114063&page=13

These are good pics as to how one should go about wiring a boat, starting at post #187. There are more of the rear areas here: http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114063&page=15 start at #215.

BTW, the skater is looking really nice!

at100plus
03-13-2007, 11:53 AM
Thanks,

That's good wiring for an amateur, but Bob Garone and Trick Powerboats do some of the nicest work I've seen posted on these forums.

It's not easy wiring neatly.

sho305
03-13-2007, 12:03 PM
No it is not easy, especially since you have to be upside down for most of it. I don't think the last one I did was quite as nice as those pics, but close. Then you run into spots you can't attach to anything, I guess that depends on the boat and how much wood they put in for it. I left parts of the old wiring in the one I did because it was nice heavy stuff, but it was hard to make the old stuff neater to match the new.

trashy
03-18-2007, 06:46 AM
Kind of related here. Do you guys have any recommedations as far as where to get supplies? Mainly marine grade wire in different sizes and colors?

QwikTrim
03-18-2007, 04:22 PM
Good reading if your interested ....

http://www.amazon.ca/Boatowners-Illustrated-Electrical-Handbook-Charlie/dp/0071446443/ref=pd_ka_1/702-2870132-0791242?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174252666&sr=8-1

150aintenuff
03-18-2007, 04:35 PM
Ancor, and Gardner Bender are the 2 brands of Marine wire I use, but that is all my wholesale wharehouse sells..

ZonkaRacing
03-18-2007, 09:19 PM
Book looks good, il check it out.
Does it also show were to wire everything (gauges etc.) or just wire colour codes?

-thanx

QwikTrim
03-24-2007, 08:07 AM
The scope of the book entails a lot more than just DC power distribution
which is what your primarily concerned with. Wide array of topics covered
are; AC power inverters, galvanic corrossion control , battery monitoring
.... etc. Their is a lot of emphasis on the ABYC standard for marine wiring,
but, not so much on detailed applications (ie. wiring gauge sets).

It's a good book though .... one of the best I've seen for marine applications.

Also, here's a website with a lot of useful information concerning marine wiring:

http://www.pkys.com/

Hope this helps.

Trick Powerboats
03-24-2007, 07:52 PM
Livelegend,

Here is a pic of my twin engine boat from behind the dash. We try to keep things simple and as neat as possible. If you have any questions just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call

This boat is using Mercury's AGI (analog gauge interface) so that I can run the traditional analog gauges in instead of the Smartcraft gauges. How ever I will still run the "system view" and mount it in a remote location so that I still have the Smartcraft diagnostic capabilities. I just wanted to do something different.

jphii
03-24-2007, 08:08 PM
If you have any questions just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call.

I've got one, wanna re do mine?:) :) :)

Trick Powerboats
03-24-2007, 08:13 PM
What do you have and how bad is it? We stay pretty busy but if you de-rigged it, we can probably squeeze it in.

jphii
03-24-2007, 08:30 PM
I've got a tach. I'm getting ready to add a fuel pressure (elec) gauge. I still can't make it look that good!!

sho305
03-24-2007, 11:09 PM
TPB- Very clean, that looks real nice:cool:

ZonkaRacing
03-28-2007, 03:06 PM
Livelegend,

Here is a pic of my twin engine boat from behind the dash. We try to keep things simple and as neat as possible. If you have any questions just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call

This boat is using Mercury's AGI (analog gauge interface) so that I can run the traditional analog gauges in instead of the Smartcraft gauges. How ever I will still run the "system view" and mount it in a remote location so that I still have the Smartcraft diagnostic capabilities. I just wanted to do something different.

Really clean looking!!!!!!!! Can you teach me how to do that? lol
Thanks for the offer to help. Havent got any specific questions at this time, but if I have any when I start rewiring i'll let you know.

Thanks,

ZonkaRacing
03-28-2007, 03:08 PM
hey jphii,
nice sig...lol. what you got against mercs?