12ft MirroCraft Electrical project help

[FishinJ23]

Hello! First time posting here! I inherited a 12ft MirroCraft with a 6hp Johnson. That I am finally starting to build out. Nothing major at all and I will post pics when it gets started. I am working on the electrical aspect of the boat first and trying to figure it out. So I am not putting much into the boat its only gonna be Nav lights, Garmin Striker 4cv, 800 Gph bilge pump(prob overkill), and a Newport vessels 86lb thrust.
For the wiring I have I/O cutoff switch and a 4 gang switch panel with 15Amp breakers.
Do I need a separate fuse block? and If no then do I need a separate Negative bus bar?

The way I have it envisioned right now is the 12v battery will run out to the I/O then 2 power wires to the switch panel and to the trolling motor,
all accessories run to the switch panel.
The return wires is where the confusion comes up cause the switch panel has only 1 return wires to go back to the battery. Is this where the bus bar comes into play?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LDUBS]

Isn't your 86# trolling motor 24V?

 

[MrGiggles]

If your fuse panel has breakers, there is no need for additional protection, although you will want a fuse or breaker on the main power feed wire as close to the battery as possible. Size it to the gauge of the feed wire.

Yes, you will likely need a ground bus bar. I'd mount it close to our switch panel, and the wire running from it to the battery needs to be the same size as the power feed.

 

[FishinJ23]

Isn't your 86# trolling motor 24V?

Yes it is. I’m realizing that now. I honestly ran it all last season on my 12v and didn’t have any issues. I’m gonna reach out to Newport to see if I can co time to run it or if I’m gonna hurt the motor doing so.

 

[FishinJ23]

If your fuse panel has breakers, there is no need for additional protection, although you will want a fuse or breaker on the main power feed wire as close to the battery as possible. Size it to the gauge of the feed wire.

Yes, you will likely need a ground bus bar. I'd mount it close to our switch panel, and the wire running from it to the battery needs to be the same size as the power feed.

Thank you. I got the negative bus bar and planning on mounting it next to the panel. Now I guess different questions are coming to light.

My switch panel has a 16 gauge wire for its power. I was gonna run a 6 gauge wire from my battery to the I/O switch and then from there run to my panel. Can I run a 6 gauge power wire to a positive bus bar and then run the 16 gauge power from there to the panel.

Also most of my accessories have 20-22 gauge supplied wires. Do I need to run step down connectors from them to the 16gauge wires in the panel.

Was trying to get a spool of 16 gauge duplex wire to run all my accessories to the panel and then to the negative bus bar.

 

[LDUBS]

"The way I have it envisioned right now is the 12v battery will run out to the I/O then 2 power wires to the switch panel and to the trolling motor"

This part has me a little confused. 16ga wire and a 15amp circuit breaker is going to be insufficient for the TM. Additionally, I suspect the switch panel is likely not rated for the trolling motor's power draw. Your TM install manual should specify wire and circuit breaker size.

My 12V 55# is a different brand. With that in mind, for comparison it uses a 60 amp breaker and, if memory serves, 6 ga wire.

 

[FishinJ23]

"The way I have it envisioned right now is the 12v battery will run out to the I/O then 2 power wires to the switch panel and to the trolling motor"

This part has me a little confused. 16ga wire and a 15amp circuit breaker is going to be insufficient for the TM. Additionally, I suspect the switch panel is likely not rated for the trolling motor's power draw. Your TM install manual should specify wire and circuit breaker size.

My 12V 55# is a different brand. With that in mind, for comparison it uses a 60 amp breaker and, if memory serves, 6 ga wire.

If your fuse panel has breakers, there is no need for additional protection, although you will want a fuse or breaker on the main power feed wire as close to the battery as possible. Size it to the gauge of the feed wire.

Yes, you will likely need a ground bus bar. I'd mount it close to our switch panel, and the wire running from it to the battery needs to be the same size as the power feed.

Sorry for the confusion. The TM will not be attached to the switch panel. Forgot to put in that I will have a pos bus after the I/O so from the bus will have 16 gauge wire to go to the switch panel and then the 8 gauge wire to the trolling motor which has its awn dedicated fuse on it.

 

[FishinJ23]

This is the diagram I made for it.

 

[MrGiggles]

In addition to your main breaker, you will want another fuse or breaker just after your positive bus so the fuse panel feed wire is protected. Likely 7.5 or 10 amps for 16 gauge wire. Without it, you would be potentially running 40-50 amps (whatever your main fuse is rated at) through a 16 gauge wire, it'll go up in smoke before the fuse pops.

You can likely just stack both of those wires on the output side of your cutoff switch, the bus bar is redundant, but it may add some expandability for future upgrades or make for a neater install. Your choice there.

 

[FishinJ23]

In addition to your main breaker, you will want another fuse or breaker just after your positive bus so the fuse panel feed wire is protected. Likely 7.5 or 10 amps for 16 gauge wire. Without it, you would be potentially running 40-50 amps (whatever your main fuse is rated at) through a 16 gauge wire, it'll go up in smoke before the fuse pops.

You can likely just stack both of those wires on the output side of your cutoff switch, the bus bar is redundant, but it may add some expandability for future upgrades or make for a neater install. Your choice there.

The fuse panel feed runs through one of the switches breakers which I was going to use for the nav lights so not much use. Does that change things or would you still recommend the extra fuse/breaker after the cut off switch?

 

[MrGiggles]

The fuse panel feed runs through one of the switches breakers which I was going to use for the nav lights so not much use. Does that change things or would you still recommend the extra fuse/breaker after the cut off switch?

You still want another fuse as close to your positive bus (or the cutoff switch) as possible. Just relying on the fuse at the switch panel, you still have several feet of unprotected wire, it's a fire hazard.

 

[FishinJ23]

You still want another fuse as close to your positive bus (or the cutoff switch) as possible. Just relying on the fuse at the switch panel, you still have several feet of unprotected wire, it's a fire hazard.

Got it! Thank you!

 

[MDCrappie]

Got it! Thank you!

You're likely only getting about 43lbs of trust from that trolling motor using it at 12 volts.

 

[FishinJ23]

You're likely only getting about 43lbs of trust from that trolling motor using it at 12 volts.

Yeah that’s what I’m figuring. Which is still fine for my setup. Maybe in the future will upgrade to lithium and run 24v

 

[InSaneFisherMan]

This was an old post of a schematic, pretty good detail, with a parts listiig

https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboa...324b2049e540f994f31f1d679a339596200ec8ea41f2a