Basic photo tutorial for simple boat wiring

[Big Aug]

What's up gents... So I have created work for myself (again) in the wiring department of my old trusty War Pig. The wiring has been an ongoing battle since I first tore this old boat down and repainted and re decked it. That part I did very well, but what I did not do and now regret is to start at zero with the wiring and make it all nice and pretty. The accessories that I have are as follows:
Bilge pump
Aerator pump
Nav lights
Fishfinder
Trolling motor
(2) interior courtesy lights

Right now, everything is a spider web. My boat has paneling on the sides, so I can't get to the battery wires that run from the rear (cranking battery) to the front, but they ARE in place and carrying current. Also at the bow that need power are a courtesy light, the front nav light, and a power receptacle for the old trolling motor which was rigged to plug in. Attached to that same receptacle right now are the courtesy and nav light, each with their own toggle. Having just purchased and mounted a new trolling motor, I need to effectively wire that in to the deep cycle battery. With my current set up the deep cycle needs to sit in the stern...

A while back I purchased a Sierra Fuse block with 10 ports, and had considered running all the accessories off of that, but my limited electrical knowledge has kept me from installing it... SO here it is a couple of weeks from fishing time and I am not ready. Any suggestions? If so, please include some detailed photos because just sending me a paragraph of explanation will not help. I need pictures

Thanks in advance for anyone patient enough to help me with this...

 

[huntinfool]

I'll see if I can get a picture later as I don't have one on my phone, but wiring a fuse block is fairly straight forward.

Power from the battery to the fuse panel main lug.
each fused item is then hooked to the panel with a fuse between the main lug and the item to be powered. Then each item is grounded.

Done!

 

[dhoganjr]

I don't have any pictures, but if you are going to wire up the fuse block I would run a 10 guage wire for that. I would also use a ground block run to battery neg. and run all neg. wires to it. Use 6 guage wire for the trolling motor.

You can try using an electrical wire fish tape to pull the wires through. You could also tape wires to an existing wire and pull them through depending on how much wiggle room you have.

I'm sure some others will be along to help you out with more ideas.

 

[dhoganjr]

The ground block I mentioned is something similar to this. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-10-Terminal-Block-Power-Ground-Buss-Bar-Brass-Bake-/251461143672

It is similar to your fuse block, but without fuses. You run the fuse block to positive and the ground block to negative. That way you only need 2 wires running to the front of the boat for your accessories and you can power up to 10 things from there.

You want to ground everything to battery negative, not the boat.

 

[Big Aug]

Thanks dhoganjr,

Learning is actually occurring! I have stared at the wires so long and with the help from guys on the forum the lights are starting to go on with this wiring project. So let me see if I have it right...

My wires should run: Battery to positive terminal on the fuse block >> Positive wires out from the fuse block to either toggle switches or switch block >> Positive wires out to the individual elements (Nav lights, bilge pump, aerator pump, etc.)

Negative wires from any/all elements running to each post on the ground block.

If I don't use a ground block I just have to run all the negative leads to the negative terminal on the battery correct?

Again,thanks in advance for the solid advice!

 

[JMichael]

One thing I would add. If you have multiple items (lights for example) located close together but a little distance from the battery or ground buss/terminal bar, you can tie them all together and then make a single wire run to the battery or buss. In other words, you don't need to run individual ground wires from each item all the way to the battery. It keeps things a little cleaner looking.

 

[dhoganjr]

This is what I actually used when I did my wiring: https://www.bluesea.com/products/5026/ST_Blade_Fuse_Block_-_12_Circuits_with_Negative_Bus_and_Cover

I found it at Bass Pro about 10 years ago, it has it all built in for up to 12 circuits.

Sounds like you have got it all figured out. And like JMichael said you can run a single wire from the back to the front and tie everything into it if you don't want to spend the extra money and keep it simpler.

A quick and cheap way to tie it all together on the negative/ground side is to buy some ring terminal ends and a stainless bolt with a couple of nuts about an inch long that will fit through the ring terminals. Run a 10 guage wire from the negative battery post to the front of the boat, put a ring terminal on it and put the bolt through it and run a nut down snug on it. Then run each accessory neg wire to the bolt, attach a ring terminal to each wire and run bolt through them. Put the other nut on and snug it down after you get all the terminals on there. Tape it all up with electrical tape and secure it in a hidden spot out of sight.

All depends on your budget and how you want it to look when you are finished

 

[pletzy]

Hey Big Aug, i'm attaching my schematic that I drew up for my boat. Not sure if it is of any help to you, but by the sounds of it, we have similar things to wire in. I'm a visual learner, so I needed to draw it out first. I have a bilge pump too, and it will be wired in the exact same as one of the LED courtesy lights. The thicker lines are to be 10ga wire, everything else is 16ga and the pink squares are circuit breakers. The difference with mine is that I will have the main lines hooked up to the battery, and my trolling motor will be a seperate connection with alligator clamps (not wired into the fuse panel). Here is the link to my build (work in progress) if that helps too: https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=33041

 

[sledneck22]

I see you have a 50A fuse going to your trolling motor in the diagram. What would you recommend for a 12v 50lb trolling motor. Last year I had a 36 lb transom mount and never had a problem with a 25A fuse. I'm wondering if that will be too small for the new 50lb.

 

[pletzy]

Ive got a 36lb thrust trolling motor and I used a 50A breaker as recommended by the manufacturer. They recommend a 60A breaker/fuse for 50-55lb thrust motor (12V). Seems a little overkill, but oh well.