Flabbergasted by wiring in my "new" boat

[jethro]

I picked up a 1993 14' Starcraft side console with a 25hp elec start motor a few weeks ago. I haven't done much to it other than fish it because the time is here to fish! But recently my nav lights stopped working. So I took a look under the console and am blown away by the amount of wiring under there! I have 5 things that require power on my boat... the electric start, the bilge, the nav lights, the livewell and the horn. Oh, also a trolling motor, but I wire that direct to the battery. Why on earth is there a mile of wiring under the console? There are two fuse panels with room for at least 12 fuses, the 6 switches which each have at least 4 wires going to each switch... is there a reason this harness is so absolutely complicated? I am not great with wiring, but I think I am going to have to rebuild this whole thing. Any suggestions or guidance is appreciated! :mrgreen:

 

[earl60446]

jethro » Today, 06:42[/url]"] I have 5 things that require power on my boat... the electric start, the bilge, the nav lights, the livewell and the horn. Oh, also a trolling motor, but I wire that direct to the battery. Why on earth is there a mile of wiring under the console? There are two fuse panels with room for at least 12 fuses, the 6 switches which each have at least 4 wires going to each switch... is there a reason this harness is so absolutely complicated? :mrgreen:

Assuming a neg and pos for each ckt
2 wires for electric start, it might be 3
2 wires for horn
4 wires for nav lights, 2 for front and 2 for anchor
2-4 wires for the bilge depending on whether it is manual or man/auto
2 wires for the livewell, maybe more
no fish finder? which would be 2 pwr wires

If everything works, you may want to leave it as is.

Tim

 

[jethro]

Yeah, there is at least 30 wires under the console. The nav lights don't work, the horn doesn't work and the livewell doesn't work.

I don't know how to start.

 

[JMichael]

Possibilities for some of the remaining wires might be a neutral switch, electric choke, and wires for connecting a tach, amp gauge, engine kill circuit, etc. The ign switch alone could have 5 or more wires just for it. Bottom line, if you don't know what you're doing, you might not want to start removing wires and just repair the things that aren't working.

 

[marshman]

check fuses first...

 

[FerrisBueller]

Try to identify and isolate what wires go to what and maybe then you can eliminate those you have no use for.

Like marshman said, check the fuses first and go from there.

 

[jethro]

All fuses were good, I do not know why the nav and anchor lights went out, but I got them all set now. Rewired everything that went to the switches on the console. Could have been the spade connectors at the fuse panel were oxidized.

 

[joed2323]

electricity does funny things especially when the connections get oxidized/corroded. Best thing to do is if you see any green connections fix them before it causes problems out on the water...

 

[Ranchero50]

jethro » 29 Jul 2013, 08:42[/url]"]I picked up a 1993 14' Starcraft side console with a 25hp elec start motor a few weeks ago. I haven't done much to it other than fish it because the time is here to fish! But recently my nav lights stopped working. So I took a look under the console and am blown away by the amount of wiring under there! I have 5 things that require power on my boat... the electric start, the bilge, the nav lights, the livewell and the horn. Oh, also a trolling motor, but I wire that direct to the battery. Why on earth is there a mile of wiring under the console? There are two fuse panels with room for at least 12 fuses, the 6 switches which each have at least 4 wires going to each switch... is there a reason this harness is so absolutely complicated? I am not great with wiring, but I think I am going to have to rebuild this whole thing. Any suggestions or guidance is appreciated! :mrgreen:

I'd start by sending Starcraft an email or calling them to see if they still have the original prints available for that engine / hull combo so you know what you should have. That design probably stayed the same for 25 years so you should be able to get something close if not on the money.

Per your existing mess, I'd start by checking the voltage at the light fixture. Could just be the bulb or corrosion at that end.

 

[jethro]

Got it all situated now. Re-wired the switches with a setup that made sense.

 

[kd7sxa]

Is it a Seafarer DLX? I've got a '95.

 

[jethro]

kd7sxa » 18 Sep 2013, 00:07[/url]"]Is it a Seafarer DLX? I've got a '95.

No, Superfisherman. SF140DLX. Or at least I always thought it was a Superfisherman??

 

[Snowman6479]

jethro » 29 Jul 2013, 08:42[/url]"]I picked up a 1993 14' Starcraft side console with a 25hp elec start motor a few weeks ago. I haven't done much to it other than fish it because the time is here to fish! But recently my nav lights stopped working. So I took a look under the console and am blown away by the amount of wiring under there! I have 5 things that require power on my boat... the electric start, the bilge, the nav lights, the livewell and the horn. Oh, also a trolling motor, but I wire that direct to the battery. Why on earth is there a mile of wiring under the console? There are two fuse panels with room for at least 12 fuses, the 6 switches which each have at least 4 wires going to each switch... is there a reason this harness is so absolutely complicated? I am not great with wiring, but I think I am going to have to rebuild this whole thing. Any suggestions or guidance is appreciated! :mrgreen:

Well assuming the switches are lighted when on, then 4 wires is right. You will have a power in, a ground, power out when switch is on, and probably a jumper from that wire over to the pos side of the switch light to cause it to light up.

 

[kd7sxa]

I think I have the same hull, but the interior layout is a bit different. How are you liking it so far?

 

[turbotodd]

I've never seen a single boat manufacturer actually do a "good" job of wiring. Maybe the bigger stuff but all of the jon's I've messed with were a nightmare. Crimp connectors everywhere. No diagram either on a lot of them. Just a few wires thrown about to different accessories. I had to rig one a few weeks ago that had all gray wires with the exception of 2 black wires and one of the grays had a green stripe. Talk about nightmare. Would've been easier to just re-do everything. I wired my own boat...ordered it BARE and put all the accessories and wires in myself at home. Took about a month but it is the way I want it, and I don't have to worry about it.