Hello,

I purchased the VSR Smart Battery Switch from your partners at EzAcDc and now I am a tad bit confused. I removed my old battery switch, which had a lead from the Starter which is tied into the alternator.

The old switch was between the battery and the starter on that red wire, then it branched out to the batteries and both batteries went to ground. Simple.

Looking at the drawing that came with the system, I’m confused as to where the “charging” feed comes in? I’m assuming that is the left side of the diagram indicated as the engine Positive Cable. However I’m not sure where to hook up the outbound side into my boat harness Ala boat harness ground and boat harness power. Perhaps I got the wrong diagram?

Thanks so much for the help!
Tim

Hi Tim,

I’m sorry for the confusion.

Your 3.0L engine’s charging circuit is fed to the cranking battery through your engine start cable. The Orange alternator output wire runs from the alternator to the starter. It is connected to the same lug on the starter as the engine positive battery cable.

Your engine negative battery cable and your boat harness ground will both connect to the ground bus that came with your kit. Your boat accessory harness positive wire will connect to the back of the battery switch to the same terminal as one of the VSR wires.

If all of the accessories on your marine electrical system are powered up through the red/purple power lead that runs from your engine up to your dash, you will need to run a separate power wire from your new battery switch to the fuse block/breaker panel to separate these two circuits. Add circuit protection at the battery switch to protect this new wire.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin

Kevin,

Thanks for the response.

Just so I get this right

1. The red of the start lug (which also has the alternator orange wire on it) would attach to Lug number 1 on the switch.
2. Can I assume since the harness is already grounded that i don’t have to mess with grounding here?
3. Finally the red/purple. You’re saying to just disconnect the red/purple at the 20 amp fuse (page 5) and run a new wire from the lug into that fuse?

Thanks

Tim

Hi Tim,

You are correct on the first two assumptions above.  

As for the third question about the red/purple, you will need to run a separate wire to power your fuse block. The Red/Purple in your engine harness that runs up to your helm provides power for your key switch and instruments. Do not disconnect this wire. You will want these items to be powered by the engine battery.

Your existing red/purple probably connects to a fuse panel at the helm. The ignition switch gets it’s power from this fuse panel also. Disconnect the red/purple from the fuse block and connect it to your ignition switch. There is usually some form of circuit protection on this boat wiring. Please use it. Run a new wire (10 awg at least) from LUG number 2 on the battery switch to the fuse block under your helm. Install circuit protection (40 to 50 amps) as close as possible to the battery switch.

I hope this helps. If you are not sure on how to connect the red/purple, send me some digital pictures of your helm fuse panel and I will mark them up.

Kevin

Kevin,

I need to change out the pump on my shower sump. I will need your help to rewire it.

The pump has two wires. What is the best way to stop the power to the pump? I do not see any breakers,fuses etc.

Thank you for any help.

Dan

Hi Dan,

If you cannot find the breaker, go back to boat wiring basics and disconnect the battery.

Kevin

Kevin

Thank you for your reply and patience.

This is my first cruiser. I have two “house” batteries and one for the motors. If I disconnect their grounds will I screw up any of the marine electrical system when I reconnect and need to reset any systems? (i.e.. motors,generator,computers,gps etc)

Dan

Hi Dan,

The pump runs on 12 volt DC and there is no real danger if you short out the wires.

Make the connection one wire at a time. The worst thing that will happen is you find out where the shower sump circuit protection is.

Kevin

Kevin,

We have three AFI wiper motors on our boat wiring. We have three switches and three fuses for the motors but they are all connected to the same circuit breaker.

Two of the wipers do not work at all and the third will come on sometimes but won’t stay on. The circuit breaker light stays on and the fuses are not burned out.

Are the motors getting the right amperage or any idea of what the problem might be?

Maureen

Hi Maureen,

Each wiper motor will three wires: Ground, On, and Park. If you are missing any of these wires, your wiper will not function properly.

1. I would inspect the wiper motor grounds first. This is the only wire that all three motors have in common. The metal case AFI wiper motors are grounded to one of the motor housing bolts. The plastic case AFI motors have an internal ground.
2. Next, check for constant 12v power to the park terminal on each wiper motor.
3. Finally, check for switched 12v power to the On termianl on each wiper motor.

If all the wiring is correct, then you wiper motors may be dead. Before replacing, I would do one last bench test with separate leads to the wiper motor.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Hello Kevin,

My marine electrical system currently includes one maintenance free starting battery (Group 24) and one AGM maintenance free deep cycle battery (also Group 24). I have the Guest 2611A battery charger attached to these two batteries for charging at the dock.

I was considering putting in a second deep cycle battery to provide more accessory time while out on the water and my plan would be to configure the boat wiring to connect it to the other deep cycle battery ‘in parallel’.

Would my 2611A charger be capable to charging these three batteries?

Thank-you
John

Hi John,

YES, but it will take a very long time to completely recharge.

The 2611 only puts out five amps max on each leg. Two dead batteries connected to one of the legs will take close to 2 days to recharge. Guest makes excellent products, but you may want to consider one of their larger units for your marine electrical system.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thank you for your response.

Generally when our charger is on it has a couple of days between uses so I’m not as concerned about the time it would take to recharge. And I would think that making the 5-6 mile run back to the marina with the Switch in the “All” setting would give the batteries a bit of a charge from the alternator as well.

I just wanted to make sure there were no safety issues. So if I put a third battery (a deep cycle) in the boat and connect its positive to the other deep cycle’s positive with a jumper and similarly connect up their negative terminals – when I put the switch on “2” the accessories would pull from both deep cycles and, in theory, I would get more accessory time?

I guess I just want to see if I can get by with my current switch and charger or do I need a more robust switch and charger to have three batteries.

Thanks again (and I will make a contribution via PayPal)

John

Hi John,

Adding a third battery in parallel to your second is a very common boat wiring practice.

When you do this, make sure that you use cables that are at least as large as the largest cables that are currently used on the battery switch system.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thanks again.

I was hoping to get the cables this week and won’t have access to the boat before then so I may have to guess. Do you think four AWG would be safe for a basic speedboat (24’ Malibu Wakesetter)?

John

John,

It’s really funny that you should ask that!

I’m just finishing a downloadable Battery Cable Calculator. I’ll post it in the next day or two for all of our readers.

Kevin