Kevin,

I could really use some of your wiring wizardry.

I have have a 2009 Centurion Avalanche. I put it up for winter and everything was working fine. I charged and installed the boat batteries after winter. All of the switches work, horn, stereo, pump, etc. I go to bump the key and I get nothing. The boat is still on the trailer and before I drag it to the lake I wanted to ensure that power was getting to the starter.

I made sure that the batteries are fully charged, boat battery switch is in the on position, emergency kill switch is in place, boat is in neutral…and I get nothing when I bump the key. I pulled the fuse behind the ignition switch and it looked fine.

The boat has dual batteries. The boat dealer added an marine battery switch last year as the batteries were draining even though the battery switch was turned to the off position.

The boat on has forty hours on it. After working in a confined space and pulling my hair out, I could use some expert advice.

Thanks,

Tommy

Hi Tommy,

If the instruments have power when you turn on the key, then I would check the neutral safety switch. Based on Standard Boat Wiring Colors, follow the yellow/red wire from the starter post on the key switch to the neutral safety switch in the shifter control.

If the key switch has no power, I would check the breaker on the engine that feeds power to the ignition.

If you use a voltmeter or a test light, you will be able to find the problem. It may be something as simple as wiggle the shifter a little or replacing the starter solenoid.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin,

I’m in the boat now with even less hair.

The ignition in the on position does nothing as well as the start position.

It appears that power isn’t getting to the switch. The fuse leading up to the switch looks good. I have also been playing with the shift lever to find the sweet spot, no luck.

Trying to locate the breaker on the engine.

Thanks for all of your advice, hopefully I can get on the lake today.

Tommy

Kevin,

You the man!!! It was the engine breaker.

Tommy

Kevin,

I am currently restoring and repowering a 20′ Bertram.

The boat is a stern drive with both batteries in the motor box. I have already purchased an automatic smart battery switch and an eight switch marine electrical panel.

This boat helm is very far forward. The boat will be used exclusively in salt water and I want to have a very “heavy duty” boat wiring job. All the equipment will be run to the forward helm and some accesories like

1. Bilge pump
2. Diaphragm pump
3. Washdown pump
4. Bilge blower
5. Navigation  lights

…will be needed to run back to the motor box. All other accessories will be mounted near the forward. helm.

Here are the other accessories on the marine electrical system:

• Stereo
• Boat horn
• Engine room lights (also run to the stern)
• Gunnel lights
• GPS
• VHF

I need a harness to accomodate all of this.

Your thoughts?

Thanks.

Marshall

Hi Marshall,

To do this job correctly, I would recommend that you build a completely custom boat wiring harness. The best place to start is with our wiring size calculator. Use this to determine what size wire your components require along with the size of the panel board feed wire.

Tinned wire in standard boat wiring colors and most sizes is available on our sister marine wiring site.

Good luck with the project. Please send pictures of the electrical portion of this restoration and we will post them on our site.

Thanks

Kevin

Kevin,

Thank you for all of the boat wiring expertise that you provide.

Here’s my issue:

I have a 2003 Signature Series Chaparral Model 280, with two 5.7 Liter Volvo Penta Gasoline Engines.

The dash mounted tachometer (see photo) needle(s) wander (drifts) around. I read that his could be caused by a bad ground. It could also be from poor signal connection.

Do you have any information on how the instrument is wired to the signal source. And what is the signal source?

Johan

Hi Johan,

On EFI engines, the tach signal comes from ECM. On carb engines, the signal comes from the distributor. Both use a gray wire and it runs through the boat’s engine harness, through the main engine connector, and up to your boat’s instrument panel. Some boat builders use a gray/red as the second engine tach signal to help reduce confusion. I would check all connection points of the gray tach signal wire for each engine.

Your best bet to help cure the drift, is to run a new, clean ground wire from the tachometer back to your ground bus or engine negative stud. You can remove the existing ground (black) wire on the back of your gauge and tie it up to prevent it from an accidental short.

Hope this helps,

Kevin