New Wiring-Mods

[tla100]

Howdy, recently signed up but been lurking for some time. Great info here.

Just bought a 1982 16' Alumacraft Classic 16, 45 hp Merc. Going to upgrade from old 12 volt to used 24 volt Minn Kota w/ co-pilot. I am moving trolling motor batteries up in front and under front deck to transfer some weight better, and less cable to run. Will be keeping cranking battery in rear port side. I also want to update to blade fuse block or possible breaker system. I was thinking of using this instead of bus bar
https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/product.do?part=164872&AMAZON

Will add new switches, only half of my switches work now and tube style fuse olders have a little corrosion. Still looking for a good panel. Maybe this..
https://www.amazon.com/Seasense-Led-Switch-Panel-Gang/dp/B004XADTY2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_4

Will have bilge, livewell pump, nav lights, and possible 2 FF. Thinking just keeping Troller batteries dedicated for motor, I have to run new 6 guage, with 50 amp manual reset breaker off battery, and new plug for TM. Run new cable from console to rear battery-what size cable needed? I will be running all accessories on cranking battery, since motor will charge it, somewhat...

Need to order some cable anyway, genuinedealz.com I think. Also want to put a 3 bank charger on board. Probably mount close to TM batteries and run extended charging leads to rear cranking battery. Any recomendations on a charger?

Where do the charging solenoids get wired in, and are they needed ? Read a lot about them, confused yet.

I will be adding LED's later on, new carpet is ordered, and motor has a fresh tune-up. Cover is being patched. need to cut a new front floor and fit battery boxes in. Thanks in advance.

 

[richg99]

"charging solenoids" ????

New term for me????

Rich

p.s. I did some quick Googling. Seems to be an "isolation " device. Since my small engines do have charging circuits, maybe I've got one and never knew it?? I learn something new on this site every day. Thanks, R

 

[Bob Landry]

I think he is refering to the Blue Sea Automatic Charging Relay. it connects between two batteries and when either battery sees a charging source, it connects the batteries for charging and then when the soutce goes away, the batteries are separate again. It helps to replenish some of the charge on the other battery bank whule running, if your motor is capable of charging.

 

[richg99]

Interesting....Learned something new today. Thanks, Rich

https://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Blue+Sea+Automatic+Charging+Relay&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16141328740570510523&sa=X&ei=F7ZvT7fwOKv5sQLE_bDkBQ&ved=0CG0Q8wIwBQ

 

[tla100]

Well, I have most of the wiring done.

Mounted a 12 place Blue Sea fuse block under console. Feeding it is 10/2 AWG sheathed from rear battery. Need a good 30 amp fuse setup yet to mount near battery.

Ran 16/2 AWG sheathed from console to rear for bilge and aerator pump. The ground wires off of pumps are going direct to battery.

Ordered a NOCO 3 bank charger from Amazon. Mounted under console, 2 leads run under floor and up to 2 front mounted troller batteries in boxes. Also ordered 6 AWG cables with prefabbed 3/8" lugs crimped and shrink wrapped. 1 6' black from battery thru 1" conduit under floor to front for TM. 1' cable, ties + to - of other battery. Then 1' cable to 60 Amp reset-able Minn Kota breaker, then out thru counduit to TM.

The 3rd bank leads I had to lengthen for rear battery. I ran the same 16/2 AWG sheathed to rear.

Also ran 16/2 for rear Nav lights front to rear. Probably should have run 14 AWG but can always pull new thru.

Need to wire all switches yet, ran out of connectors.

I need a block to connect all grounds under console yet. Do any of you guys ground the boat for a chassis ground? I really don't think I need to as all grounds will go back to - battery.

All wire and cable is tinned and came from Geanuinedealz.com and is great stuff.

What do you use for a TM plug? I plan on leaving it permanatly mounted on boat but would like option of removing it. It is a Minn Kota 74 Powerdrive 24 volt.

Anything I missed or other input?

 

[tla100]

Got a ? on the front nav lights.

The front lights that came with boat are mounted on a pole about 6" tall. Do I need to keep them that high? I picked up a new light that mounts on bow, only 1 1/2" tall. Trolling motor may ubstruct right side a bit, but, is the extra height needed? Also if I am going with the permanent mount I don't have to have old push in rolling around boat.

I would like to reaplace rear light with a LED to use less battery. Any good recomendations? Also would like to mount a LED inside somewhere. Thanks, Tim

 

[hunterguy86]

I wouldn't ground through the boat. It will damage the aluminum and can set you up to get shocked. You can get a good buss bar at any academy, cabelas, bass pro or any other place that sells marine stuff.

By law, the navigation lights must have an unobstructed view. To me this is a safety thing. Blocked lights can lead to getting run over in the dark.

 

[Bob Landry]

There is no Coast Guard requirement for the height of red/green navigation lights. They need to be visible from the front of the boat through a 120 degree arc to the side. For both lights to be visible from either side would remove the ability to be used for right-of-way purposes, and they just aren't made like that anyway. There is a requirment, however, that the white light must be above any structure on the boat, as it is a 360 degree white light.

If you are not familiar with right of way and general vavigation and safety requirements, I would suggest seeking out a Coast Guard Auxillary basic boating class in your area. They are short in duration and distribute a lot of good information, some of which might keep you from getting a ticket, or better yet, prevent an accident on the water. Also become familiar with the required safet equipment for your particular boat. 17' seems to be the point where the regulations become a little more stringent.