Help with wiring schematic

New member here. Seeking advice on my wiring for lights and accessories on my jon boat. I'll continue to search and read for ideas, but I'm looking for a quick answer for exactly what I'm trying to do.

I have the following items that I need to power:

Trolling motor
Depth finder
Bow and stern lights
Leds for the floor lights
Led flood/spot lights mounted bow and stern
12v outlet
Potential for other goodies down the road.....

Gonna bite the bullet and buy 2 deep cycle batteries. Was thinking about designating one battery for trolling motor and depth finder, and the other battery for everything else. Would it be better to wire the two batteries together and run everything off both at the same time instead?

Next, I would run directly from the batteries to a fuse block, then to individual switches for each accessory. (I'll be fabbing up my own switch panel). Wont be wiring the depth finder or the trolling motor to switches. Would this work and/or would I need anything else in place for this system? Breaker? Ground bar?

Also, I prefer to have my trolling motor mounted to the front of the jon boat when I'm bass fishing, so I usually have to have the battery up front since the wires are so short. I'd prefer to store both batteries in the back of the boat. Is there a good way to power the trolling motor at the front of the boat off of batteries at the back of the boat? Cut off terminal connectors and splice in a longer power cable to reach the battery?

Thanks for any advice

bump

BassMaster06 said:

Also, I prefer to have my trolling motor mounted to the front of the jon boat when I'm bass fishing, so I usually have to have the battery up front since the wires are so short. I'd prefer to store both batteries in the back of the boat. Is there a good way to power the trolling motor at the front of the boat off of batteries at the back of the boat? Cut off terminal connectors and splice in a longer power cable to reach the battery?

Click to expand...

How long is your boat? I bought a cheap 12ft jumper cable from walmart. Cut the ends off and spliced it in. Used adhesive lined crimps and then adhesive lined shrink tubing. Looks almost original.
It's not marine grade, but has worked just fine for 2 years so far.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/16817353?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227010340644&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40838549792&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78651784232&veh=sem

If you want something marine grade, try this
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ancor-marine--duplex-wire-by-the-foot--P009_274_003_002

Would be nice if it came in black.

It is very important for it be completely sealed from water and have a breaker/fuse close to the battery.

Good idea. Thanks. It's a 14' flatbottom. The trolling motor power cable currently has no breaker or in-line fuse on it. Just hooks up straight to the battery

Use something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YZ3O3I/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687542&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0021W0HFI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0EVKD5J91WDW1F2Z19EJ

This is what I use. Has a built in breaker and power ports.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Minn-Kota-Trolling-Motor-Power-Center/20511018

I wouldn't wire the depth finder to the same battery as the trolling motor. (or anything else for that matter).

I've had some depth finders that are very sensitive to voltage drop or differential. Hooking it to the same battery as a trolling motor that is in a constant state of discharge when the motor is in use & a resulting voltage drop, is likely asking for a bunch of strange problems from the depth finder.

I hook nothing else to my trolling motor batteries. That way when they get drawn down from a long day of use, I'm not out use of any other essentials. I also much prefer to keep my power feeds from battery to TM as short as possible. The positive wire should have an appropriate sized circuit breaker. 2 summers ago my TM cord went up in flames because stepping on it had started to pull the wires out of the plug. Corroded circuit breaker failed to trip. Learned the hard way to replace that yearly.

duckfish said:

I wouldn't wire the depth finder to the same battery as the trolling motor. (or anything else for that matter).

I've had some depth finders that are very sensitive to voltage drop or differential. Hooking it to the same battery as a trolling motor that is in a constant state of discharge when the motor is in use & a resulting voltage drop, is likely asking for a bunch of strange problems from the depth finder.

I hook nothing else to my trolling motor batteries. That way when they get drawn down from a long day of use, I'm not out use of any other essentials. I also much prefer to keep my power feeds from battery to TM as short as possible. The positive wire should have an appropriate sized circuit breaker. 2 summers ago my TM cord went up in flames because stepping on it had started to pull the wires out of the plug. Corroded circuit breaker failed to trip. Learned the hard way to replace that yearly.

Click to expand...

Good info. Thanks. That solves some of my other questions Too.

14 feet is a pretty long run for a trolling motor. It's not impossible to do, but assuming the trolling motor draws 40 amps max, you MIGHT be able to get away with 8 gauge wire. I recommend 6 gauge, which brings me to my next suggestion. Don't buy cheap jumper cables to do the job. They're made from the absolute cheapest materials possible and wont stand up to the UV exposure. Go the extra mile and do it right. Make sure to put a waterproof circuit breaker as in line as close to the battery as possible. The reason for this: if you have a short the circuit starts burning at the battery and makes it's way to the load. If your circuit breaker is up front you risk damaging the length of wire between them. Get a waterproof circuit breaker to avoid having the issues duckfish had with his.

After I wrote all this up I thought about something. The advice I gave is for a worst case scenario like my vessel. I leave mine outside uncovered 24/7 and use it exclusively in salt water. If your boat is stored in your garage and used in fresh water, you could probably get away with going the cheaper route. Sorry duckfish, I wasn't trying to bash your advice.

Someone posted this on this forum a while back and i throw it up every time I see someone having a wiring/gauge/load question:



As far as the voltage drop on the fish finder, I'm running two deep cycle batteries rigged in series to the 24v trolling motor but also powering my fish-finder & other 12V accessories (lights, bilge, livewell) off of one battery and I've never had a problem with voltage drop. I do alternate between trips as to which battery bears the load of the 12V goodies to try & keep the cycling on them roughly even.

If you're running a 12v TM I would put the two batteries in parallel (run jumpers to connect both + terminals to one another and both - terminals to one another) and power everything off of both batteries. Just connect the + of the TM to the + of one battery and the - to the - of the other battery to keep the load fairly well distributed between them. If you want to be really good rotate between which battery terminal you connect to every time you go out. This will keep them discharging at roughly the same rate so they should last for a comparable amount of time.

LED lights and the fish finder are an insignificant amount of draw compared to running the electric motor - your night marker lights and spotlights will draw considerably more, but even so if the digital items are staying powered the whole time you should be fine. Digital devices misbehave and do quirky things if not supplied enough voltage, but you'll see the units powering off or flickering or doing something else strange which will tell you there's an issue.

I'm gonna run with 2 batteries. One for the trolling motor, and one for everything else.

I'm gonna make my own water proof switch panel. I've been looking into the blue seas fuse box. I've never dealt with them before So forgive me if I am asking dumb questions. how does that hook up between the battery and the switch panel? Does it have a positive and a negative wire that simply hooks into the battery? Then all my accessories get hooked up to the fuse block? Do I need anything else?

The only "dumb question" is the one you don't ask!

Looks like your only source of propulsion is your TM, so I'd agree that keeping the batteries separate would be good idea, that way if you draw the TM battery all the way down you could move the TM over to the other "house" battery and still get home.

For the TM battery you'll need a circuit breaker, so the positive path would be battery, breaker, TM. The TM ground should go directly to the battery.

For the other, "house," battery, and how to connect the fuse and switch panels...usually the fuse panel is positive only, but I have seen them with ground connections too, so it depends on what fuse panel you're getting. A typical positive side run is: battery, a 6"-7" lead to a circuit breaker, then out to the fuse panel, to switch, to accessory. So you'll have a single + lead between the battery and breaker, and between the breaker and fuse panel, then multiple leads between fuse panel and the switch box for switched accessories.

The cleanest install would be to have your fuse panel (and a negative buss bar) pretty close to your switch panel, otherwise you'll have a bunch of wires running up the boat between the fuse panel and the swtiches, depending on how many accessories are on switches...for example, if your LED floor lights, spots, etc. have their own on/off switch, you don't need to run them to your switch box. Your fish finder should not be run through the switch box, since shutting it down other than at the unit can sometimes cause problems.

The ground side run for the house battery is: battery to negative buss bar, to accessory ground.

Hope this helps.

RR

onthewater102 said:

Someone posted this on this forum a while back and i throw it up every time I see someone having a wiring/gauge/load question:

Click to expand...

FYI, a CAUTION to those that use this chart ... the length of the 'circuit' (that the chart uses) is TWICE that of the length of the 'run'.

So if your battery was 10' from the load, that is a 10' one-way 'run', but the 'circuit' length would be 20' and that is the value (20) that you would use to determine the wire of proper ampacity for your need.

I'm trying to decide the best way to protect my blue seas fuse block from the elements since there is no storage space on my boat. I bought a small battery (12v 12Ah) to power all my LED lights, 12v outlet, and depth finder. It's pretty unlikely I'll be using everything at the same time, for extended periods of time. I have a spare full size battery box, and the new battery would only take up half of it. Is it safe to mount my fuse block inside the battery box as well?

My other idea was to go to bass pro and get one of those water proof boxes (for wallets, cell phones, etc.) big enough for the fuse block and wiring, drill a hole out the bottom and once all the wires were run, seal it up with silicone?

Thoughts?

BassMaster06 said:

I'm trying to decide the best way to protect my blue seas fuse block from the elements since there is no storage space on my boat.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I've made many out of a good quality square or rectangular Tupperwear-type box. I now like the ones that have the O-ring type seal and a snap handle on each side to lock the lid.

I screw the box to the bulkhead, add wires through the sides, from the bottom of each side (pos+ on one, negative- on the other) with rubber grommets where the wires go through. Add extra grommet on each side and seal (all) with liquid electrical tape.

If whenever to need to add a circuit, you're all set and don't need to remove the box, but only need to punch out the e-tape 'plug' with a nail or such. I spray all connections down w/ Boeshield T-9 or other waxy protects t (do NOT spray on moving parts!), snap the cover on and done!

FWIW I've been making such boxes for use on boats in saltwaters for probably 20-years or more now ... and have never had an isssue, nor have ever had a fuse blow. I even use them to house 40-60 amp large breakers for main feeds to the helm, from the battery cluster or On/Both/Off switch, for large 4-8 AWG fused positive leads.

DaleH said:

BassMaster06 said:

I'm trying to decide the best way to protect my blue seas fuse block from the elements since there is no storage space on my boat.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I've made many out of a good quality square or rectangular Tupperwear-type box. I now like the ones that have the O-ring type seal and a snap handle on each side to lock the lid.

I screw the box to the bulkhead, add wires through the sides, from the bottom of each side (pos+ on one, negative- on the other) with rubber grommets where the wires go through. Add extra grommet on each side and seal (all) with liquid electrical tape.

If whenever to need to add a circuit, you're all set and don't need to remove the box, but only need to punch out the e-tape 'plug' with a nail or such. I spray all connections down w/ Boeshield T-9 or other waxy protects t (do NOT spray on moving parts!), snap the cover on and done!

FWIW I've been making such boxes for use on boats in saltwaters for probably 20-years or more now ... and have never had an isssue, nor have ever had a fuse blow. I even use them to house 40-60 amp large breakers for main feeds to the helm, from the battery cluster or On/Both/Off switch, for large 4-8 AWG fused positive leads.

Click to expand...

Nice. This is what I did for my switch box. I can do something similar to this, but I was thinking it might be easier to just mount it in the battery box. Somebody told me that was a bad idea...is it dangerous to have the fuse block so close to the battery?

Also...what size wire should I use between the battery and the fuse block?

BassMaster06 said:

Also...what size wire should I use between the battery and the fuse block?

Click to expand...

Depends on your amp load - so read this:

https://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010.pdf

Also see that chart onthewater102 posted on Page 1. NOTE the circuit length for that chart is the length of the negative PLUS the positive wire run.

Riverdog said:

This is what I use. Has a built in breaker and power ports.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Minn-Kota-Trolling-Motor-Power-Center/20511018

Click to expand...

This is the same Battery Box I've got and I love it.

What size circuit breaker do I need?

2 18w led pods
bow and stern lights
12v outlet for phone charger
small bilge pump

Or how do I determine what size I need based on the equipment I'm using? What happens if I buy one that is to small or two large (Amp wise)?

Bump