boat lighting with 1 wire

[cntryislandboy]

i was just looking over the wiring of the boat i just bought and to my suprise the bow lights 1 on each side just had 1 wire coming out of them, then they are joined into 1 wire on the right side of the boat, and ran all the way to the back, the lights on the inside of the boat are the same way. now granite i am no electrician but this is something i have never seen, is this normal for boats to be wired this way. i'll try to post some pics explaining what i mean when i get home this evening.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Are the using the boat as a ground? Are you sure it is not a double strand wire (2 wires inside one insulator)

 

[Truckmechanic]

Sounds like the boat may have been grounded through the boat

 

[cntryislandboy]

i am sure it is just one wire, i can't believe i never thought that maybe they are using the boat as a ground, that would make running the wire a little easier.

 

[Captain Ahab]

i am sure it is just one wire, i can't believe i never thought that maybe they are using the boat as a ground, that would make running the wire a little easier.

Yeah - but and this is a big BUTT you can cause all sorts of other problems as boats are in water and water and electric. . . . .


Do you hook your battery to a wire that grounds to the boat?

 

[Rat]

If your battery is grounded to the hull you will have major problems; from pitting the hull to pitting the gears on the motor and weird stray voltages on all kinds of things. You really ned to run a separate wire for negative all the way to the battery.

 

[KMixson]

Another safety item to think about if the battery is grounded to the boat. If the hot wire comes loose and touches the boat anywhere you will have sparks and or fires. I would not do that.

 

[caveman]

If it has only one wire your boat is the ground(-) and that is not good fix it.....

Trust me as i am a sparky of 23 yrs.

 

[cntryislandboy]

thank guys for all the things to check, haven't had change to check yet just got home from work, however i do plan on stripping the boat and starting over that way i know what is what and there will be no mistakes, not to mention i don't mind spending the few extra bucks to re-run the wire to get a good piece of mind and could save me money in the long run