Wiring diagram suggestions

[ChrisP]

I have read and re-read many of the great posts in this section and now I am ready to try some wiring so I have created a diagram and I would appreciate any feedback members may have.

Yes, my diagram has lines running all over the place; :shock: I could not plan it all out with straight lines in MS Paint so I improvised!

I plan on using 6 gauge wires from the battery for both negative and positive, the positive will run to a circuit breaker in line before terminating at an ATC fuse block.
The rest of the wiring from the Negative bus bar and the fuse block will be 14 gauge.

Circuit 1 will power the bilge
Circuit 2 will switch on both Anchor and bow lights, these are both LED
Circuit 3 will wire two Red LED light strips
Circuit 4 will wire four White LED light strips
Circuit 5 will wire four White LED light strips mounted facing out at the front to provide light for loading and unloading from the trailer

Circuits 3 through 5 will have anywhere from two to four LED light strips wired together
Circuit 1 through 5 will all go through a switch

Circuit 6 is direct to the fish finder from the fuse block without going through a switch
The switch on Circuit 6 is in case I want/need to add anything later

I have an older Honda 100 four stroke outboard with a charging circuit built-in, my intention is to use 10 gauge wires through the engine plug directly to where the Positive feeds the fuse block and negative where it feeds the bus bar. This will put it past the circuit breaker in the positive from the battery. The output according to the manual is 12V-60W so I imagine 5 amps at full throttle, less at lower speed. This should supplement power needs but is not intended to fully charge the battery.

OK, so let me know what I might have missed or any suggestions for improvements. Thanks in advance for making this forum an awesome place to learn - Chris

 

[John Wasmuth]

Thats roughly how I have mine set up, During the day time you hardly use any thing other than a fish finder and a trolling motor and your motor will put out plenty to keep your batter/batteries topped off. LED dont use much juice.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

A couple of comments:

- CB should be within a foot of the battery.

- I assume you don't have electric start but just trying to use the magneto for charging. If so, there should be a fuse on the motor side. The positive should go to the battery (not cb), with the same size fuse near the battery.

- FF are usually fed by a small gauge wire on a proprietary plug. The fuse must match the FF recommendations, or slightly lower. This will limit what you can put on #6 fuse. If you go that way, recommend inserting a inline fuse just before switching to the FF wire. That way, you can fuse #6 to what you need, such as 5A for an aux outlet.

PS: Way too many LEDs for me!

 

[ChrisP]

John, Fuzzy,

Thanks for the input, Fuzzy, let me make sure I got this right -

1. I need to put a fuse the same size as my circuit breaker on the positive lead going from the engine charging circuit and that lead should go directly to the battery, not the fuse block. Do I need to change the gauge of wire from the motor? I was going to us 10, 8 maybe overkill but I am not sure?

2. My wiring harness for the Fish Finder has an inline fuse so I will keep that and use either an equal size ATC fuse or bypass the fuse block completely and use that slot for an aux outlet.

3. Way too many LEDS! - your probably right, I have yet to check their output in the dark so I will tape them up and see what it is like before I use too many!

Thanks again - Chris

 

[FuzzyGrub]

John, Fuzzy,

Thanks for the input, Fuzzy, let me make sure I got this right -

1. I need to put a fuse the same size as my circuit breaker on the positive lead going from the engine charging circuit and that lead should go directly to the battery, not the fuse block. Do I need to change the gauge of wire from the motor? I was going to us 10, 8 maybe overkill but I am not sure?

(Again, assuming this is not electric start)
You need to look at your wiring schematic for your engine and see what fuse is in that charging line. What ever size that is, you need as an inline near the positive post of your battery. Because this line is energized by both ends, you need a fuse on both ends.


2. My wiring harness for the Fish Finder has an inline fuse so I will keep that and use either an equal size ATC fuse or bypass the fuse block completely and use that slot for an aux outlet.

Don't bypass the fuse. Any short between the panel and your inline fuse would then have to reley on the main circuit breaker tripping.


3. Way too many LEDS! - your probably right, I have yet to check their output in the dark so I will tape them up and see what it is like before I use too many!

Thanks again - Chris

See above:

 

[richg99]

re wires.....don't guess at what you need.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/amps-wire-gauge-d_730.html

 

[John Wasmuth]

On the LED's, remember they are BRIGHT!! and will fry your night vision espesially the white ones. I run 4 18 inch green strips, 2 forward, 2 aft. They dont draw bugs, yet anyway, its only March and maybeso the bugs havent figured out where the river is yet.lol. Plenty of light o bait hooks and what have you. As for the wiring, as was said, dont guess, check the wiring link that richg99 posted.