Boat Repairs

[Ronji]

We have an old 1980's era ski boat with a Johnson 115 hp.
Boat works great, but for the electrical work.
Starting, trim and tilt work great.
But bilge pump, speedo, fuel gauge and lights do not work at all.
I have tried to get these items working but I've given up.
Looking for recommendations for someone who does this type of re-wiring or repairs. Possibly working out of their own garage.
I am located in Edmonton, and can deliver the boat. There is no hurry as we do not need it until May.

Thanks

[knacker]

Since all 4 are not working, I would be looking for a common wire that has disconnected or severed, or they could all be tied to the same fuse which has burnt out.

[Stinky Buffalo]

I had a boat from the 70's; it was fairly simple to wire/re-wire anything that wasn't working. At its age, there were so many splices from emergency repairs over the years, not to mention the effects of corrosion on crimps and terminals.

I took it a step further and put in a fuse box as well. was nice to use the buss bars instead of crimping a bunch of wires together.

[EZM]

100% agreed on re-wiring the whole thing and putting in a fuse block in there. Very easy to do and very easy to isolate problems from there, and knowing you have the added protection of fuses.

Having reliable electrical systems on the water is a safety issue and is cheap insurance as far as I'm concerned.

I ordered a blue sea fuse block (they come in 4,6, 8, 12 etc... blocks to isolate each electrical item you have from lights, to bilge pumps, to fish finders, radios, dash board, etc... so it's a good idea to get one that has a few "extra" poles so you can quickly and easily add these things on.


https://www.amazon.ca/Blue-Sea-Syste...32363535&psc=1

All you need to do is run main power up to box (from battery), wire it through either a master power switch (which is what I prefer) or run it through the ignition.

From there, run all your stuff to the box to it's own dedicated circuit.

If someone like me can do it, anyone can !!!! (I'm not that smart).

Let me know if you need any more instructions or anything - pretty easy to do really.

[Rdamours]

I bought a pre-made harness. Look at all your existing and swap over to a new pre-made harness and fuse block. Short term pain and long term gain. The blue sea block is what I used with the harness.

[big zeke]

Since you're doing electrical surgery, you might want to consider some waterproof multi-gang switchplates, Blue-sea makes several and they are excellent.

Likewise, if you run multiple batteries, the folks at Blue-Sea make something called an ACR, it's like a smart charging relay and has been a lifesaver on my rig.

You're doing the right thing in the rewire...you will not regret it. The fewer splices/connectors in a line the better.
Zeke

[mooseknuckle]

Get in touch with willowtrail. He's good at that stuff

[EZM]

The KEY POINT on boats is to run power to fuse block and through ignition OR master power (kill) switch so there is no parasitic draw on cranking batteries.

I have the option (if my battery goes dead on the lake) to pull start my 9.9 honda trolling motor (as it is also an electric start) - but if you don't have that option as a backup - that's the way to do it.

[lannie]

Originally Posted by EZM

The KEY POINT on boats is to run power to fuse block and through ignition OR master power (kill) switch so there is no parasitic draw on cranking batteries.

I have the option (if my battery goes dead on the lake) to pull start my 9.9 honda trolling motor (as it is also an electric start) - but if you don't have that option as a backup - that's the way to do it.

Will your boat actually start with a dead battery? A zero volt battery. Many motors will not start if there is not enough voltage for the ignition.