"strippokerguy" wrote in
ups.com:

Does this sound weird to anyone else?



One of the wires in the harness back to the motor from the controls is
switched 12VDC to turn on, and probably power, the computers and ignition
of the motor.

Find that wire with a voltmeter and put the coil of a small relay from
there to ground, giving us an isolated switched circuit on the relay's
output. Hook one contact of the relay to a FUSED 12VDC from the battery
and the switched contact to your loads, switching the loads on and off
when the key on the motor is switched on and off.

Boat dealers are terrible electricians.....just awful....

Radio Shack may still have this neat little plastic box relay that will
switch 30A of DC for cheap. If they don't auto parts places do....in the
custom headlight department to switch those driving lights on and off.
Try to avoid using open relays, which are just going to corrode like hell
in the bilge air and make a short circuit hazard, not to mention
triggering the EXPLOSION when you have that inevitable gasoline leak from
the cheap plumbing. Nothing like switching the engine off that's been
pumping gas into the bilge since you started it....and your power relay
triggering the explosion, blowing the whole family to kingdom come when
its exposed contacts open, making the spark for the explosion to happen.

Mount the relay under the helm. It'll make ME feel lots better!