I'm new to Power Boating and do not currently own a boat. However, I do go fishing quite frequently on a Buddy's 28 MAKO. Recently he asked me to assist him in checking his bilge pumps to see is they were working while on a rack at the Marina. I found that one of the bilge cables had corroded off the battery terminal. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but no electrician although I can do basic things like splicing wires and heat shrinking connections etc. which I did that day.Unfortunately, when I went to reconnect the battery I inadvertently reverse connected the battery by putting the white cable with the black cable instead of with the red cable. As we were testing the bilge, as soon as the bilge kicked on smoke started coming from a length of plenum on the opposite side of the boat above the other two batteries. We were able to disconnect the incorrect polarity very quickly thereby avoiding disaster. That was quite a sobering experience let me tell you! I recommended my Buddy get a real electrician to check things out. However, being a 23 year old boat I think he's reluctant to spend much on an electrician and ask if Id help him again. I am inclined to think that the entire length of plenum should be replaced rather than splicing out the portion that burned. I'm hoping that someone on this site can give some real guidance here. How should we approach ensuring that the electrical cable in question does not have more "hot spots"? Am I correct that the entire cable should be replaced. From what I saw it runs to the cockpit and is a main circuit. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

On 6/9/2012 3:25 PM, David Stanigar wrote:
I'm new to Power Boating and do not currently own a boat. However, I do
go fishing quite frequently on a Buddy's 28 MAKO. Recently he asked me
to assist him in checking his bilge pumps to see is they were working
while on a rack at the Marina. I found that one of the bilge cables had
corroded off the battery terminal. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but
no electrician although I can do basic things like splicing wires and
heat shrinking connections etc. which I did that day.Unfortunately, when
I went to reconnect the battery I inadvertently reverse connected the
battery by putting the white cable with the black cable instead of with
the red cable. As we were testing the bilge, as soon as the bilge kicked
on smoke started coming from a length of plenum on the opposite side of
the boat above the other two batteries. We were able to disconnect the
incorrect polarity very quickly thereby avoiding disaster. That was
quite a sobering experience let me tell you! I recommended my Buddy get
a real electrician to check things out. However, being a 23 year old
boat I think he's reluctant to spend much on an electrician and ask if
Id help him again. I am inclined to think that the entire length of
plenum should be replaced rather than splicing out the portion that
burned. I'm hoping that someone on this site can give some real guidance
here. How should we approach ensuring that the electrical cable in
question does not have more "hot spots"? Am I correct that the entire
cable should be replaced. From what I saw it runs to the cockpit and is
a main circuit. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.





Well, I am one of the lesser expeienced guys here so I would go with
replace the whole thing, and tell the guy it doesn't matter how frekin'
old it is. If it's a boat, and you want to use it as a boat, fix the
frekin' thing like it's gonna' be the only thing between you and the water

On Jun 9, 8:04*pm, JustWait wrote:
On 6/9/2012 3:25 PM, David Stanigar wrote:









I'm new to Power Boating and do not currently own a boat. However, I do
go fishing quite frequently on a Buddy's 28 MAKO. Recently he asked me
to assist him in checking his bilge pumps to see is they were working
while on a rack at the Marina. I found that one of the bilge cables had
corroded off the battery terminal. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but
no electrician although I can do basic things like splicing wires and
heat shrinking connections etc. which I did that day.Unfortunately, when
I went to reconnect the battery I inadvertently reverse connected the
battery by putting the white cable with the black cable instead of with
the red cable. As we were testing the bilge, as soon as the bilge kicked
on smoke started coming from a length of plenum on the opposite side of
the boat above the other two batteries. We were able to disconnect the
incorrect polarity very quickly thereby avoiding disaster. That was
quite a sobering experience let me tell you! I recommended my Buddy get
a real electrician to check things out. However, being a 23 year old
boat I think he's reluctant to spend much on an electrician and ask if
Id help him again. I am inclined to think that the entire length of
plenum should be replaced rather than splicing out the portion that
burned. I'm hoping that someone on this site can give some real guidance
here. How should we approach ensuring that the electrical cable in
question does not have more "hot spots"? Am I correct that the entire
cable should be replaced. From what I saw it runs to the cockpit and is
a main circuit. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Well, I am one of the lesser expeienced guys here so I would go with
replace the whole thing, and tell the guy it doesn't matter how frekin'
old it is. If it's a boat, and you want to use it as a boat, fix the
frekin' thing like it's gonna' be the only thing between you and the water

I agree. However, if you can pull the cable out and re thread a new
one, it would save a lot of labor. and if that can be done, you can
inspect the burnt cable and see if other wires/cables have their
insulation burnt and glued to it.

But if that be the case, then rewire. either through the conduit or
completely around it.

On Jun 9, 8:56*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 20:25:31 +0100, David Stanigar









wrote:

I'm new to Power Boating and do not currently own a boat. However, I do
go fishing quite frequently on a Buddy's 28 MAKO. Recently he asked me
to assist him in checking his bilge pumps to see is they were working
while on a rack at the Marina. I found that one of the bilge cables had
corroded off the battery terminal. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but
no electrician although I can do basic things like splicing wires and
heat shrinking connections etc. which I did that day.Unfortunately, when
I went to reconnect the battery I inadvertently reverse connected the
battery by putting the white cable with the black cable instead of with
the red cable. As we were testing the bilge, as soon as the bilge kicked
on smoke started coming from a length of plenum on the opposite side of
the boat above the other two batteries. We were able to disconnect the
incorrect polarity very quickly thereby avoiding disaster. That was
quite a sobering experience let me tell you! I recommended my Buddy get
a real electrician to check things out. However, being a 23 year old
boat I think he's reluctant to spend much on an electrician and ask if
Id help him again. I am inclined to think that the entire length of
plenum should be replaced rather than splicing out the portion that
burned. I'm hoping that someone on this site can give some real guidance
here. How should we approach ensuring that the electrical cable in
question does not have more "hot spots"? Am I correct that the entire
cable should be replaced. From what I saw it runs to the cockpit and is
a main circuit. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.


Sometime you get lucky and just blow the fuse.

probably so.

On Jun 10, 10:05*am, wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 19:38:58 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

Sometime you get lucky and just blow the fuse.

probably so.

After learning the lesson the
hard way I got in the habit of shooting a big red spot around the
positive battery post with a rattle can.

that's a good thought, Greg, that way the terminals are easily
identified

On Jun 10, 7:59*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:00:27 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

On Jun 10, 10:05*am, wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 19:38:58 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

Sometime you get lucky and just blow the fuse.

probably so.

*After learning the lesson the
hard way I got in the habit of shooting a big red spot around the
positive battery post with a rattle can.

that's a good thought, Greg, that way the terminals are easily
identified

It is not that easy for old guys to see a black on black embossed logo
in the back of the console. Trust me.
I can remember when old guys made me read fuses for them. Now I am
that guy.

I shoot a red circle a couple inches in diameter on a new battery
now, before I even take that plastic cap off the terminal. My positive
battery cables are red too,

A stator and a regulator will do that to a guy *;-)

i can see it popping a regulator, but not the Stator, then again...

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 11:05:30 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 19:38:58 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

Sometime you get lucky and just blow the fuse.

probably so.

A scary number of times it is not so. After learning the lesson the
hard way I got in the habit of shooting a big red spot around the
positive battery post with a rattle can.

I like that idea. Thanks.