I just got a new boat which came as plain as you can get. Just a
smaller 18' bowrider. I have now purchased a basic Garmin fishfinder
and a Alpine marine CD player/stereo and a couple of speakers.

Now the hard part: installing and wiring these gadgets. So here are
some of the questions that come to mind:

1) as far as I can tell, I have only one, unused, "Accessory" switch on
the console. Should I plan to connect the fishfinder to that switch?
Am I right to think that the stereo does not really have to be on a
switch?

2) How do I connect the stereo to the battery? Should it be done at
the battery terminals or is it OK to splice the red battery wire (or
connect it to the fuse box?)?

3) there is no metal near the casing around the CD player/stereo. What
should I ground the stereo's black wire to? Am I correct to assume
that wiring to the stereo's own harness is not a good idea?

Andre

You don't need to use the switch at all. Probably both units come with in
line fuses. Just attach both fused wires to the hot side of the fuse block.
Look around and you will find a common ground point. It might just be a
screw post. You should see a few black wires all coming to that point. The
keep alive voltage for the radio presets and clock is usually a yellow wire
with an in line fuse. That should go to the same hot point as the other
fused wires as long as there is not a master off switch or battery
disconnect. Read all the instruction sheets before you start. Fire the units
up before you mount them permanently. You want to make sure your compass
won't be affected by the units where you plan to mount them.
JIMinFL

"Melandre" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just got a new boat which came as plain as you can get. Just a
smaller 18' bowrider. I have now purchased a basic Garmin fishfinder
and a Alpine marine CD player/stereo and a couple of speakers.

Now the hard part: installing and wiring these gadgets. So here are
some of the questions that come to mind:

1) as far as I can tell, I have only one, unused, "Accessory" switch on
the console. Should I plan to connect the fishfinder to that switch?
Am I right to think that the stereo does not really have to be on a
switch?

2) How do I connect the stereo to the battery? Should it be done at
the battery terminals or is it OK to splice the red battery wire (or
connect it to the fuse box?)?

3) there is no metal near the casing around the CD player/stereo. What
should I ground the stereo's black wire to? Am I correct to assume
that wiring to the stereo's own harness is not a good idea?

Andre

Melandre wrote:
I just got a new boat which came as plain as you can get. Just a
smaller 18' bowrider. I have now purchased a basic Garmin fishfinder
and a Alpine marine CD player/stereo and a couple of speakers.

Now the hard part: installing and wiring these gadgets. So here are
some of the questions that come to mind:

1) as far as I can tell, I have only one, unused, "Accessory" switch on
the console. Should I plan to connect the fishfinder to that switch?
Am I right to think that the stereo does not really have to be on a
switch?


Is it a switch or a circuit breaker? Not everything needs to be
connected via a switch, but everything should be connected thru a fuse
or circuit breaker.

"Accessories" is a good connection for several items... fishfinder, GPS,
added lights... just remember that the circuit will have a max load, so
try not to connect to many things that will all be in use at once.


2) How do I connect the stereo to the battery? Should it be done at
the battery terminals or is it OK to splice the red battery wire (or
connect it to the fuse box?)?

Connect it at the lead to the fuse box... unless the 12V + wire to the
fuse box is too dinky, a common fault with mass produced boats. try
checking the voltage at the main lead, and start turning things on. You
should see only a very slight voltage drop.

Use eye connectors, not spade or forks. And get some dielectric goop to
put on all connections, especially crimps. It improves performance &
longevity tremendously!


3) there is no metal near the casing around the CD player/stereo. What
should I ground the stereo's black wire to? Am I correct to assume
that wiring to the stereo's own harness is not a good idea?

You're correct, that's not a good idea! If you look around behind the
panel, you should see at least one negative/ground common point. This
will be where several black wires come together and a heavier black wire
leads off to the battery's negative terminal. Attach the ground here,
unless there are more than 4 connectors already on it, in which case you
can add another quite easily... a small SS bolt, with a wire tying it to
the first common point, and then add up to 4 grounds to it (including
the one you took off the original so as to make room for the tie-in).

BTW many people who work on boat wiring are more careless with the
grounds than they are with the hot leads... makes no sense at all.
Ground breaks or shorts are just as disabling, more frustrating to
trace, and can lead to increased corrosion if they come in contact with
metal on the boat.

Fair Skies
Doug King

DSK wrote in news:hVdaf.28031$NJ.15549
@bignews7.bellsouth.net:

Chapman Piloting and Seamanship
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...bnInquiry.asp?
userid=S51mpITCZO&isbn=1588160890&itm=1

IMO, every boat owner should have a copy of this for all things nautical.
It includes a good guide to vessel electrical systems.

Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...bnInquiry.asp?
userid=S51mpITCZO&isbn=0071432388&itm=1

The reference, everything you ever wanted to know and more...



Melandre wrote:
I just got a new boat which came as plain as you can get. Just a
smaller 18' bowrider. I have now purchased a basic Garmin fishfinder
and a Alpine marine CD player/stereo and a couple of speakers.

Now the hard part: installing and wiring these gadgets. So here are
some of the questions that come to mind:

1) as far as I can tell, I have only one, unused, "Accessory" switch on
the console. Should I plan to connect the fishfinder to that switch?
Am I right to think that the stereo does not really have to be on a
switch?


Is it a switch or a circuit breaker? Not everything needs to be
connected via a switch, but everything should be connected thru a fuse
or circuit breaker.

"Accessories" is a good connection for several items... fishfinder, GPS,
added lights... just remember that the circuit will have a max load, so
try not to connect to many things that will all be in use at once.


2) How do I connect the stereo to the battery? Should it be done at
the battery terminals or is it OK to splice the red battery wire (or
connect it to the fuse box?)?

Connect it at the lead to the fuse box... unless the 12V + wire to the
fuse box is too dinky, a common fault with mass produced boats. try
checking the voltage at the main lead, and start turning things on. You
should see only a very slight voltage drop.

Use eye connectors, not spade or forks. And get some dielectric goop to
put on all connections, especially crimps. It improves performance &
longevity tremendously!


3) there is no metal near the casing around the CD player/stereo. What
should I ground the stereo's black wire to? Am I correct to assume
that wiring to the stereo's own harness is not a good idea?

You're correct, that's not a good idea! If you look around behind the
panel, you should see at least one negative/ground common point. This
will be where several black wires come together and a heavier black wire
leads off to the battery's negative terminal. Attach the ground here,
unless there are more than 4 connectors already on it, in which case you
can add another quite easily... a small SS bolt, with a wire tying it to
the first common point, and then add up to 4 grounds to it (including
the one you took off the original so as to make room for the tie-in).

BTW many people who work on boat wiring are more careless with the
grounds than they are with the hot leads... makes no sense at all.
Ground breaks or shorts are just as disabling, more frustrating to
trace, and can lead to increased corrosion if they come in contact with
metal on the boat.

Fair Skies
Doug King

My Sea Ray had a factory cassette wired to the accessory switch. I replaced
the cassette with an indash MP3 player. I added the fishfinder to the same
switch & fuse. I think it's important to switch the cd player because it
continues to draw from the battery if left live. I've forgotten my
accessory switch on (fishfinder off) and the turned-off cd player could kill
the battery in 2 or 3 days. There will be a memory wire on the cd player
which goes separately to the the battery to retain settings. I ran that
wire right back to the battery and put my own fuse on it. I put it on its
own crimp-on connector and screw it to the battery post along with the main
wire. My MP3 player, btw, went in the glove box on the passenger side of
the boat. Luckily there was an existing unit there and the wires were
already in place because it would have been impossible to run wires from the
dash to the passenger side without going all the way to the stern first.

--
Denis Roy
D. Roy Woodcraft
www.ideasinwood.com
"Melandre" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just got a new boat which came as plain as you can get. Just a
smaller 18' bowrider. I have now purchased a basic Garmin fishfinder
and a Alpine marine CD player/stereo and a couple of speakers.

Now the hard part: installing and wiring these gadgets. So here are
some of the questions that come to mind:

1) as far as I can tell, I have only one, unused, "Accessory" switch on
the console. Should I plan to connect the fishfinder to that switch?
Am I right to think that the stereo does not really have to be on a
switch?

2) How do I connect the stereo to the battery? Should it be done at
the battery terminals or is it OK to splice the red battery wire (or
connect it to the fuse box?)?

3) there is no metal near the casing around the CD player/stereo. What
should I ground the stereo's black wire to? Am I correct to assume
that wiring to the stereo's own harness is not a good idea?

Andre

Melandre wrote:
I just got a new boat which came as plain as you can get. Just a
smaller 18' bowrider. I have now purchased a basic Garmin fishfinder
and a Alpine marine CD player/stereo and a couple of speakers.

Now the hard part: installing and wiring these gadgets. So here are
some of the questions that come to mind:

1) as far as I can tell, I have only one, unused, "Accessory" switch on
the console. Should I plan to connect the fishfinder to that switch?
Am I right to think that the stereo does not really have to be on a
switch?

2) How do I connect the stereo to the battery? Should it be done at
the battery terminals or is it OK to splice the red battery wire (or
connect it to the fuse box?)?

3) there is no metal near the casing around the CD player/stereo. What
should I ground the stereo's black wire to? Am I correct to assume
that wiring to the stereo's own harness is not a good idea?

Andre


It's much easier to use a buss bar than to try and slam a bunch of
fittings behind a single screw. You can run heavy gauge wire (big
benefits) from the + and - battery terminals to a location near your
electronics bay. Connect one wire to a buss for positive connections,
and the other wire to a buss for negative. Wire in an "inline" fuse
between the positive buss and each electronic gizmo. Ground each gizmo
to the negative buss.

You don't need to wire through the "accessory" switch if it is of
inadequate capacity.
You can add a switch to the heavy wires running to the electronics buss
bars.