Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

[4WinnsH200SS]

I bought an '08 Four Winns H200SS in which the previous owner upgraded the stereo system by adding two big bazooka amp?s, 3 10? Kicker Subs, and four Bazooka 6X9 Marine Triaxial speakers. When he did this an additional battery was installed which allows for running on Battery 1, Battery 2, Both, or Off.

I left the switch on over night while at the lake, and one battery seemed low the next day and seemed to stay weak. (The stereo would not operate the next day at any volume over about 10%, and sometimes not all.
When I got home I took both batteries out to have them tested. Both batteries tested fine.

I reinstalled the batteries and I have no power to anything.
Here?s how the boat is wired?

The positive from battery 1 goes to the ?in? on the battery switch 1.
The positive from battery 2 goes to the ?in? on the battery switch 2.
The negative from battery 1 goes to the negative on battery 2.

There are two clear cables that are taped with black tape that come from the stereo that attached to the negative pole of battery 1. The ONLY thing I could have messed up when hooking the batteries back up are those wires from the stereo. Could they have gone on the positive pole?

From the ?out? on the battery switch:
-two blue heavy gauge wires that go up to the stereo rig.
-a thick red wire which goes to the engine
-a red wire with stripes that goes to a 30 amp helm power breaker.

From the helm power you a red-striped wire that goes to the fuse box at the helm.

I have checked both batteries and they are fine. I have checked the helm power breaker and it is not blown. I have also checked every fuse in the boat and they all appear fine.

What in the world is going on?

In advance, Thanks!

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

You didn't mention a heavy black wire running from either battery's negative to the engine block or other system ground.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

Even without the engine block ground the stereo would work since it is essentially hard wired directly to the batteries. It appears the system is wired correctly. Does everything else on the boat work correctly except the stereo? Follow the bigger wires from the batteries and switch back to the amps/head unit. It should be obvious which are the +12V and ground connections. When the switch is set to BAT 1, BAT 2 or BOTH, do you see +12v at the COM terminal on the switch. If not, the battery connections to the switch or at the batteries are not tight or miswired. If all is well, again, concentrate on the stereo wiring or the stereo itself. Electronics will turn themselves off upon over/under voltage situations.

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

He said he now has no power: "I reinstalled the batteries and I have no power to anything."

In his post he didn't mention a main negative/ground, just the neg jumper between the batteries. That's why I suggested the missing connection to ground.

As you know, stereo amps are usually connected directly to the battery whereas the head unit could be connected to the house power system. If that's the case, the head unit's remote power trigger will turn on the amps.

In any case, it must be one heckuva sound system!

 

[sasto]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

The batt neg IS a ground. A compasitor of sorts. Should be able to run the stereo without grounding battery to the block. That ground is for the starter. I have read silvertip's post, seems to know more about this than most.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

The batt neg IS a ground. A compasitor of sorts. Should be able to run the stereo without grounding battery to the block. That ground is for the starter. I have read silvertip's post, seems to know more about this than most.

You're missing Rick's point. The OP lists all the correct connections to the battery and battery switch terminals except a main negative lead from the batteries.

 

[sasto]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

You're missing Rick's point. The OP lists all the correct connections to the battery and battery switch terminals except a main negative lead from the batteries.

Not sure what you mean by "main" neg. lead. Looks like he has 2 leads from the stereo and they are both connected to the neg. terminal. Shouldn't one of them be connected to the pos? To run a stereo simply hook a neg. and a pos. to the battery. No need to ground a battery to anything. Something is missing for sure, but what?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

There are multiple amps in this system hence multiple grounds and power leads two of which go to the battery ground two to the COM terminal on the switch which is proper. Since these are high power units, separate runs back to the battery and switch are used. What we don't know is how the actual "boat" electrical system is wired, how the head unit is wired, and where it is grounded. As was pointed out, if the amps are powered remotely when the head unit is turned on, that can't happen if the remote part of the system is not powering up or if there is a ground issue with the head unit. When installing a dual battery switch people tend to do some creative wiring when in fact everything on the boat should be connected to the COM terminal on the switch for optimum flexibility. About the only thing that would not be connected in this manner would be an automatic bilge pump. So yes -- something is missing. Since there is NO power to anything, one must retrace wiring and analyze the system. We can't see the boat and therefore can only guess at the issue and it is very likely the result of battery removal. Look for another wire/cable that is dangling with nothing to do!!!!!

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

Thank you. I was beginning to question my own credibility (or lack thereof).

I have read silvertip's post, seems to know more about this than most.

Agreed. For the record, I too have a lot of respect for Silvertip.

I guess we won't know anything until the OP posts back.

 

[4WinnsH200SS]

Re: Augh. Boat electrical help needed- Please-

Thanks to all!!

I went to my local boat dealer that found the culprit. It was only the negative ground for the boat. He put it on- it had slipped back into the dark recesses of boat- and all is well. He didn't even charge me.

Thanks again to all that replied. What a great forum!!

Joe