Boat wiring

[hawghunter]

Here is my situation, I’m cleaning up the wiring in my boat. Whoever had it before me left numerous unconnected ends, splices all over the place, different sized wires in the same run. it’s a mess!!!

one thing I’ve heard is that my depth finders (bow and transom) should be connected to my starting battery. leaving only my trolling motors connected to the deep cycle. If so, I would have live well, bilge pump, 2 finders (one large screen color), interior lights, running lights, and radio all hooked up to the back battery used for starting my motor.

It sounds like allot on one battery not made for continuous long lasting power draw?

Also what is the recommended wire gage for 12 volt trolling motors to connect to the battery

Thanks

[JimBuck]

I do it the way you described without an issue. I also use a dual-purpose battery for my main engine so I can do these things without draining too much. Depending on your radio, they draw very little power. On my depth finder I have a voltage meter that measures amperage draw. I monitor that for peace of mind and haven't ran into any problems yet.

As for my trolling motor, I believe I used 6-gauge for the trolling motor (55lb. thrust).

Good luck!

[muddpuppy]

I run all my lights bilge livewell and fishfinder off of my starting battery. I run my Trolling motor and radio off of 2 connected deepcycle batteries. I can do 5 days in canada without having to carge my batteries 12 hour days mainly on the trolling motor and the radio on all day long (Sirius Sat)

[PerchJerker]

Trolling motors come with 10 gauge wire in them I think, but if you're lengthening the runs over 6 feet you should go to a larger gauge to offset the voltage drop.

[hawghunter]

muddpuppy, thats my dream!!! I typicaly cant run a full day on the water without loosing power enough to make issues with backtrolling.

what batteries do you run? is it a 12volt system?

[solbes]

If your trolling batt wiring is short, as in your battery is near the bow, then 8 gauge will work. If your trolling battery is in the stern and you have a run of 15' plus, you need to upgrade to 6 gage. The voltage loss is too high with 8. Don't forget you need a circuit breaker right at the positive battery terminal.

I run everything but the TM off of my dual purpose starting battery (radio, bilge, livewell, sonar, gps, bow sonar, etc). The Yamaha ramps up close to full charging (25 amp) even at low trolling RPM's, so it doesn't take long to recharge it.

[muddpuppy]

Hawghunter

I run Blue top Optima for the starting bat.

Yes a 12 volt parallel system for the TM and radio. 2 CAT batteries These are for the BIG Trucks adds alot of waight but I have them in the floor front of the boat.

[hawghunter]

I appreciate all the help! how about electrical interference? I run a LMS240 on the bow that seems to get interference when the troll is running, is it because in the past I’ve had it powered from the front battery next to the one that powers the troll? ( sometimes hooked in tandem) or is it due to the transducer running down the shaft of my minnkota PD55. or could it be from the LCX26 I have at the transom (on all the time for GPS)

Thanks again!

[solbes]

Do both sonars run at the same frequency (i.e. 200 khz)? If so that is likely your problem. If you are running sonars at different frequencies, like 87 and 200khz, and your trolling battery is not powering either sonar, then you have something else going on. I would guess it's because it's wired in tandem with your trolling battery.

[walleyemaniac]

Don't run your sonar off your trolling motor battery that's where your interferance is coming from. Get a dual purpose starting battery you shouldn't have any problems. Most sonars have a volt reading on them if your in question check that.

Like Solbes said wire size depends on how long you run your wires. I've got a 17ft. boat with a bow mount (batteries in back) used 6 gauge and haven't had any problem with power loss or batteries dying off early. There's not really that much draw with all that stuff anyway, it's not like your going to run all of it at the same time all day.

My boat is pretty much set up with all the same stuff your talking about and I can go all day & night with no trouble. One Interstate Starting 625 cranking amps/95 reserve capacity on the motor and boat accessories.Two Interstate deep cycle 750 cranking amps/160 reserve capacity on the trolling motor. Just so I have enough for the long stay trips.

Haven't been dead in the water yet. Knock on wood.