boat wires

[TyGuy02]

I made the mistake last year of not diagramming to wiring of the boat prior to taking the batteries out. When I bought the boat it was ready to rock and didn't have to worry about that last spring. I have it mostly taken care of but one thing has me worried. In the battery compartment in the bow deck, there are two heavy gauge wires coming out of the floor of the compartment. They're not from the trolling motor plug, messed with those last year and they come from the top-side of the compartment. But these two heavy wires both are red, or at least seem red. I've never seen two red wires coming from the same location anywhere anytime, so it has me worried since common-sense says that one has to be black (negative). I did have an onboard charger that I just took out that was malfunctioning, so I would assume that they are charging wires from the motor, but I hate to make assumptions when it comes to wiring. They both have a heavy rubber sheeth coiled around them if that helps.

Am I safe to assume they are both red (positive), and hook one up to each battery in the 12 volt 2 battery system? Thanks

[boatfixer]

In this case I wouldn't assume anything. You should really try to see where the come out of.

They wouldn't be charging wires from the engine, That's all done on the engine. Without knowing the history of the boat, they could be onboard charging or trolling motor wires. Typically, you'll see heavy wires for trolling or starting.

[Walleyehooker]

Im assuming they ran from your OB charger back to your starting battery. Look for the other end of the wires by the starting battery.

[Pat K]

To many expensive pieces of equiptment on a boat can be fried if you get the polarity wrong. If you can't trace the source of the wires it will be cheaper in the long run to take it to a mechanic and have them sort it out.

Hindsight is 20/20, but when I disconnect a battery in my boat I zip tie all the wires from the individual posts together and use red electrical tape on + and black on the - to eliminate any confusion reattaching the wires to the battery.

[clKiekhafer]

To many expensive pieces of equiptment on a boat can be fried if you get the polarity wrong. If you can't trace the source of the wires it will be cheaper in the long run to take it to a mechanic and have them sort it out.

Hindsight is 20/20, but when I disconnect a battery in my boat I zip tie all the wires from the individual posts together and use red electrical tape on + and black on the - to eliminate any confusion reattaching the wires to the battery.