Rewiring boat?

[Socal Bassman]

Looking to rewire my boat . Has anyone done this before and how hard is it to do? Boat is an old Ranger bass boat.

[oomicha3loo]

what kind of rewiring are we talking about?..full gauges trim/tilt gps fish finder? or just simple as running a new cd player?

[Socal Bassman]

I'm looking at a complete rewire. None of the gauges work and I think the only thing that works is the aerator. Bilge pump needs to be replaced and the overall wiring is a mess with corroded terminals, the same goes for the fuse block. So I was thinking of just redoing everything instead of trying to figure what wire goes where.

[HEMAN]

it's a little ways, but if you need electrical stuff i'd suggest Orvac Electronics in Fullerton, best prices i've seen and they have everything electrical.

[NoHo ART]

if you need new gauges and harness cheapest place is www.boat.net

1. get your self a new wearing harness

2. plug one end in to your motor.

3. start cutting and replacing the old harness with the new harness one gauge at a time.

4. the rest of the stuff is just simple + / -

[Socal Bassman]

Hey Heman, yeah I know where Orvac is and they do have good prices. Even better than Rvac Electronics here in Pomona.

Thanks for the link ART, I'll definitely check it out.

[oomicha3loo]

Gauges are pretty easy if you already have the wires set up, when i repower my skippy i had to run new wires and since i hate wires hanging out everywhere it was a hassle to hide them or run them away from the open. But if I were you I would get a fuse block, run everything that is important (night lights,electric trims,bilge pump...) to that. and make sure you use marine electrical tapes and be careful using crimps or butt connector in the open.

[DockRat]

You might need some wireing repair. Unless some hack got in there and did some butcher chopping. All gauges acting weird could be a ground wire or connection.

On my boat some dude used non tinned wire and auto crimp connectors. Things were acting really weird ended up being 2" of a ground wire was swelled and corroded. Fixed that and all better now. Also had 1 corroded wire at the Perco switch.

At first there was a few issues and I had thought about a rewire. After getting things sorted out, all is good. The 1986 boat sits in the saltwater, all electrical good now.

Ended up adding a circuit breaker panel with 6 switches + the exhisting 5 switches to 11 switches now. It did help being a electrician for 20 + years :Wink:

Tinned copper wire and marine connectors must be used.

I don't know the value of your boat but one must excercise caution
when dumping cash into a older boat.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii89/Brickworks/money-pit.jpg

[Socal Bassman]

Thanks for the tips and advice DockRat. Yep, it looks like the previous owner or owners just went to work on the wiring on this old girl. So far I've found automobile (solid) wire and the good old speaker wire being used to make connections. Some of the wiring looks to be factory, but all the terminals and some wires are corroded.

[DockRat]

You could get in there and start cutting out and replacing sections ONE AT A TIME !

ALWAYS use wire markers or a piece of tape with the info on it (where it went, what it does, color ect)


Regular auto stuff will work but can corrode too.
Put a piece of shrink tube over your connections and butt splices.
Tinned copper wire and marine grade connectors are a must for saltwater,
Always avoid solid wire due to the fact that when towing and boating the vibration can break a wire.

http://www.outboardmotor.biz/wiring/

[userdavid77]

I am looking for a Boat Repair (http://www.rankmymechanic.com/) men who have enough knowledge of all the boat parts and nitro gas installation in the boat. There is a problem in my engine I think something struck in it which is producing sound whenever I tried to start it and smog too. I don’t know what the hell happened to it but I really getting frustrated after so many trial on repairing my boat may be someone can help me out here.

Boat Repair (http://www.rankmymechanic.com/)

[dixoncider]

McMaster carr is a pretty good place to get all manner of electrical connectors and such..Is it hard to rewire a boat..Not really..sometimes its quicker to start over than to try and figure out what's there..At least then you know what you have and how it works..

[karlow]

Nope,
I would not rewire from scratch unless it was the last resort.
The original wiring is Likely OK. The connections are the place to start.
I would pull clean and reinstall each one. Any after market wiring I would replace.
I use heat shrink spices, or solder splices with liquid tape + two layers of shrink tubing
on any connection that may get damp.
I just finished wiring my whaler. It had no wiring to start with. Next on the list is the trolly motor.
It take a lot of time. Today I installed the stern light receptical.