My boat has electrical issues...

First I want to thank all the people on the forums at Crappie.com and at the Refugeforums.com for their counsel and assistance regarding my boat’s electrical issues. And, I want to single out Big Bill from Big River Marine in West Memphis, Arkansas who talked to me several times while I was troubleshooting the myriad of issues I was faced with. He knows his stuff and the one night we talked several times for upwards an hour or more each time. Thank you so very much!

Anyway, it seems I have been able to correct (fix?) most of my immediate issues and maybe make some improvements. Let me say up front I love this boat as I am only the second owner and it was well-maintained. However, it is 23 years old and things have changed and improvements are available nowadays that weren’t before. Having said that, I am surprised that several of the issues I encountered were related to wiring performed by someone who could have done a better job. This is an area I can work with as I have had a soldering gun/iron in my hands since before I was 10 and have built all sorts of electronics and other items that used a “good” solder job and never until recently had I used crimps to join wires unless it was absolutely necessary to do so. Maybe it’s a matter of opinion but most of my issues seem related to how new wiring was added…

Let me start with what I changed and fixed and then come back to why:
A. Replaced power plug on trolling motor.
B. Redid wiring cable connection to trolling motor power plug.
C. Replaced glass fuse holder in battery compartment to trolling motor with a 40 AMP manual reset circuit breaker.
D. Replaced glass fuse holder in battery compartment to power for console dash panel (lights, bilge, aerator, fishfinders, utility light on side of console and lighted compass) and possibly for the gas gauge and tachometer.
E. Replaced power wire from the horn to console utility light – the horn power came from a wire from the junction at console (switches for aerator/bilge/lights), specifically, the aerator.
F. Redid wire junction from two fishfinders and compass LED light to power wire in E above.
G. Replaced assorted bare wire connections with soldered and crimped metal connectors as appropriate.

I am sure I am leaving something out but I believe the above are the primary things I performed before taking for a test trip yesterday on Lake Shelbyville. Remember, I have had multiple issues as outlined at the beginning of this thread and while I would love to fix everything and make additional improvements, I first had to take care of the immediate issues just so I could go fishing! Now for the details!

A. I replaced the trolling motor power plug as the original had corrosion inside and my attempts to clean the plug didn’t work. And, my final attempt to use electronic component spray cleaner had a negative impact on the plugs plastic…DOH!

B. This was the original issue for the trolling motor I noticed and involved my cutting off the old power plug, removing the crimp connectors, trimming the wires, soldering the ends of both cables, clean the connections with that component spray cleaner and then using that new crimp connectors provided when I purchased the new plug. I then used liquid electrical tape and covered the connections with two coats, let it dry and then used good electrical tape to cover and to be used as a bond to hold the connection together better (hopefully!).

C. The fuse protection was old. Also, I simply do not like the old type glass tubes but I was cutting it close as there was not much slack in the power cable that runs under the boat deck to the front for the trolling motor. For this I cut the tube fuse holder off right at the ends, stripped the wire off the power cable, soldered the twisted ends and placed them into a connector and after crimping it I also soldered both ends of the wires to this connector to ensure it would last. That was when I discovered the connectors I used were too large and would come right off the ends of the circuit breaker unless they were held in place by washers. Ran to Ace hardware to buy washers and they closed the door in my face at 8 PM. Came home and after only finding one washer, I decided to try smaller connectors and they worked! Again, I crimped and soldered them and then after cleaning the flux off the soldered connection (I did this for ALL my solder jobs, so just assume that from now on) I covered all but the ring connection end with liquid electrical tape and after drying, used electrical tape. As there was/is limited power cable length, I couldn’t just bolt the circuit breaker to something out of the way, so I temporarily wrapped the entire unit with the exposed terminals with electrical tape so it wouldn’t short while I determine how to address in a more permanent fashion. Bottom line, the trolling motor now works!!!

D. I traced the wring and found the primary power wire from the battery to the console which powers the aerator, bilge and a three-way switch for the lights and had been used to run the fishfinders off of, as well as the console side utility light and a very crappy offshoot to the compass for its LED light as well as the horn. This was simple fix back in the battery compartment as I had plenty of spare length in the wire. I replaced the tube fuse holder for glass fuses with an ATC covered fuse holder available from most stores. I soldered the connections, used liquid and rolled tape to protect. I think I put a 10 AMP fuse in. DONE!

E. This area was trickier. First off, I could see a number of problems what with exposed wires, connections made by just screwing a wire onto a “ground” that was the screw holding the windshield to the console, and the like. I also found a number of added wires which had nicks that exposed the wire underneath the protective covering to the elements AND shorts! Once I decided what to do and what had to be replaced, I then had to figure how to get at everything! Here I am in the dark with an LED headlamp, lying on my back looking up into the underside of the console where many of the wires were extremely difficult to get at, let alone fix! The primary power wire for the utility light/fishfinders/compass came off a wire that was simply screwed in at the horn with the other end shoved into the utility light. This then had the fishfinders and compass power leads spliced in the middle – this was already a problem area and even though solder had been used, it was corroded. I thought about unscrewing the instrument panel but that was out of the question, what with the steering wheel and rusted/corroded nuts and bolts holding it to the boat and the like. As I was starting to cry, I realized the three switches were on a separate panel that was held in place with four screws! I unscrewed that and lo and behold, I could now troubleshoot most of this area! While all three switches are still working, the elements have taken their toll BUT the wiring was in great shape for the most part. The wires to the horn were a little more difficult as they were screwed in and I had to get a screwdriver back in there and then use my fingers to finish the job. Using wire purchased from Wal-Mart ($4.88 for just 20 feet!), I decided I had to replace the wire either the boat manufacturer had installed or had been added afterward that was ran off the power side of the aerator switch to the light via a junction at the horn. This wire had also been tapped in a crude fashion where the insulation had been cut away and maybe a connection had been added – it was difficult to tell as it had corroded but at least they had used some solder. I found two spots where the insulation had been rubbed off and the wires underneath were exposed. This might have happened from friction but who knows. I cut a good length of wire and added a new connector at both the light and horn end. I made sure the wire was long enough so I could then cut it and splice in a new wire for the LED in the compass and a vastly improved connection for both fishfinders. Both fishfinders already have their own ATC fuses (which are covered) which I did myself using the same techniques described here. This splice was twisted wires that were soldered, and then covered in liquid and roll electrical tape. I still want to come back to this in the future and maybe do a fuse block or something as I hate splicing but it is a far cry better than what was there before! There had been different sizes and types of wire used to make connections and most were simply pressure fit to existing connections… As I had hit some rough water during the receding holiday weekend and had the compass bounce out of the holder (yeah, it was really rough but I had loosened the bolts too), the ground wire had ripped itself from the compass light. This wasn’t easy to fix. I ended up taking the remaining existing wire, cutting a new end, bending and soldering that end to form a plug-like end and was able to pressure fit it into the light. Used a toothpick as a shim and then covered with liquid electrical tape in the hopes it would hold. For the time being, I have decided to maintain the power lead (now soldered to a new connector) to the console utility light as it was near 3 AM when I was wrapping all this up on Friday night! I will redo this later. My first thought is to install a fuse block that will provide a new fused connection for each of the following: aerator; bilge; lights; fishfinders; utility lights; and for accessories. Whoops! I forgot that I also had the cigarette lighter power supply receptacle and I rewired it too. That one wire offshoot that powered the Fishfinders, utility light, compass light that was run off the aerator also powered this item…