Wiring the electrics on a boat [Pt 1]
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video I begin the process of replacing the wiring in my boat, Green Machine. Having removed all the old wiring, I start by running a fused cable from the battery in the stern to a couple of bus bars under the dash. All the devices will then be wired to the terminal blocks to keep the wiring neat and cables as short as possible.
For outboard repair information, checkout my website: outboard.danga...
If you are enjoying this channel, please consider making a donation to www.paypal.me/... or become a Patreon of Dangar Marine at / dangarmarine
T-shirts and other merchandise available at teespring.com/...
Common items used in these videos are available from my Amazon store at www.amazon.com...
Dangar Marine is proudly sponsored by MarineEngine.com. MarineEngine.com supplies a wide variety of spare parts for many brands of outboard motors. If you are in the US, be sure to check out their online store www.marineengin...
All music available at soundscloud.com...
![Wiring the electrics on a boat [Pt 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pWjyGVIN5D4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Wiring the electrics on a boat [Pt 2]](/img/tr.png)
Excellent informative video....at last someone who shows the process without forgetting that not all of us are experts in all fields of boat building, without any crazy background music.
Keep em coming mate 👍🏼
Thanks mate, glad you liked the vid. :)
I have been looking at videos about basic boat wiring for awhile now and often they don't get it right and you come away even more confused. You have nailed it with this one, well done. Simple and everything explained in layman's terms.
the practice of both a mechanical crimp and a solder connection is an excellent example to teach your viewers. I had over 40 years in the apparatus repair business--our local steel mill, the State Ferries, US Coast Guard and the US Navy require it --I learned at a young age. Simple yet strong and efficient----Mikey
Cheers from Washington State, Just bought a 1973 Sidewinder in rough shape and it needs all new electrical, these videos are LITERALLY life savers, learning more than I did in college classes, thanks man.
Glad to help
Thank you for this video; new to boating; experienced some electrical issues; this tutorial sheds light on what I’m looking at under the hood.
Best DIY videos on TH-cam. Just got into boating and learned a lot. Cheers from Florida
It is good to see someone wiring a boat with solder joints. You will almost never have a problem where the guys with crimpons alone will be chasing electrical problems in a couple of years and from then on. I wouldn't do it any other way. In a Marine application especially. Take care. Doug
+Douglas Thompson People do argue that solder will melt if there is a short, but I reckon the fuse will blow first. I've worked on boats that have sunk in salt water and the soldered connections have still been fine for years afterwards.
Usually with the melting point of solder, to get it to the melting point either something was hopelessly undersized regarding wiring, or oversized regarding the fuse. You are right in assuming the fuse should blow first, but there are points where things may come together to a point where the solder melts. Especially if a lot of cables and connectors are cramped into a small space. also in a bundle of cables, if all of them have to be spliced, it is best to stagger the splices, makes the overall bundle also considerably thinner than having all splices in one point.
For reliable connections I would consider looking into some NASA working documentation, they show several ways to reliably connect wires.
I would consider a mixture of crimping and soldering.
Less important systems (e.g. a fish finder) can get along well with just crimping, maybe some water displacing fluid to keep them corrosion free and even for connectors which are naturally open one end, shrink tube on the wire side.
Everything else I would crimp first, and then solder the crimped connection. Crimping a presoldered connection may cause issues as the solder is pretty weak and you might easily pull out the crimped soldered cable as the solder deforms. This way you got the mechanical advantage of the crimped connection and the corosion resistance of the solder.
Like Peter Phan, Stu's videos are the best on the net. Every time I need to find something, know about or work out, this is where I come. Unfailingly instructive. I still have to watch the video on relays a few more times though.
Superb, professional video. Nice camera work. Very informative. Great job!
Thanks John!
Finally I found someone I can understand so I can do this myself thank you champ👍
You're welcome mate, good luck with the wiring. :)
My wiring knowledge just doubled thanks to this video, I always had issues with wiring on my boat. The inline fuses would get corroded and I'd loose power to the depth sounder/chartplotter. Your setup looks safe and reliable and best of all not to expensive. Your wiring and electronic videos are a huge help. I find it pretty hard to learn from wiring diagrams it just looks like a foreign language and I just glaze over.
Nice job !
Hi mate. Those inline fuses can corrode very quickly if they aren't fully-sealed marine grade holders. I'm hoping this setup does last a while. It isn't a complex setup but it should be versatile enough for a small boat like this.
Very well explained and showed with the boat on hand. Just where I will be starting from. Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome mate, good luck with the job. :)
That is an excellent video. I have watched numerous ones on wiring boats but this series of videos walks you through the actual practical implementation of wiring a small boat, step by step.
Hey man -- your wiring video inspired me to do something about the wire mess in my boat, so I did. Got a new fuse block, the type with a negative bus built onto it, and I mounted it in a smart place instead of the lazy, visible spot that some previous owner did. I ripped out all the old wires that fed my electrics and threw them away. Clean new proper-gauge wires from the battery to the block, inline fuses, put heat-shrink tubing on every connection. Re-connected my fishfinder, running lights and radio, added some cool-looking LED-lighted switches to my dash, and hid all the wires in flexible conduits out of sight. Finished the job yesterday and to my shock, everything works properly. Feeling pretty good about it. Appreciate the video.
Nice one. It is always very satisfying to clean up old messy wiring. My only real regret in wiring the Green Machine was not just buying a terminal block with a fuse holder for every attachment. I might pull all those inline fuse holders out one day to make it better.
Thanks Dangar Marine for making these tuturials! You are truly a boat guru and great teacher. Just watched the videos on replacing the steering system and I was able to accomplish that thanks to you. Time to get started on the electronics.
Thanks Spencer, great to hear you got your steering fixed up. :)
Very helpful for me as I have no background with electrical work!
Glad it was helpful!
I really appreciate your videos. I have a sailboat, but the topics you cover apply to boats in general. Thanks!
Thanks James. Yes, many boating topics are applicable to just about any type of boat but I must do some more sailing specific videos soon.
I’m almost at the wiring stage to my project and thank you for this DIY illustration . I will be using this format for my house battery but will have a separate battery for my outboard . Thanks for sharing . Cheers
Excellent instruction on the importance of method and planning. Thank you
You're very welcome!
Thanks fpr sharing your knowledge and techniques. I have learned many things from your videos.
Great to hear!
Thank You for for taking your time and sharing your wealth of knowledge.
you are a wonderful perspon . Learning a lot sitting in Canada. Thank you
Thank you for this video. I was worried about doing my wiring on my boat. Just Nav lights and switches. You explained it and demonstrated it so well that I could understand. Just needed to be shown thanks again.
Thanks mate, glad the video helped you. :)
Your instructions are great! I end end up removing all the old wiring and started again,
looks so much neater,
Thanks again.
I'm so much happier now I've removed all the old wiring in my boat. It was such a mess!
I like the idea of the fuse at the battery in case the wire gets cut or rubs the insulation away. I didn't do that to mine when I did the wiring but I think now I will go back and do it. great video.
I think it is a good way to be safe, and fortunately it is very easy to add afterwards.
You're awesome. I'm watching you from North Africa, Libya.
Your dog looks so very enthusiastic when boating. The fuses you use are to protect the size cable used. The idea is to avoid overheating of the conductor also to ensure there is not to much voltage drop so it will operate the protection device (fuse or circuit breaker) using a 10 amp fuse is good unless there is cable too small for 10 amp on accessories. Many circuits in automotive use smaller fuses. So glad you mentioned mechanical protection also sharp edges should be protected specialty where single insulated cable is exposed.
60 year old bush Sparky
I've definitely seen a few boats wired without fuses and when the wires heat up from a short they melt all the insulators off and then short even more. The end result is almost always a complete re-wire (with a fuse!)
Sorry I was just trying to explain that the fuses are to prevent major faults in the feed wires in the system. Generally a fuse can be used to protect sub circuits that being what you are doing. I personally like to buy a switch board with individual fuses they look good in boats and campers and like you said they make diagnosis easy More and more people are wanting to go solar 12v / 24v systems with a inverter for appliances unavailable in 12v a inverter is probably a really bad idea in a tinny. How does using the frame as a return effect electrolysis??
Thanks for the video ! Very clear and direct explanation on rewiring safely and making connections
Thanks Steven, glad you liked it. :)
Have to say that this video was essential to my planning for doing electrical work on my boat this Spring. Had a depth finder and radio that I need to get powered up front and the suggestion of running a big power cable up to the front was very good. I ran the cable up front and put in a 6 circuit fused block to power those two devices. Worked really well and also preps me in the event that I either way to install another device (GPS) or add a solar charging unit up on the bow as I have those terminals on the fuse block to connect with instead of running cables all the way back to battery again.
Hey Peter, glad the video helped. I do like the system of having a couple of main feeds that then branch off. As you say, as well as keeping things neat it gives you a bit of future proofing should some new devices come along down the track.
Exactly. I've got 6 terminals and will only be using 2 of them (depth finder and radio). Radio comes today and other than not having a 3in Hole Saw, I'm super excited to get it installed.
Enjoying instructive videos. I am building a boat and will be doing wiring and other work. Thanks.
Thanks Donald, good luck with your build.
I really admire your abilities and enjoy watching your videos here in deep East Texas! Thanks for sharing!
Great video best one I’ve seen on boat electrical
Great tutorials, bit of a go to site for me as I am going from scratch to build an old Bell boy up.
Clear precise explanation, great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, amazing and practical explication. The first time i see some demystification on how to do and learn electrical project in a a boat. So, 1 thousand thanks. Best, paul
You're welcome Paul. :)
thanks man,you,ve been a great help on my project,keep on rocking dude,you are technical and good ,i recomand you to every one man.....
Great work Stuey.
More please! I'm in the beginning stages on rewiring my 14ft flat bottom. Great video and great timing!.
Hey Kyle, yep, still have more wiring to do on the Green Machine. Not over yet!
Yep - I'll be following this series. I've got a great book (The 12 Volt Bible for Boats) but watching you actually doing it is great.. Thanks!
That is a great book, glad the video helped you too. :)
This video is exactly what I needed. Thank you. I could never figure out the need for busbars lol.
Thank you very much for your video that is well explained and précise !
You're welcome. :)
I've got an 84 Bass Tracker TX that I doing some rewiring to, I like your method, Thanks, look forward to seeing more of your videos.
Thanks Donald, I hope the videos help you with your boat.
Thanks Dangar! Your videos are great and I'm learning a lot! I've worked on a couple outboards among tractors, mowers, cars, etc. I starting to like working on outboards, especially old ones. So much style and quality back in the day. I'm currently working on a '65 33 hp evinrude ski twin. Doug
Hey Doug, there is a certain charm about the older outboards. Glad you're having a good time doing up the Evinrude. :)
Great video! My old Starcraft has a pile of spaghetti wires that I intend to sort out and simplify. I like the idea of one fused pair of wires running up front. I just ordered the inline fuse holders and will attack the mess this week. Regards from Atlanta.
Good luck with the job. It is always very satisfying to clean up old and redundant wiring. :)
Interesting video and I look-forward to watching the rest of the wiring installation.
Thanks mate, new bilge pump up next.
Excellent Video. So many of this kind of video try to make it so much more complicated than it is.
With a new restoration project starting soon I found this most helpful.
Many thanks for sharing.
ATB
Mac
Thanks Mac, glad the video is going to help you with your new boat project. :)
Love your videos they help out heaps keep up the good work
Thanks Tony!
Great video, wiring made simple, good advice and very easy to follow. Makes me think about redoing my own wiring. Cheers.
Thanks Simon.
Thanks so much for the vids. Love watching them and learning as I go. You're very good at presenting information to the viewers too. Keep up the good work. Look forward to the next one. :)
Thanks Glenn. Glad you like them. :)
good video . thanks for making it simple to follow. I am looking forward to simplifying the power supply feeds on my tracker , and as you have done , reposition battery location. thanks again. Jack
Thanks Jack, glad the video helped you.
Another great video Stu! I know you can get marine shrink fit but i have been putting a coat of silicone over the solder joint and the shrinking the shrink fit over it causing it to squeeze out the ends.... I have done this to a few bilge pumps in yachts where the join may sit in water at times and has been good for many years!
So you are saying its not a magic,i love it,thanks
Nicely done. Thanks for the tips and ideas. 😎
If you're going to use solder joints with heat shrink, i'd suggest cleaning the flux off the joint before heat shrinking,
iso-alcohol, metho at a pinch is usually enough, the flux is usually corrosive and can eventually effect the joint continuity.
Usually indicated by green "dust" in the joint later in it's life.
Thanks for the tip.
The K.I.S.S. principle at work, looks great.
Don't forget a bit of dielectric grease on your final assembly of the terminal blocks and wiring.
Yep, I've got a can of spray on and battery box to put the battery and fuse holder into.
thank you for all the great tips
Thanks dude, informative and detailed . I hate electrical! Lol! Working on my 1979 34’ Silverton SF docked in North Carolina. “Bird nests!” Lol
great detailed and clear ..real teacher thanks so much ...
Nice video dangar marine, Keep the good work mate, nice advices some of them i will use on my boat!
Thanks mate. :)
nice video.I just started wiring my boat great idea's thanks I will use your suggestions.
Thanks James, good timing! :)
nice setup. perhaps because i haven't finished my first cup of jo but i don't remember you covering conductor sizing. i've been working on the johnboat getting her ready for some night fishing.think of everything one might run and add up the amps to know what cable size to use and what fuse. i've also run a switch to control a relay as a master. then if i forget something at least it wont drain the battery. put all this in a pvc junction box i got at the home supply store.
Hi RIchard, I think I covered it a bit with the main wire from the battery to the junction box being heavier gauge than the rest of the feeder wires, but you are right, going through a list of devices on the chalk board with their current draw would have helped illustrate the thought process better. I like your idea of a master relay. Nice one!
GDay D Squadron Leader 🤙🏻😉🦘
Cheers 🍻 for your practical approach, Bonzå Encouragement on substrate systems & reputable design.😉🖖🏼
Bilge 🐀 Concurs 🙏🏼😄
Thank you kindly
Excellent Video, and I learned a lot.
Thanks for the vid! Learned a lot!!!!!!
I’ve seen on some of the upmarket trawlers that they use an electrical mounting rail board that are made from plastic that look really neat but it might look out of place on the green machine but would look good on your trawler.
I'm planning to get a big piece of HDPE to mount all the electrics in the trawler. Should be starting that pretty soon.
Straight legend you are 🙌👌
Great video for me getting ready to do it to my 14ft Aluminium Runabout (tinny)
Are you the best man thanks so much
You're welcome Ramon.
Great video!
I was thinking of getting an old tinny to fix up but after all the electrical work I was thinking just getting a prebuilt kinda thing before I saw this video, I might get a tinny
Great vedio step by step I'm going to do that to my boat
Aha Good stuff ! I found it I knew you had have made a vid on this well done 👍
Your videos a super helpful
Great video! Is there any danger in charging the battery using the terminal posts whilst all the electronics are connected to the threaded posts?
Better start than all your helpful videos. having accompanying Text on a website or social media pages can help folks in developing countries with internet connection limitation and accent understanding. Voice is generally low on many of your videos, but very helpful -- I download and plan to use a speaker to hear better.
Yes, the volume is too low in the early videos, but better in the new ones. I would like to make text to go with each video, I just need to find the time!
do you see the CC block on the screen kick on that till red bar comes on that will put the audio in writeing on the screen so you can read it
Hello, thanks a lot for a so simple and clear explanation how to understand an elctrical circuit. How you got the 20A fuse value near the battery and the 10A near the buses? Thanks a lot, Paul
Hello, you explained later. Thanks.
great video, thankyou so much....
+Hui Hingston You're welcome Hui, glad you liked it.
Thank you
Neat job Stu....should be pretty corrosion free as planned
Thanks mate, I sure hope so!
Bring on the docking lights hey.... LED ?
Yep, an LED strip. I'm really looking forward to putting them on. :)
Excellent help. Thank you. Where would you in-line a master cut off? After battery and fuse?
On my bigger boat I have a high rating fuse right on the battery terminal and the cut off switch straight after that.
Just what I needed to know cheers
Hey Dangar A tip from an electrician. When making off a lug you "Crimp" or "Solder" do not do both .
Hi, what is the reason for this?
Thanks
Hey Stu. Greetings from Boston MA. Your channel is my favorite thing to watch on any medium. You do a great job and I’ve learned a ton. Thank you! I’m having trouble finding robust ring connectors for 12 AWG wire. All I can find are the heat shrink ones and the rings are flimsy compared to the ones you crimped and soldered on. Are those rated for 12 AWG or did you use something rated for a thicker wire and just crimp it down?
This would be for my main run from the battery up to the posts under my console.
Just wondering what sort of devices you're going to install? Will there be a beer fridge and massage chair for example? And if not, why not?
No, won't be installing either unfortunately. Reasons? The toolbox will be filled with ice so the beer will be cold without drawing too much power; we won't need the massage chair because all the bikini-clad deckhands will be covering that base nicely. :)
+Dangar Marine that's what I like about you mate. Ingenious and effective solutions!
Great video mate, I was just wondering why not take your leads straight to the bus rather than run them to the posts?
It gives you flexibility down the track. If you have a high current draw item like an electric trolling motor on the bow you can come straight off the posts.
@@DangarMarine Thanks for the reply mate, your videos are very helpful.
Thank you!
Welcome. :)
Hey Dangar! Do you already have a video about wiring all of your dash gauges(Speedo, tacho, fuel, volt, etc.)? I recently started a project and need a little more guidance in that area, especially with how they wire together for the power.
Not really as there are generally outboard specific. There is one on tacho though.
Great video Stu did you say what wire your using? I've always use silicone insulated tinned wire as the silicone insulation doesn't degrade and the tinned wire doesn't corroded the same, yes I know it's more expensive but just a thought
This is the cable we use, but I'm not sure what the insulation is made from www.jaycar.com.au/7-5-amp-2-core-tinned-dc-power-cable/p/WH3057
Thank you very much for your tutorial video
it's so helpful! just let me know what type of battery did you use and how many amph
I used a SeaMaster battery and it is 640CCA.
Good day mate! Love the videos! I am learning so much and am applying everything I learn here to fixing up our outboard. Was wondering if you could make a video on replacing fuel lines under to engine cover not from the gas tank to the motor like every other video. Can't find any useful info anywhere and my lines are cracked and leaking under the hood
Hi mate, glad the videos are helping you. I'll add that to the list about replacing the internal fuse hoses. Really it is just a matter of draining them, removing each section one at a time, cutting another piece to the same length and installing. There are a few things to be careful of such as not introducing kinks and making sure the hose clamps seal well, so I'll do the video over the coming months.
Hi Stu. I'm from down on Scotland Island I really love how familiar everything in your videos is to the setups we have down here.
I am having trouble with the soldering of the connectors on the ends of the wires. I have all new equipment, Tin solder (lead free) and a 40w soldering iron that doesn't have variable temperature (all purchased from Jaycar). For the life of me I can't get what you do from 6:20 to 6:30 in the video to happen for me. I also wonder what type of butane torch you would use to melt the solder and fill up the connectors once they have been crimped. Cheers.
Hi Oliver. The metal needs to be quite clean and you need to transfer quite a bit of heat into the metal for the solder to flow. A bit of solder on the tip of the iron will help the heat transfer into the metal.
@@DangarMarine Thanks. I ended up getting a variable temperature soldering iron and everything happened easily once I could turn the heat up a bit. Now the fuse keeps blowing and I have to revisit all the circuits and see where I've made a mistake :(
Awesome video! However I just want wanted to mention (and I’m not criticizing your video). It is not a good idea to solder and crimp wires. It’s best to do one or the other. Solder actually never becomes a true solid and over time melts / deforms enough to make your crimp fail. Especially critical in high amperage applications such as the mains to the battery, starter, alternator etc. Cheers!
Thanx - excellent as usual !! ;-)
Hi mate.
I’m just a tad further up the coast than you at Forresters beach. What size cable did you use for this job. I need to do the same for my boat I just bought.
Gosh... don't you think that using the 2-pin terminal block like that puts the positive and negative terminals too close together? I can see many situations where there could be accidental shorting with them being within 5 mm of each other.
Otherwise it's all looking great! Definitely going to copy this for my tinny.
I learned something thanks
Hey Stu, great video's, they really help me a lot with reparing my boat! I have a question about the terminal blocks and the two pins post, where can I buy them? I can't find these similar products you are using, and I really like those.
Please keep on making video's! They really help.
Thanks mate, glad the videos are helping you. Whitworths sells quite a range of similar terminal blocks. www.whitworths.com.au/main_listitems.asp?cat=123&cat2=329&cat1descr=Electrical/Lighting&cat2descr=Electric%20Cable/Accessories&cat3=505&cat3descr=Screw%20Connectors/Terminal%20Blocks/Bus%20Bars&cat4=242&cat4descr=Bus%20Bars/Power%20Posts
I have a small inboard jetboat and can't access most of the wires, I'm just redoing everything past the center console
Thanks a ton for making these videos, Stu! Love your work on Renko and remembered you had some content on smaller boats like this. I'm new to this whole deal and restoring an aluminum boat from the late 60's ("Aluminum goods Model 1432") that I have many fond memories of my Grandmother using, this is going to come in extremely handy once I get to the wiring stage.
Odd question, but do you have any tips on what to do with a boat of this size sitting really low on the water? The one I'm working with is a rather shallow hull, the engine it last had (95 Evinrude 25HP) sat only a few inches above the water at the back. With the boat traffic on the lake these days it frequently takes on water easily, in recent years there's been a few bad thunderstorms that swamped it just with the rainfall. At first I was considering raising the transom and riveting aluminum bands to the sides of the boat, though now I'm thinking it'd probably be a lot easier and cheaper just to shove an automatic bilge pump or two of some kind in there, but I'm worried that might just kill the battery. I'm thinking the problem might also just be the engine was too heavy, I know this boat was rated for a max 25HP engine when it was built, and from the specs I found it looks like 25's have got heavier since then, so I guess it might just be a matter of downgrading to a lower horsepower when it comes time to selecting a new one. Any advice?
Hi mate love the videos your videos have helped me purchase my first boat.
Just a question about this video I have wired everything the way you show it but every time I turn the bilge pump switch off it blows the fuse.
Hmmm, that's a weird one. Normally a fuse will blow when switched off not. May be a faulty switch.
@@DangarMarine I found out the cause I wired the switch panel with the positive and negative
The switch should only be wired by positive from the pump and battery and the negative from the pump should go straight to the main negative right?
Hey Dangar, have you published a video on sacrificial alloy hull anodes (for the hull, not just the motor)? Cheers mate!