Top Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 OK... I need some help... I am an electrical dummy... so I need some help... I bought 30 foot of tinned marine wire.. 8 gage I want to say... and I want to rewire my jon boat... here is what I have and I need to know WHAT ELSE do I need... an WHERE DO I GET IT???? everything is spliced into one set of 12 gage wires so I NEED to get this done... but I need to... rewire a 38 pound bow mounted trolling motor.. this will EVENTUALLY be upgraded so lets keep that in mind... I also have a Humminbird fish finder my boat has a livewell and I am going to want to put a livewell system of some sort in there... I also only have ONE battery so everything is going to have to be wired into that... OH and I was wondering about putting the live well on switches and all.. where would I get something made to hold the switches? any help would be GREATLY appreciated... I have about 35 days to dream about how to do it... AL Quote
Team_Dougherty Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Here are the basics. Take your 8 gauge, Trolling Motor, wire you need a 50 amp fuse or circuit breaker in the circuit then hook it to your trolling motor. If you want you can add a plug and receptacle near the motor. For the rest of your circuits you need a fuse block. Run a 10 gauge wires to the fuse block from the battery. Then run all of your accessories from the fuse block. Use one fuse for each accessory. Quote
Top Posted July 9, 2008 Author Posted July 9, 2008 thanks for some input... so where should I mount the circuit breaker for the TM? and what about the fuse block? what size fuses should i use? 10 amp? also do I need to use tinned wire for the accessories? at $2.00 a foot that 8 gage hurt pretty bad! thanks AL Quote
Team_Dougherty Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 you can start with one of these battery boxes it has a 60 amp breaker built in. http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/accessories/detail.asp?pg=powercenter you can mount the fuse block http://www.boatersworld.com/product/196977482msk.htm on the plywood on the transom. Keep it close to the battery. For fuse size I would use 10amp fuses with 16 gauge wire for your electronics. I would use 14 gauge wire and 15 amp fuses for bilge/livewell pumps. the switch panel can be mounted in a hole cut out of your bench seat. http://www.boatersworld.com/product/196901193msk.htm you can enclose all wire in a split loom. http://www.boatersworld.com/product/199326083msk.htm you do not have to use boaters world an automotive parts store should have everything, except the battery box with a circuit breaker. you can see my switch panel here http://home.comcast.net/~team_dougherty/boat5.jpg it is on the right side of the photo in front of the fuel tank. My fuse block is the black blur just above the fuel tank. Quote
Top Posted July 10, 2008 Author Posted July 10, 2008 tinned or not really needed? boaters world is good for me.. I can go thru AAFES and get 10% off and free shipping if I spend 100 bucks Quote
Top Posted July 10, 2008 Author Posted July 10, 2008 great googly moogly even with a discount on all the wire and fuse blocks and panels etc... $274.44 ouch... and that doesn't include a new livewell pump kit... *sigh* gonna have to buy the wife a VERY nice present to get her to agree to this one... when they say a boat is a big black hole.. I didn't think that included dang ELECTRIC ONLY JON BOATS ;D and no I am not whining... I am just talking smack AL Quote
Team_Dougherty Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 tinned or not really needed?boaters world is good for me.. I can go thru AAFES and get 10% off and free shipping if I spend 100 bucks Tinned would be best. But I use just plain because I am not using my boat in salt water. Quote
Top Posted July 10, 2008 Author Posted July 10, 2008 I don't plan on taking mine into salt water either.. hmmm I will have to do a bit more research then... thanks for the input AL Quote
jim payne Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 Tinned is not needed at all if not in salt water. How much wire are you needing? Quote
Top Posted July 11, 2008 Author Posted July 11, 2008 I am looking on ebay.. tinned wire is much cheaper.. I am thinking I only want to do this once... and if I am going to only do it once.. I aught to spend the extra and do it right... so I am going to go with tinned wire.. I am looking on epay.. much more reasonable... btw... my boat is 14 ft Jon and I have the wire for the trolling motor already... I need to get wire for my depth finder and my live well system once I get it... so roughly... 30 foot of red and 30 foot of black tinned wire.. or any color as long as they are different for each other.. I am probably going to roll with 14 gage just to be on the safe side... thanks for all the input.. keep the ideas coming... AL Quote
dave Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 I had alway heard that 6 gauge was preferred for TM. I used less once years ago and it gets hot. Just a thought if it's not too late. Quote
Top Posted July 12, 2008 Author Posted July 12, 2008 to be honest I can't remember what I got... its not like I can just go to my fishing storage room and look this minute ;D But I did the research and what I got was acceptable for what I am using..I want to say I got 8 gage because the distance was under 15 foot. I just need to make sure I put a circuit breaker or fuse in the line somewhere... AL Quote
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