Fuse panel or battery when wiring fish finder

[Justbass11]

 I’m having trouble with my Helix 7 fishfinder staying on which I mentioned in a previous post. I need a new wiring plug-in so I was just wondering is it better to wire into the fuse panel or go directly to the cranking battery??? 

[MN Fisher]

Always have a fuse or circuit breaker rated for the equipment between the battery and device...always.

[Log Catcher]

I would go to the fuse panel. I had the same problem with a much older unit staying on. Once I got in to it I found the problem was a bad connection with the terminal that was crimped on to the end of the wire. I have also seen on some units they will turn off if the battery voltage drops too low. I would think the newer ones would be the same way.

[redmexican5081]

A dedicated power wire direct from the battery including a fuse is the best way to avoid interference issues.  That being said, if it was wired into the panel before and you didn't have issues I would do it the same way again.

[TheRodFather]

I have garmins, and they have their own inline fuse.  If your graph is the same way then you are protected wherever you find the 12v from.  If yours is not, then you definitely need to have it fuse protected.  Inline fuse is fine, you can buy a holder and appropriate amp fuse pretty easy.

 

I would consider where on the fuse panel you decide to connect to.  Some circuits are going to draw more amps than others so if you connect "after" the fuse on your panel, to lets say the livewell pump, the graph combined with another high demand circuit might pop the fuse, possibly cause interference, or worst case overheat a wire.

 

If there is a main wire from the battery, like a 10g wire feeding the fuse block, you could connect there with little chance of overloading the wire. Or if you have an empty slot on the fuse block that would be a clean way to do it.

 

I redid all the wiring on my boat and there is a fuse on the block dedicated to the graphs, with a wire that goes to a switch I put on my console.  The graphs are programmed to come on when 12v is supplied, so I hop in the boat after parking the truck, and flip the switch and the graphs are both coming online by the time I back out and get out of the no wake zone.

 

For what it's worth, Soldering is always the better connection method, provided you know how (its not hard).  Harbor freight has "marine" shrink tubing that has sealant that melts and creates a waterproof seal on the wiring after soldering.  

 

Corrosion is the cause of so many electrical gremlins, its worth the time to solder and shrink tube, especially on connections that will live under decks and panels for years.

[iabass8]

Run the wire directly to the battery. put the correct size fuse holder on the hot wire at the battery. 

[Dirtyeggroll]

Dedicated wire to the battery with a fuse AND switch.