Active Target wiring

[InfantryMP]

Hey guys!

 

I am finally getting to wire my active target in, and I have a switch at my console for "Sonar". It sends power to my HDS lives. I want to utilize this switch also for my active target.  In the image I uploaded, you will see a switch with a solid red wire, and a red/black wire. That is my Sonar switch. Which one of those should I hook to, for the power wire for my active target? Additionally, there is a provided 3amp fuse, do I need that, if my switches are already rand to the boats fuse box? (Sorry, I suck at wiring, and all the shops are months out for installs).

[Bankc]

Grab a DMM and see which wire is connected to the power full time, and which wire isn't.  You'll want to replace the one that isn't.  

 

As for the fuse, are you sure there's proper sized fuse on this line already that isn't shared with any other device?  If so, then you don't need two.  But if not, then you'll need to add this one after the final split.  

 

Honestly, I'd ask around to find someone who knows a bit about how to hook these up.  These things are expensive, and if you don't know what you're doing, you can do a lot of damage.  Or maybe call around to the shops and tell them you've already done the hardware installs and ran all of the wires, and you just need someone to double check everything is wired up properly.  Since that wouldn't take long, they might be more willing to squeeze you in sooner rather than later. 

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, InfantryMP said:

Hey guys!

 

I am finally getting to wire my active target in, and I have a switch at my console for "Sonar". It sends power to my HDS lives. I want to utilize this switch also for my active target.  In the image I uploaded, you will see a switch with a solid red wire, and a red/black wire. That is my Sonar switch. Which one of those should I hook to, for the power wire for my active target? Additionally, there is a provided 3amp fuse, do I need that, if my switches are already rand to the boats fuse box? (Sorry, I suck at wiring, and all the shops are months out for installs).

10 seconds MacGruber!

[InfantryMP]

Yea I tested the wires with a test light. The red/black is always hot when the boat is receiving power. The red is only hot when the "Sonar" switch is in the on position. I am going to go ahead and run the fuse in line with the switch just in case. 

[Bird]

If you're unsure of your electrical prowess, just hard wire to battery.

I personally like a dedicated battery to my fish finders.

I know, not much help.......the caveman approach.

[InfantryMP]

14 hours ago, Bird said:

If you're unsure of your electrical prowess, just hard wire to battery.

I personally like a dedicated battery to my fish finders.

I know, not much help.......the caveman approach.

 

I thought about this, but my only concern was adding more connections that could fail over time. Since I am not that great with electrical stuff, I did not want to add connections, because if they did fail, it would be because of me. 

 

I think I am good now. The test light showed me which wire to connect to, so once I did that, and updated everything it seems to be working fine. I will not know for sure until I water test I guess, hopefully that will be in a few days or so. 

[Siebert Outdoors]

There is a possibility that you are going to run into issues with low voltage.  This will depend on size wire, #of graphs, and other things.  Just be cautious. 

[TnRiver46]

22 hours ago, InfantryMP said:

Hey guys!

 

I am finally getting to wire my active target in, and I have a switch at my console for "Sonar". It sends power to my HDS lives. I want to utilize this switch also for my active target.  In the image I uploaded, you will see a switch with a solid red wire, and a red/black wire. That is my Sonar switch. Which one of those should I hook to, for the power wire for my active target? Additionally, there is a provided 3amp fuse, do I need that, if my switches are already rand to the boats fuse box? (Sorry, I suck at wiring, and all the shops are months out for installs).

? 

[InfantryMP]

1 minute ago, Siebert Outdoors said:

There is a possibility that you are going to run into issues with low voltage.  This will depend on size wire, #of graphs, and other things.  Just be cautious. 

It is funny you mention this...The wiring I tied in to was probably a 10 gauge wire or maybe even 8. The fuse wiring was like 16 or 18. The Active Target wiring is also a 16 or 18 gauge wires. 

 

I was actually surprised that the wiring to that switch was so big. 

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

?

I am not sure what this means...lol

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, InfantryMP said:

 

I am not sure what this means...lol

Making that face is as far as I ever make it when dealing with a jumble of wires like that 

 

red/black or black/white is the extent of my skill set 

[InfantryMP]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

Making that face is as far as I ever make it when dealing with a jumble of wires like that 

 

Yea this photo may be deceiving. I took this upside down however, the wires were neatly tied together out of the way. There are ton there for sure as there are like 10 switches on my console from the factory. It may not look like it from the angle I took the photo, but it was super easy to get my wire I needed loose. 

 

I hate wiring, because I have caveman hands, and sometimes you have to be a bit more finesse with wires and connections. I also tend to clip more wires off then stripping them, again, caveman hands. 

[TnRiver46]

21 minutes ago, InfantryMP said:

 

Yea this photo may be deceiving. I took this upside down however, the wires were neatly tied together out of the way. There are ton there for sure as there are like 10 switches on my console from the factory. It may not look like it from the angle I took the photo, but it was super easy to get my wire I needed loose. 

 

I hate wiring, because I have caveman hands, and sometimes you have to be a bit more finesse with wires and connections. I also tend to clip more wires off then stripping them, again, caveman hands. 

I feel like I’m trying to diffuse a bomb when I fiddle with that stuff 

[InfantryMP]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I feel like I’m trying to diffuse a bomb when I fiddle with that stuff 

 

Yea I hear ya. I think I am decent with things, if I start it. I re-wired my old boat's trailer a couple years ago, and that was simple, but I did it from scratch. Trying to decipher other's work is half the battle I think. 

[gulfcaptain]

So I would wire your black box  into a separate  switch if you haven't already.  I have the livescope and have mine hooked up to its own switch to turn off and on. As for wire guage. Think about that main wire like a hose. The smaller the wire the less voltage  that runs through it. I run a dedicated  buss for my electronics which comes straight from  the battery with 8guage.  If you don't have enough you'll run into low voltage issues and if you happen to keep your active target on during the summer on runs you can overheat the transducer (can happen with the garmins). I switch mine off everytime I make a run to keep it from happening as so I don't have to worry about on the unit.