Oppppppps BAtery Connections - Help?

[bigdog]

Oppppppps Battery Connections - Help?

Sort of embarrassed to even mention this.....
When I removed battery from boat last Fall, I neglected to diagram the battery connections which were in place. This boat is new to me as of last summer, so, was the first time I removed battery for the winter.

Dumb, dumb, dumb on my part, lessons learned ! Should have taken a picture of connections with IPhone, before I disconnected......

Anyway, went to put battery in boat today. I know the basics, red cable to Positive, black cable to Negative. I see these 2 main battery cable leads there, but there are two other separate cable leads, that I need some advice from the Forum.

I have a 'white' cable covering lead, encasing 1 red & 1 black wire. I suspect this may be for some electronic I have onboard, GPS, Radio, etc? I'm assuming (hate that word ! ), the red wire goes to Positive terminal and the black wire goes to Negative terminal on battery Post ? Again, an assumption !

I have another two wires (1 white and 1 black) attached to the main Negative black cable. The red & black are attached to that main lead with just some twisties. All these 3 wires seem like they would all go together, and attached to the main Negative terminal of the battery. What concerns me is that 'white' wire? Is 'white' considered 'hot' or 'Negative' ?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bigdog

[Dave R]

Here's the standard boat wiring color codes: http://www.ftkltd.com/Boat%20Wiring%20and%20Color%20Codes.htm

Unfortunately for you, white is not a normal color. You really need to trace it to the other end.

[brk-lnt]

A few pictures wouldn't hurt...

[Belmont Resident]

I was able to get a complete diagram with pin outs for all my connectors from Channel when I had my Baja.
If you plan on keeping the boat long term is it a good thing to have anyways.

[TiltonBB]

One of the wires is a hot lead to your bilge pump. That will always have power even if your battery switch is shut off.

What else do you have on the boat that runs without the ignition switch turned on?

[bigdog]

Thanks everyone, especially DaveR for the color chart !

Will trace the white/black wire back to the source, probably an electronic I suspect.....

Will report back to Forum when I know more.

Bigdog

[Rich]

My guess is that the direct to the battery connections are:

1) Bilge pump(s)
2) Battery Charger

Could also be electronics such as GPS or radio if it's as small boat.

If you have a battery on/off or 1/2/both switch, then most other things besides 1 & 2 mentioned above usually are connected on the boat side of the battery switch.

[BroadHopper]

The West marine catalog and website has basic wiring diagrams to help. You should be able to figure it out.

From what is going on here it looks like wiring varies among manufacturers. In my case the two cables from the battery goes to an electrical panel where all the wires in the boat are connected and this eliminate the tangle of wires to the battery. Actually I have two batteries, one is a starter and the other is a deep cycle. Manufacturers should adopt this approach?

[bigdog]

OK, here's the accessory list on boat.
Sorry haven't been at boat yet to check connections to battery.

Time is not on my side lately, that four letter word keeps getting in the way
'WORK'

BTW, I don't have a battery switch on this boat. The battery is always on.

Here are the following accessories on-board:
Bilge (of course
Engine Trim/Tilt
GPS Plotter
Radio/CD
VHF Handset
1 - Livewell aerator for baitfish

Will follow all these leads best I can and make notes.

So.......
Am I safe to say, that ALL 'red' wires are connected to Positive terminal, and ALL 'black' wires are connected to NEGATIVE terminal.
If they don't, it defies all previous logic !

Will deal with 'white' wire when I see where it connects.

Thanks,
Bigdog

[brk-lnt]

Am I safe to say, that ALL 'red' wires are connected to Positive terminal, and ALL 'black' wires are connected to NEGATIVE terminal.

"Safe" is a loaded word. If things were installed by someone with any reasonable level of competency, then yes, this assumption would be safe.

But, if your boat inherited a lot of DIY device installations by someone who wasn't a skilled installer and was more of a "hook things up in different ways until they work" kind of a guy, anything is possible.

I'd try to trace the unknown wires back and/or look at your various aftermarket items and see if you see the same wires at their power inputs.