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How do I find out the gauges of a wire???

Jenesis

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@Jenesis

You probably already know this but your trolling motor needs a separate switch/breaker. That panel only handle 4,3 AMPs and your trolling motor needs like 30-50A depending on the wire gauge, which depends on the length. a NOT what it says on the motor.


Yes. I know. It will be on its own. This 4 gang is for the lights and fish finder.
 
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Jenesis

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You are correct! You return all Negative* wires to a "Terminal Block/Buss Bar", and then connect that terminal block with a heavier cable to the battery. Negative* is unswitched.



*The black "Negative"polarity side is often referred to as "Ground" in DC (Direct Current) vehicle applications. Not to be confused with the green "Ground" (aka "Earthed") wire in AC (Alternating Current) power used in hoousehold /industrial applications as a path to discharge dangerous short circuits to the earth.




That’s it!!!!!! Thank you. I knew I was missing something.
 

SchlongConery

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@Jenesis

One more good investment in your expensive marine battery if you are using a trolling motor is a decent automatic battery charger to leave on when you come back in and have used the trolling motor more than a little bit. The alternator on your boat may not output enough or you may not run long enough to recharge the battery fully. Then the next day you are starting on a semi-discharged battery, then the alternator charges it up too fast which results in early battery failure. The slower you recharge a lead acid battery, the longer it lasts. 2A trickle charger is best.

Just a simple $45 one like this will serve both as a post-run overnight charger and a fast(er) charger in case you arrive to a dead battery and want to charge it faster.

 
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SchlongConery

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Yes. I know. It will be on its own. This 4 gang is for the lights and fish finder.
Four gang? On your fishing boat? I've heard of a Bass Boat, but an Ass Boat?!?

Where are we gonna find another three guys?!? Do you have enough PFD's, not including your personal pair? 😜
 
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richaceg

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As a fellow boater...trade it in...some boat repair shops will either repair it, or take it for some parts (best case scenario)....after 4 seasons...I buy a new motor (trolling)...my boat has a transom trolling motor and a bow mount trolling as well...I fish the whole day when I'm in Sudbury or anywhere up north and stay even when it gets dark....as someone has said...don't risk it... a good trolling motor would cost $545
 
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benstt

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@Jenesis

I'd also suggest a Master Battery Disconnect for when you are not usiiing the boat, or in case you smell electrical smoke.
I would add that if there is a bilge pump and one is keeping the boat on the water unattended for long periods, one should wire the automatic bilge pump connection outside of the master cutoff. There are separate wires on the bilge pump for manual switch operation vs automatic pump operation.
 

richaceg

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Hopefully you got it fixed and be on the water...the fish are biting hard for a week now...(walleye)
 

SchlongConery

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I would add that if there is a bilge pump and one is keeping the boat on the water unattended for long periods, one should wire the automatic bilge pump connection outside of the master cutoff. There are separate wires on the bilge pump for manual switch operation vs automatic pump operation.

I was going to mention that too but didn't want overwhelm her with too much "advice". Sometimes that makes many people tune out.

But on the subject of bilge pumps:

1. If your little fishing boat has an outboard motor or is fiberglass or tight aluminium you likely don't have any thru-hull fittings below the water line. So little risk of sinking. It's just to keep the bilge dry in case of rain or condensation.

2. If you do want to keep a hot (fused wire to the bilge pump out of fear of too much water or sinking (say in a stern drive with the big through hull seal) you want a separate switched bilge pump. And then you might want to wire a piezo buzzer between the switch and pump to alert someone that the boat is taking on water. Otherwise, unless you are on shore power, the pump will run overnight and when the battery power runs out, the boat sinks anyways.

3. A friend of mine has bought a few brand new large yachts that sank at the dock for pennies on the dollar. One in particular was interesting. Dealer put the 60' boat in the water late in the afternoon, delivered it to the buyer's dock tied it up to the dock, hooked up shore power and left it there. Was going to return the next day to do the Customer Acceptance Inspection and sign the rest of the paperwork.

4. Delivery guy employee of the dealer connected shore power but later said it didn't seem switched on and nobody was home.

5. A brand new thru-hull fitting failed and the boat started taking on water. Bilge pumps kept it afloat for some time until the batteries died. The pumps were connected to only ONE of the starting batteries, not the House Bank.

6.Customer came out the next morning to find his boat listing over and 1/3 full of salt water. Only being supported/in equilibrium by the dock lines.

7. Big lawsuit between insurance companies ensued over whose boat it actually was. Still the Dealer's or delivered but not accepted by the buyer. Dealer's insurance obviously.

8. Insurance company insists on fixing it for $400k and Dealer says the buyer MUST take delivery of it when fixed.

9. Another lawsuit ensued. Guy said it's not my boat, and was so pissed that he sued the dealer for negligence and loss of enjoyment as the dealer arranged the financing and incremental deposits etc.

Boat was about US$1.5m and he got it for $150k. Spent about $200k to fix it and sold it for $900k, fully disclosing the history.

The bilge alarm on the panel was so small that it was only audible on the boat.

Cool story eh bro?
 
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SchlongConery

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I would add that if there is a bilge pump and one is keeping the boat on the water unattended for long periods, one should wire the automatic bilge pump connection outside of the master cutoff. There are separate wires on the bilge pump for manual switch operation vs automatic pump operation.

Oh, and all the more reason to think of having an automatic hard wired charger installed.

But let's be realistic. With a 50 lb trolling motor Jen probably has a reasonably simple open fishing boat with a console.
 

Jenesis

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Hopefully you got it fixed and be on the water...the fish are biting hard for a week now...(walleye)
It is working with connectors just not switched. And the lights are battery, I’m upgrading to wired. So I have been out.

Last weekend was nuts. Went out 3 nights in a row and we landed a few each, each night. I also landed a 2 foot Muskie which was nice.

I don’t eat fish but my neighbour had good eating each night.
 
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richaceg

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It is working with connectors just not switched. And the lights are battery, I’m upgrading to wired. So I have been out.

Last weekend was nuts. Went out 3 nights in a row and we landed a few each, each night. I also landed a 2 foot Muskie which was nice.

I don’t eat fish but my neighbour had good eating each night.
I don't specifically target Musky... but I've caught a few this year...I think the "Pike open all year" helped their population a bit...I don't eat freshwater fish as well and always just take home a few for friends...plus it's a bitch to clean my live wells if it's not tournament purposes...
 

Jenesis

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I don't specifically target Musky... but I've caught a few this year...I think the "Pike open all year" helped their population a bit...I don't eat freshwater fish as well and always just take home a few for friends...plus it's a bitch to clean my live wells if it's not tournament purposes...
I don’t target them either. So it is nice when you unexpectedly get one on the line and then to the boat because we both know those are two completely different things. LOL.
 
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SchlongConery

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So when I got my boat, it came with a trolling motor. For some reason the power cord was spliced and attached to jumper cables to use on the battery. I don’t know why as most would have the o-ring type connector.

So a couple of seasons ago, the connection between the power cord and jumper cables started smoking. I noticed the jumper cable gauge was smaller then the power cord wire, so I went and bought thicker gauge, used those stew on connectors and sealed it back up with electrical tape. It worked well for a couple season. I will admit I don’t use it a lot or for long durations. Nothing longer than 45mins to an hour. Then there is a break while heading to a new area.

Well last night the connection started smoking again. So I assume because I am not expert, that the wire is heating up with long time use and the connector and tape were not enough to hold the heat. So I looked around and saw these heat shrink connectors that I never knew about that you are suppose to use instead of electrical tape.

But now I am wondering if the same thing will happen anyways. The wires seems the same size but I don’t know if that means they are the same gauge and using the model number, I can’t find anything that tells me the actual gauge of the power cord. It is not like this is standard info on a manual.

So how do I figure out the gauge. I really only want this to work one more season and I will upgrade to a new one for next year. I was going to do it this year but 5K in vets bills the last month have knocked things back a bit. Not that I couldn’t but I like to space things out and save the money first before buying so I don’t dip into cash I already have.

So how do I find the gauge of the wire? Or do I just say fuck it and buy the new trolling motor?

The jumper cables are 6 gauge. That I know. It is the power cord wires. The trolling motor wire may be slightly thicker, I can’t say for sure. Which is why I feel I need to find out for sure.

Or maybe I just connected it bad and the electrical tape didn’t hold. Maybe it got wet???? I don’t know.

 

Ceiling Cat

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You do not need a negative on the switch, the purpose of the switch is to break the positive ( power or no power ). The switch allows you to control the flow of electric current. When the switch is closed, there is no gap in the circuit and power flows to the device. You connect the negative directly to the device. ( Usually the negative is a black wire and positive is red ) If you do not have the basic skills or experience, you would be better off paying someone to wire up the device for you. As someone said previously, can you afford to be out on the water and risk a fire and/or be stranded out there. Your wiring will also require some soldering. The current rating for your 4 gang panel is 4.8 Amps. You can not operate a trolling motor from this panel. The device you need for a trolling motor would be a 50-60 Amp circuit breaker.

 
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Jenesis

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So update.

Spent all day today doing the switches. Made the box myself and started wiring. Holy shit it is a lot of wiring. And hiding the wires. Ugh. I thankfully had help for that and I say thankfully because there was some tools and connections and shit needed, that I didn’t have, but he did.

And then replacing the bilge too.

And I got the trolling motor set properly.

So got it all done and every things works except I screwed up one thing and put the automatic wire for bilge to switch and the manual wire directly to the battery so I have to swap those tomorrow.

But everything else works. Lights and finder and stuff. I got a bunch of other things done too. Replaced a section of the deck at the front. Just have to recarpet that now. The fish finder was portable, now it is fully attached to the boat.

Everything is all clean and neatly put away or organized for easy functionality and use. Well will be when I’m finished tomorrow. Just in time for it to rain and not being able to fish. LOL.

Thanks for all the advice. Appreciate it.
 
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SchlongConery

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WOW! Great work @Jenesis !

From the details you posted and your attention to them, it sounds like you did it all properly and got your boat in 'ship shape'! (y)

One last suggestion. If you do use the trolling motor, try to put your battery on an automatic charger when you come back in. The boat motor's alternator won't likely charge it up on the ride home. And then the next time you go out, the motor will charge it too fast and shorten the life of your battery.

If there is no plug available, grab a small solar panel (with a built in charge controller) to keep your battery charge topped up.

And when it comes time to replace the battery, get the biggest Deep Cycle battery you want to spend the money on. Group 27 is good. Trolling motors draw a LOT of current. And you never want your lead acid battery to go below 50% charge very often or it will have a short life.


.

And

 

Jenesis

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WOW! Great work @Jenesis !

From the details you posted and your attention to them, it sounds like you did it all properly and got your boat in 'ship shape'! (y)

One last suggestion. If you do use the trolling motor, try to put your battery on an automatic charger when you come back in. The boat motor's alternator won't likely charge it up on the ride home. And then the next time you go out, the motor will charge it too fast and shorten the life of your battery.

If there is no plug available, grab a small solar panel (with a built in charge controller) to keep your battery charge topped up.

And when it comes time to replace the battery, get the biggest Deep Cycle battery you want to spend the money on. Group 27 is good. Trolling motors draw a LOT of current. And you never want your lead acid battery to go below 50% charge very often or it will have a short life.


.

And

Thanks. The solar panel idea is a great one!
 
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