Two battery and accessory wiring help needed.
 

Prior to having my boat serviced for a cracked exhaust manifold, my dash power and radio, etc where powered thru the circuit breakers, ignition AND Perko switch.

While on the lake, I discovered that everything on the dash, including radio is now working totally different, than when the boat was taken in for service.

The Perko does control the starter correctly, boat will start on "1", "2" and "all" positions as expected.

BUT after service, everything on the dash now has power to it... even when the key is out of the ignition. It is now all powered from the circuit breakers and not going thru the perko

I used to have to put the ignition on "accessory" mode to play the radio. I liked this.

any idea what they possibly could have done to change the way it was??


oh, and the bilge pump isn't working now, but I'm not sure if that is related.

Ed,

That switch setup is pretty easy to wire. ANY, ALL, and EVERY B+ (battery positive) feed/out, needs to connect to the common post of the switch. This insures that all electrical device work whether the switch is in ! 2 or BOTH. This also has all loads off when switch is off. The only exception, is the auto-bilge brown/red wire. It should go directly to the battery B+ post. So at the battery, you should only have one main cable connecting the battery positive/B+ post to the switch posts "1" and "2". Helm BUSS, alternator/starter, stereo , etc, all go to the "C" post of the switch. Only the auto bilge connects directly to the battery.

One battery should have the boats main GND cable connected to it and then there will be another GND cable connecting the 2 batteries. All ground cables need to be split between the 2 batteries, so no single ground post is stacked with too many.

You will probably need a volt meter to help diagnose the issue, but also physically tracing these cable down is the best place to start. Knowing where the cable comes from and where is needs to go is the beginning. Once that right, the meter can help to diagnose/test the system electrically.

The volt meter will also help you diagnose the bilge pump issue. Is it is an auto bilge with an internal float switch or external float?

If the stereo powers up with the key in the "RUN" position, then it should still power up when in the "ACC" position. If this is not the case, then the switch would be the fault. the "ACC" terminal should be hot in both "RUN and "ACC" positions. Here again, the volt meter will help you test whats going on with the yellow and red wires at the head-unit.

"Is it is an auto bilge with an internal float switch or external float"

yes it is. Lots of water in the boat after using it for a couple hours, I'm thinking the pump should have come on automatically, and it does not turn on when flipping the switch.

The stereo now powers up even when the ignition is off and when the key is out of the switch. It used to only power up when the boat was running or in "ACC" mode.

Thanks for the help, Mike.

If an auto bilge does not power up automatically or with the switch, I would test the ground wire or its a bad motor. the B+ comes from 2 different sources.

Sounds like they have rewired the head-unit's red turn-on wire directly to B+, so no key or rocker switch to interrupt.

Mike will definitely be able to help you out but why was the original thread deleted?

I asked Dave to kill the original thread.

I think I got my warning out, and I'm just over it.

I had one more ridiculous correspondence from the dealer you wouldn't believe.

Don't get me started ....