help me indentify my wires

my boat's wires are four: a black, red , yellow, and blue. Can anyone tell me what each one is for? Trying to install the new stereo.
Thanks.

Are they the old wires going to the deck/head unit? If they are, red would be (+) black would be (-) yellow would be batt. or constant on, and blue would be amp turn on.

yes they are the wires goign to the head unit. There are two of them that go to a fuse first. (forgot what colors) --

Ronia,

This is a question that sends a red flag up in my mind. I might guess that you are on shaky ground at this point in your installation, don't get me wrong I really admire your initiative to do the install of your own system, but I am just a little worried that you may make a mistake resulting in some kind of melt down.

Is there a local neighbor kid audio geek, wakeboarding partner or other semi-technical person that could help and oversee your installation? When it come's to wiring some of this stuff is very unforgiving.

I tried to emphasize the importance of fusing power leads to my nephew but as a teenager he chose to take shortcuts. About 3 months after his first audio installation one of his unfused power wires shorted melting the underhood wiring harness of his Ford Bronco resulting in a fairly significant engine fire. This was a vehicle that he had spent all of his graduation money on and he is still without a vehicle today over a year later. Sad but true story.

Boats have an entirely different and equally complex set of variables. When in doubt use more fuses and tie wraps. If you cannot find somebody locally to assist with your installation you may want to start posting lots of pictures with your questions.

Best of luck!

Mikeski-

I appreciate your concerns and I am very much with you. We bought the boat off our neighbors and they worked at Bestbuy, installed the existing stereo themselves. I will be consulting the neighbor AS WELL as adding as many pics and posting as many questions as possible.

I haven't even started the install yet or read any type of instruction manual. I'm just asking about the wires before I start "digging in".

I was planning on posting pics and making sure I have everything hooked up right before I ever turn the key.

P.S. - And I don't plan on taking any shortcuts.

My advice is buy a Voltmeter, Test the wire's yourself, Dont let any one tell you what wires are what, Get a volt meter and find out yourself.

Ronia I see you asking some advanced install questions one day and then basic electronic question's the next. You must be a up and comming installer LOL. Nothing wrong with asking. Everyone has to start somewhere and better to ask and know then to not ask and mess somthing up like mike suguested, Wire fires are nasty and the cause of most car/boat fire's so have fun and learn.

Thanks for the advice Grant. Yea, this will be my first install. New head unit, 4 speakers, sub and two amps.

Now I know why the original system was installed so weird, they worked at best buy!! Grant is correct about a volt meter, they are indispesable.

Another question:

the wiring harness off the head unit i just removed had a filter and fuse box attached to the yellow and black wires (with a 5a fuse inside). The instructions on my new head unit, mention nothing about a fuse. Should I install the new stereo to this fuse?

there is a 15amp mini fuse right in the back of the head unit. I assume I only need this???

I would assume you just need the mini fuse in the back but it never hurts to have it over fused.

if it doesn't hurt to have the extra fuse then I'll hook it to that. What is a fuse/filter anyhow?

noise reduction. if you run power wires and RCAs close to each other and depending on the rest of your system, you can hear a buzzing sound. it gets real annoying when it fluctuates with the engine RPMs (w/ alternator juice). Most newer head units have the little filter. gets a cleaner signal to your amps

Use the net to find a pdf file for your radio.
Then you will know everything about, including how to wire it up.
All you need is the make and model ( you should be able to get that off the face plate )