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Thread: Need wiring help

  1. #1
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    Default Need wiring help

    I pulled the old switches and found that most were corroded and a few prongs had broken off and had to be replaced anyway. I have wired switches before but never using whatever type of wiring this is called. The owner before me had drilled five holes for each of the switches, but didnt take the the time to drill them all in a straight line and my ocd cannot handle it. I found a switch panel that I can instal and will look more clean. Can someone look at my current wiring picture and help me figure out how to wire this switch together? Like I said, i get wiring red wire to positive terminal and black wire to negative, but this doesn’t look as easy. This looks like there is only one prong open on the panel, so how do you connect a positive and negative wire from each accessory to the panel, do you just connect the positive to the panel and then ground the negative to something else?
    Switch Panel
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KYNK9VC..._kF5qDb81F35XH

    Current Wiring
    33B8858D-C4E3-4544-86D6-F64662C9747F.jpg
    Last edited by duckz; 08-01-2019 at 09:00 PM.

  2. #2
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    Run your positive wire to the back of the switch.

    If you wanted to get fancy, you can install a terminal strip to land all your grounds from whatever you are running or ground them to the closest grounding point.

  3. #3
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    Jan 2013
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    The way I see it is the ground wires are just jumped so it’s one continuous ground wire from each of the switches to the the ground source/ battery. Same with your positive wires as I can see it. Looks like the new switch takes your hot wire from your battery on one post, a ground from your battery on one post and your positive and negative wires from whatever you’re trying to run. Assuming there’s only a couple things you’re trying to run/ wire I would just replace the wiring while you’re at it. Throw a fuse block with the ground posts in there. Wire your hot and ground battery wires to the fuse block and run wires from each fuse post and ground post to each switch. That way it’s not necessarily one continuous circuit where if one of your ground posts break on a switch you don’t lose all the other switches after it, as it runs in series with your old wiring.
    As a side note you could run your ground wires from what you’re running straight to the ground bus instead of the switch making the only break in the circuit the positive wire (at the switch).
    Example fuse bus with ground bus
    https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst...72770805&psc=1
    Last edited by cam1195; 08-01-2019 at 10:01 PM.

  4. #4
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    usually one main positive to one of the switches and then red "jumpers" from switch to switch

  5. #5
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    Run main pos/neg wire to the console or wherever your switch panel is. Buy a bus to run all your negatives to from all your accessories. Run the hot wire straight to switch. Then each accessory to the load side of each switch on panel
    867-5309

  6. #6
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    Btw it’s easier to just cut out all wire and start from scratch.
    867-5309

  7. #7
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    KRT

  8. #8
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    Start fresh, use marine grade wires and shrink connectors. Spend the money and time to do it right the first time.

    Bring a duplex wire from the battery up to a bus bar for the neg and a fuse block for the positives. Then run each switch off a fuse.

  9. #9
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    What everyone has already said...

    The black (ground) wire is only to light up the front of the switch - it is not for grounding the individual devices. The only time I ever wire a "daisy chain" in a boat is for switch lighting - everything else is point-to-point.

    Remove all the red wiring from that switch panel and run a single wire from a fuse panel to each individual switch then run the other side of the switch to the circuit you are powering. And, like everyone has already said, you can ground each circuit to a ground buss.

    The picture below is still a work in progress but the fuse panel at the top with the colored wires coming out of the top supplies individual fused power to each switch on my panel. The ground buss on the left is used as ground (-12VDC) for the switched circuits. FYI - the fuse block with the built-in ground buss at the bottom of the picture provides individually fused power to the "always-on" devices like GPS, Fishfinders, VHF, power points, etc...
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  10. #10
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    I'm sure this is a stupid question but why have an inline fuse before you get to the fuse in the block?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by theoldblackdog View Post
    I'm sure this is a stupid question but why have an inline fuse before you get to the fuse in the block?
    Can’t hurt but not needed.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by theoldblackdog View Post
    I'm sure this is a stupid question but why have an inline fuse before you get to the fuse in the block?
    Was that for me?
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberhead* View Post
    Was that for me?
    That was for you. Just looking at your picture and was wondering why they were both there

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by theoldblackdog View Post
    That was for you. Just looking at your picture and was wondering why they were both there
    The strip at the top goes to switched circuits like lights, bilge pumps and the live well. The fuse block on the bottom is for "always-on" circuits like the GPS/FF units, trim tabs, power points and VHF radio.
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  15. #15
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    Ok guys I’ve been tied up a lot the past two days but I’ll look over this a little more in depth hopefully tomorrow. Thanks for the amount of info so far.

  16. #16
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    Ok so I hear what y’all are saying,
    But let me ask this before we get into the bus and fuses and all that. I’m not debating the need for it, I agree. But I am not great at wiring, especially someone else’s DIY instal, and want to understand what I have in front of me.

    The new switch panel has a negative wire chained between each of the five switches, with one single wire coming off. All of the negative wires off my accessories are somehow combined to one single negative wire, which has five wires daisy chained together as you can see in the picture.

    Hypothetically, can I just cut off the negative wire of daisy chain and connect my single black wire to the black wire coming off the panel?

    Then I’m assuming I can remove all the red wiring from the switch panel. Since I already have five individual positive wires, can I leave my current positive daisy chain, and connect each of my double chains to each of the positive switch terminals on the switch panel? It wouldn’t have fuses or bridges but would it actually work?
    Last edited by duckz; 08-03-2019 at 09:40 PM.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by duckz View Post
    The new switch panel has a negative wire chained between each of the five switches, with one single wire coming off.
    The only reason for that negative daisy chain on the switch panel is to provide a ground for the lights in the switches. All of the accessories would work just fine if you removed the negatives from the switch panel only the lights on your switches wouldn't light up when turned on.

    Quote Originally Posted by duckz View Post
    Hypothetically, can I just cut off the negative wire of daisy chain and connect my single black wire to the black wire coming off the panel?
    If they wiring harness you're holding in your hand in the first picture is to the switch panel then 'yes'. Daisy chaining isn't a good practice but, again, this only affects the lights on the switches themselves so if something breaks your accessories will continue to work.

    Quote Originally Posted by duckz View Post
    Then I’m assuming I can remove all the red wiring from the switch panel. Since I already have five individual positive wires, can I leave my current positive daisy chain, and connect each of my double chains to each of the positive switch terminals on the switch panel? It wouldn’t have fuses or bridges but would it actually work?
    Yes it would work but they look in bad condition so if one of the positive (red) connections breaks then you will lose that actual accessory and every accessory "downstream" from that connection. If I understand things right, your best bet is to cut off both old daisy chains and connect the butt end to the new red and black connections on the new switch panel. Then connect the individual accessory circuits to the switch for that accessory.
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  18. #18
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    Delete- I need to look at others wires on the boat. I may have answered my question. I started looking up diagrams and I think it makes sense. Probably have a few questions on the fuses and all, but I’ll look over the wiring tomorrow and see what’s going on.
    Last edited by duckz; 08-04-2019 at 02:27 PM.

  19. #19
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    Are they On-Off-On switches or is there a seperate terminal for the backlighting?
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  20. #20
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    Just on/off. The light comes on when the accessory is turned on.

    I need to look at the switches that were on there. I’m essentially doing the same thing as I had, just that this is a panel and not individual switches.

    Let me ask this, do you have to have a wire on each terminal of the switch?
    Last edited by duckz; 08-04-2019 at 03:22 PM.

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