How to wire switch panel

[General Zod]

Hi Raiders, quick question I just got a new boat and I'm adding extra wiring. It already has Nav/anchor light switch but I want to add a switch panel now. Problem is I've almost completed it but now in stuck with the negative wires, not sure were to put them.

Do I need to buy a bus bar for them. Any help would be appreciated.

I've added some pic's so u can see.

Pic 1 the panel

Pic 2 not sure what to do

Pic 3 is this how it should be done?

Pic 4 or like this?

Edited March 22, 2014 by General Zod

[Guest Aussie007]

im not a elctrician and have never wired one of these however i have looked at them and they look simple, your diagram 3 is idea although u only need one earth returned to the battery and all earths should be ran back to the battery, if u have a aluminium boat dont earth anything to the hull or it'll cause electrolysis

[antonywardle]

also not an electrician but yes, join them all up and take one wire back

to the Neg on the battery

Maybe consider a batter isolator switch too.

That way when you turn it to off,there is no

power be used at all.

[Crossfire63]

Run a bus box so you have a common earth wire

[NaClH2OK9]

Option 4 but you need to run an earth to the battery also option 3 will work also but make it harder fitting an isolator later

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Geoff]

This is what you need , The earth (negative) wire from the battery goes to one terminal & all the others to the other terminal , or if you wish all to the same terminal.

Geoff

[richard_pdc]

You need to make sure the neg / earth (black cable ) is big enough to take the full load .

Ex sample : you have 2 amp running light ,10amp socket , 5amp sounder , 2 amp CB and a 2 amp red/white navigation light

You will need to add the total together so 21 amp so you would need to run 4mm cable it's better if run 6mm in case for future provision and makes sure it's stranded cable

You can twist and join altogether or use what Geoff suggested , the only bad thing about a joining terminal you joints can fail

[General Zod]

Ok, thanks for everyone's input.So ill try this what Geoff said and see how it goes, can I screw it under the dash which is aluminum. Ill then get a boat sparky to look at it, wouldn't want the boat to get electrolysis that's really scaring me after looking at some pic's last night.

btw, is a e-series battery switch the same as an isolator switch, or do they work differently.

Edited March 23, 2014 by General Zod

[Guest Aussie007]

the isolator switch i think goes on the positive side between your battery and switch block

someone installed a isolator switch on my mates 5.3m quintrex bowrider what a mistake, see the outer bolt holes on the isolator switch well the person who installed the switch bolted the earth to one of the mounting bolts and yup u guessed it electrolysis corroded the whole boat little pin holes everywhere above and below the water line took paint off in patches

the bloke who previously owned the boat lost $10,000 on the deal and had someone attempt to weld the holes it worked but what a mistake, i fixed the problem by unbolting the earth wire and bolting the two earth wire ends together and wrapped it with tape should have heat shrunk it but didnt have any it has since stopped all electrolysis

just remember if u bolt a + wire to the hull you'll get a spark if u bolt a - wire to the hull you'll get electrolysis

[Guest Aussie007]

have a laugh at my drawing skills

if your worried wire it up and leave the battery + terminal off show us pictures of every end of a wire u have bolted or screwed on and someone will tell u if u have gone wrong

i typed negative in red should be black

Edited March 23, 2014 by gazza

[The Incredible Hull]

I'm no electrician either, but its piss easy.

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=70680

You'll have 3 rows, +ve, -ve, and switch. It's very straight forward, join all the +ve rows up to 1 wire, join all the -ve rows to 1 wire, and join each switch.

You can't go wrong cause you'll have a fuse in each switch anyway.

[Geoff]

"Can I screw it under the dash which is aluminum."

Yes. The screws used to secure the fitting are insulated via the mounting block so no problem.

Just on the fitting , there are single pole blocks available which would do the job.

I'm not sure if the two poles shown in the photo are actualy connected.

If not , you can only use one pole but my preference would be to run the neg from the battery to one pole then make up a small loop to the second pole then fit all your neg wires to the that pole

Geoff

[General Zod]

Thanks for the input guys. This is what I ended up doing, the terminal block poles are not connected together if anyone wants to know. I think its only fair that I post some pics of the finished work later.

thanks again for the help everyone.

Edited April 10, 2014 by General Zod

[union man]

Looks good to me General

[Guest Guest123456789]

Thanks for the information guys.

just wired my first 4 way switch panel - much happier with it. I didn’t earth to a terminal block or bus bar - just went straight back to the battery. Could this cause issues?

 

 

[zmk1962]

Not at all. Terminal blocks or bus bars for negative are just a convenience for additional wiring- so that you don’t have to run back to the battery each time. 
 

cheers Zoran 

[zmk1962]

Forgot to say. In fact your radio, gps and other static sensitive gear is less likely to get interference. 
Cheers Z

[Guest Guest123456789]

6 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

Forgot to say. In fact your radio, gps and other static sensitive gear is less likely to get interference. 
Cheers Z

Thanks Zoran, I used split tubing to protect from interference and UV

[zmk1962]

That’s great additional protection.

Running negative back to the battery just minimizes electrical interference on sensitive gear from stuff like motors or pumps as you are grounded at the source. 
 
The only comment I’d make on the circuit is to have a master fuse that can carry the total electrical load under normal operation as close as possible to the battery. I’ve indicated two locations in red circles. This is to protect the wiring from a short circuit somewhere along the length of the positive wire supplying the 4way switch.  Eg  say the cable coating wears out and the positive wire touches a negative source (the hull), the full energy of the battery would try to discharge- the wire itself could start to burn back to the battery. A fuse located close to the battery would blow before that happened.   

I can’t quite make out the drawing but you may already have a master fuse:

if not, then consider putting one at either of these locations indicated in red:

 

Call me or send pm if this is not clear or you want to discuss. 
 

cheers Z

[Guest Guest123456789]

Thanks @zmk1962 the picture isn’t great but there are 2 x 15amp fuses indicated by those funny rectangles that look like fuel pumps with a hook on the left of them.

[Guest Guest123456789]

But I might put a 50amp circuit breaker on top of the battery just in case wiring wears between the battery and the switch panel. I’d prefer it if the boat didn’t catch fire 🔥 

thanks @zmk1962