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Wiring a fish finder


Greg Foster

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Hi

We inherited a Boat (savage ranger) and  Bought a Garmin striker plus 4 to use in it

we will be using it on Lake Macquarie through the week on my days off

my question is

when I wire it do I run both positive and negative leads straight to battery as it has a fuse on the positive already ,Also do I need to run the positive through a toggle switch or would that be over kill
thanks heaps

greg

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Hi Greg,

I presume you have a single battery set up.

Do you have a battery isolation switch installed? If you do then this "could" replace the toggle switch, otherwise the positive wire will be live all the time - which is generally not advised in boats. Also as you plug and unplug you could create a small spark/surge which could damage the sensitive GPS electronics. 

And yes, I'd recommend you run both the positive and negative back to the battery.

Lots of discussion and advice on Fishraider regarding wiring up boats and the additional considerations if they are alloy - just use the search.

Cheers Zoran

Edited by zmk1962
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5 minutes ago, Greg Foster said:

when I wire it do I run both positive and negative leads straight to battery as it has a fuse on the positive already ,Also do I need to run the positive through a toggle switch or would that be over kill

Hi Greg, welcome aboard.

No need for a toggle switch, they are pretty simple things really.

As long as there is a fuse on the positive the just run pos wire to pos terminal & neg wire to neg terminal.

The main thing is getting the transducer mounted correctly on the hull so there is the least amount of interference for water turbulence.

 

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Unless your device has a physical switch it is drawing power all the time.  Soft touch electronic switches require power to work, albeit very little (microamps/milliamps) when off.

Safest to have some form of total isolation if your going to leave the boat idle for some time.  As Zoran said, either a toggle switch or a battery isolation switch.... or... disconnect a battery terminal.

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Hi all

i wired the Garmin in and fitted a push pull knob to the positive wire ,there was a hole near the throttle Bracket so I used this

saves drilling 😁

with the transducer the instructions said to keep away from electrical wiring as it may interfere with the reading 

I have the Transducer cable tie clipped to all the other cables including the power lead for the Garmin at the moment is this good enough not to cause electrical interference?

Thanks 

greg

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Hi Greg. 
+1 for less drilling. 
I have not had a problem on my boat clipping the transducer cable the same as you have. I can get bottom readings 500+ meters. But I do have a large capacitor (suppressor) installed to give a clean power supply for sensitive electronics. 
Some of the older outboards produced a lot more electrical interference than the modern ones but most of that would be on the +ve rather then through the transducer cable. You have run back to the battery and that should help a lot  If you are getting noise I’d go suppressor next. 
I think it’s time for a water test to see how your rig is performing. 
cheers Zoran 

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Can’t wait to get out on the water

Wife wants to go out this week when it stops raining 

Out of curiosity how much fuel does a 1980,s 35 hp Johnson 2 stroke burn an hour

about 3 to 5 litres an hour?
to keep fuel fresh I was only going to fill the tank about halfway and make a fresh mix every time I go out

 

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Might be worth posting that as a separate topic - consumption will depend on what speed your are boating at and under what conditions. Facing into the wind and tide - you will use more fuel then going with the wind and tide at same engine rpm. If you plane you will go a lot further, but if conditions don't allow your boat to plane - you will be boating for a longer time at lower rpm.

As with any new to you boat/motor - you will need to get experience with it. Does your tank have a fuel gauge? Does it show the fuel  level accurately (you can test this is at the bowser)... 25L tank, put in 5L, does it read 1/5th full, fill another 5L, etc. Some gauges do not read accurately and you'll need to get a feel for yours.

Then once you know how your tank gauge works, go for a boating run and note the conditions - are you planing, at what speed, are you running with tide or against etc. Once you stop - check your fuel used (according to the gauge). On the first few trips, I would not use more than half a tank moving away from launch point... leave at least the same amount of fuel to get back assuming the same conditions ...Or carry a small 5L spare jerry can until you get comfortable with the consumption... and learn your regular waterways

Sorry I can't be more helpful wrt to a 35HP as I've been running 200+hp since 1996...  but I recall a 25L tank would last forever with my 40HP Tohatsu.  

Cheers Zoran

 

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Hi zoran

thanks for your reply

the tank is as old as the boat mid 1980,s

the fuel was put in in 2010 ish it’s getting tipped out before I go for a run and will be mixing either 95 or 98  at 50:1

there is a gauge on top of the tank so I will do as you said take note of fuel rate slow ,planing and general running around 
 

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