Space shuttle or Ranger Boats

[Skipper]

I'm about convinced that the same "Engineer" who wired the space shuttle was in charge of wiring a Ranger boat.

I've been trying to track down a short in Dad's rig for the last two days and keep getting nothing but flustrated. It's a 36 volt 3 series battery system for the trolling motor with 2 12 volt legs coming off it to operate everything else. Somewhere in the running light circuit there's a short : It's 2 double pole double throw switches with a confarnded light to tell you it's on. :

There are at least half a dozen junction boxes scattered under the consabout:blankole, under the bow and probably somewhere else that I haven't found yet. The cotton pickin fuse panel is in the rod box in front of the console, so it ain't real handy to get a meter on things, and the gray wire with the red stripe seems to go a little bit of every cotton pickin place. I know the short is in the hot wire because all 4 leads are hot all the time. Two of them shouldn't be. Two of them should go to the lights themselves, but somehow are getting power .

Any suggestions from any of the Bee clan? I know some of you all are bound to be rocket scientists and all.

The aggrivating part is the guy who had this rig before converted it from a 24 volt to 36 volt system and there's a cobbled mess under the bow where I'm beginning to think the problem is. Of course, all the wiring is locked in place in conduit locked into sea foam except for the ends at the bow which you have to work on through the 3" hole drilled for the flasher or the 1.5 in hole for the trolling motor plug. I can get one fist in and one thumb at the same time.

Skipper

 

[beretta]

Skipper, this is the ticket..http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=33779

 

[CAL]

Skipper,
Sounds to me like you are getting a feed back from some installed instrument.I would take each instrument aloose hot and ground.When you find the guilty party the feed back will stop.In the meantimeI would keep the battery disconnected or get me some more insurance(fire).

 

[Skipper]

The light circuit is the only one acting up. I don't think it's coming from somewhere else although it could be. The problem is, it's double pole double throw. There's a switch on the bow and one on the console. It's also wired so the switch on the bow can select either anchor or running lights. (Front and rear on are running lights, rear only is anchor) Why they want to make this so dad gum complicated is beyond me. For instance, the grounds are wired into the console swich. Why? I have no ideal. All 4 of them go to ground. I can't think of a purpose that would serve.

The biggest problem is the complexity as to how the wiring is in the harness. The fuse box is in the Starbord rod box in front of the console, and the batteries in the stern box. Obviously, the wires pass one another about 7 times. The problem is they are all the same color, so figuring out which one is coming from the fuse box, which one goes to the bow switch and the stern light or both lights is driving me nuts, paticularly when you have no hope of seeing the whole wire. Other than the ends at the switches or light bases, the rest of it is in conduit incased in sea foam.

I think what I'd like to do is eliminate the front switch and simplify the ****ens out of it. I don't see why it needs anchor lights anyway I've never used them. It may be that one of the terminal blocks somewhere is shorted either under the bow or under the console. It's just hard to find all the pieces the way this mess is wired.

I've never owned a boat that was wired like the engineer had any sense whatsoever. They are always a tetoal mess in the wiring department. On my old Astroglass I finally gave up on it and rewired the whole boat. I came off the batteries with 1 wire and ran it to junction boxes I mounted in the rear. A simple bolt inside the box holding the starting cables, trolling motor cables, battery chargers and all were on the first junction box as well as a bow feed. Off of the main line, I put two more junction boxes under the console and ran a lead off them to the bow with 2 more boxes. I never had another problem out of it that way.

Skipper