215 explorer electrical problem anybody? Sea Bob??

[waterman]

Having some trouble...... Engine and guages are Ok, stereo works Now. (Was cutting in and out at first but now is working fine )  took boat out  5 minutes in  all electronics  horn    wiper    bilge   etc. Not working  tested batteries 12.3 volts   tested at fuse panel in cabin was getting 12 volts      turn on light in cabin radio goes out  then tested at panel  had nothing      turn off cabin switch  only have about 8 volts at panel   haven't tested it since.                         I am very handy but   i'm not an electrician so please bare with my questions... Any ideas where do I start first?????????

[seabob4]

Oh Lord, how I hate run on sentences!  But...

Waterman, first understand that your engine electricals and your boat electricals are 2 separate systems.  That is why the engine stuff works fine, the boat stuff doesn't.  What you want to do is establish where you have good voltage (like the 12.3 you stated), then follow the "path" down the line until you get the voltage drop you're experiencing.  Battery>battery switch>main breaker>big blue connector under helm>switch panel>individual breakers>switches.  You will find somewhere in that chain the weak link.  I'm betting the big blue connector, as you stated a drop from ~12 to around ~8.

What year is your 215?

[waterman]

1998.

[Bergertime]

Oh my... My favorite thing!  "The Big <<Useless AND Prone to Corrosion>> Blue Connector"  

Can we start to call it" "TBAUBC" = The Big And Useless Blue Connector   haha!


All sarcasm aside waterman, x2 on Seabob's advise... this connector was a major source of voltage drop to the helm on my sled.  I actually smiled as I cut that piece of chit out!  Good luck.


B

[seabob4]

Exactly Bruce.  That's why I needed to know the year, as I believe in '00, maybe '01, Aquasport (and WC) finally did away with that piece of crap connector and went with a more secure, and more water-resistant one.  Not a deutsch, but similar...

[waterman]

OK so it sounds as if this blue connector is infamous  ha ha.     so I will check that first, worked late so will have to be tommorow.
If that is the case is there a better replacement part for it ?  Thanks for the help

[seabob4]

Waterman, I simply butt splice the 6 GA coming from aft to the 10 GA running to the panel with an 8 GA heat shrink butt connector.  Trim a couple strands off the 6 GA, it will fit.  6 GA was overkill anyway...

[waterman]

Looked  for blue connector tonight,  I can't find it ??  Looked around fuse panel  under helm. And back near batteries.  Where is it????

Today turned on batteries  and now wiper, cabin light , panel lights , bilge , live well pump , fish box pump all turned on ??  Except no horn ?  Tested at fuse box  and neg bus while switches on. Had about 10volts   so I'm still at square one?????

[seabob4]

The blue connector should be right behind your helm.  It may be to the outer area, you'll have to get your head in there (and a good bit of your body).  I didn't wire that helm, I always had the big blue one right in sight when you opened the door.

OK, what does the rest voltage on the battery show?  Then what does the voltage on the main breaker show?  Sounds to me like you have 1) a lot of corrosion in your wires, hence the voltage drop, and 2) a lot of corrosion in your plugs in your hull harness...

And your welcome...

[waterman]

OK will try lookin again tomorrow.  Not sure what you mean by rest voltage ?  And the main breaker ( is that in black box at the batteries?)  I haven't checked that   ( sorry not much of an electrician but trying to learn). As far as corrosion the boat is in unbelievable condition  and has never been bottom painted and been trailered since new.I'm  2nd owner . The number labels are on mostly all wires and see very little corrosion at the connections if that helps  thanks again

[seabob4]

Thanks.  Rest voltage is with no load on the batt...it's basically just sitting there not powering anything, hence, at "rest".  To check the voltage on the main breaker, you'll have to pull the black box down, not hard, 4 screws and she's loose.  Now check the voltage on both sides of the breaker with the batt switch (if you have one) in the ON position.  Your voltage readings should be very close to what the rest voltage on the batt is.  If that checks out good, the next step is to find that big blue connector and check voltage on both sides of it.  If that checks good, then check your voltage across all the breakers on your switch panel.  Everything you are checking should show close to what the rest voltage on your batt checks, maybe a 1/2 V less.

The next check is when you turn equipment on...bilge pump, washdown pump, lights, whatever.  Check the voltages at the switches, on the breakers behind the helm, even on the main breaker.  Just because wiring "looks" good doesn't mean it is.  Your boat is 16 years old...it's gonna have some wiring issues from a corrosion standpoint.

[wingtime]

Here is the dreaded big blue plug in the top center of this photo of the backside of my panel.



Another thing you can see in the above picture is how they piggybacked the power feed between the circuit breakers running from left to right.  In the following picture you can see two things.  The first thing is the big blue plug is gone and you can see the replacement butt connector (only crimped on one side).  The second thing is how I replaced the piggyback connectors with piggybacked heat shrunk spade connectors.  The two mods lowered the voltage loss to circuits considerably.

[waterman]

Well worked on it this weekend  everything going in and out still. Tested voltage like sea Bob said took down the neg bus in battery compartment, took apart and cleaned everything with wire wheel  put all back together  cleaned all battery terminals. Re connected and....nothing!  Turned on wiper switch and started moving around wires,  what did I find??...........that blue plug you told me about.  I had checked the 1 side of it earlier and had power , now together I moved it around and power came on moved out more power on and off. So I am hoping I found the problem and now I will change it.Thank you all for the help.   Sea bob ,  this connector was in the battery compartment about a foot away from fuse box  is that normally there?  And what do you recommend I change it to another plug , butt connector or something else?  And I think it is #6 wire on both sides, does that sound right to you.      Thanks

[wingtime]

Just cut it out and replace it with a butt connector.

[vonkamp]

Wingtime,
That is a nice clean wiring job! I would like to do the same spade connector mod that you did. What size spade connector did you use? It looks like you have 2 10g wires going in to it. Is that correct or did you go with a smaller wire?
Thanks and sorry for the thread hijack...