# Electronics ground wire on alum. boat.



## Evileye (Jan 29, 2006)

Installing electronics on starcraft 196. Now I dont claim to be
an electrician but here it goes. Positive to positive, Negative to
negative. What about the ground? From what I have read you
dont ground to the hull (electrolysis). Do you run another wire
to the negative post on the battery? I know you can buy a product
by dynaplate but there has to be an easier way.


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## dwmikemx (Mar 22, 2008)

Yes run wire to the negative on the battery. That will be your ground.


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## lang99 (Mar 6, 2009)

Just ground it back to your battery.


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## hatteras1 (Jan 18, 2011)

Evileye said:


> Installing electronics on starcraft 196. Now I dont claim to be
> an electrician but here it goes. Positive to positive, Negative to
> negative. What about the ground? From what I have read you
> dont ground to the hull (electrolysis). Do you run another wire
> ...


your absolutely right in protecting the boat hull. in no way do you want voltage running thru the boat. it will corrode the outboard in a very short time. water itself causes electrolysis. the motor is protected by anodes. (blocks of soft aluminum) called sacrificial anodes..


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## markfish (Nov 22, 2007)

let me ask you a simple qustion,does you boat have a steering helm,and if so is there already guages there,like live well switch and speed and eletric,start,and if so then there is a fues box,under there,but if not,then do as the others said and run them off the battery,but not the trolling battery,you can also get a wire plate that hooks to your - side of the battery and hook up 6- post to it too,good luck markfish


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## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

Bill,
I don't imagine you are keeping your boat in the water at a marina . If you aren't keeping it in the water, a dyna-plate is not necessary. Those are primarily to protect your boat from spurious electrical discharges (from other boats) while moored permanently in the marina complex. 

Look at my post in the thread "best book/manual for wiring a boat" in the OGF Boating forum. That discussion goes with aluminum boats too. What I like to see for an electrical system is:

1) A couple batteries for redundancy (one is a "house" battery if you only have one main engine).

2) A Perko 1/2/Both/Off battery switch for each battery (or you can use an On/Off Perko switch to the house battery).

3) Minimal number of wires connected to the battery(s). You don't want the top of your battery(s) to look like spaghetti. As a *maximum*, you should have a positive from your Perko shutoff switch, a negative from the motor, a negative from a buss that all the rest of the electronics and lights negatives that aren't wired to a dedicated fuze box are wired to, and, if you are running a house battery in parallel, you will need a negative from the other battery and a positive from a separate on/off switch that the positive of the house battery is connected to (so you can connect the two batteries in parallel with). Positives from your bilge pumps, motors, and fuze box run to the Perkos.

4) A good fuze box such as a Blue Seas fuze box with automotive type mini fuzes at your console and a 40 amp resetable fuze on the positive wire immediately coming from the Perko switch before running the positive to your Blue Seas fuze box. Fuzes protect wiring as much as they do equipment. Discard the fuzes that come with your electronics and wire your electronics to the Blue Seas fuze box; red to positive side of each fuze and black/negative to the buss bar in the fuze panel. Use the correct amp fuze for your electronics. If you blow a fuze you know EXACTLY where to go to replace them.

5) Bilge pumps. You should have bilge pumps with a float switch so you can run them manually and automatically. At your console you will have a switch for each bilge pump plus a light indicator to tell when your bilge pump is on. At the console the switch will turn the bilge pump on manually, while on the float there will be a hot wire to an inline fuze then to the battery switch post your battery pos lead is connected to. When the float rises the bilge pump comes on automatically and the light on the console comes on.


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## tadluvadd (Feb 19, 2012)

Better off going right from the neg.post of the batt.also if u plan on running a few electronics,u can add a block to com from.wire it to the batt,then come from it.IMPORTANT THOUGH dont forget a inline fuse on ur hot wire if going strait to the batt.


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## Evileye (Jan 29, 2006)

Thanks guys. Just couldnt understand why you would need
to ground back to the negative if the negative was already
connected to your electronics


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## FISNFOOL (May 12, 2009)

Evileye said:


> Thanks guys. Just couldnt understand why you would need
> to ground back to the negative if the negative was already
> connected to your electronics


The ground is for the electronics chassis. Any internal short blows the fuse quickly instead of frying the unit. Electronics technology is quite simple. Things work because electronic parts store smoke. You let the smoke out and the devise quits working.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

I've been using these for ten years. Keeps everything nice and tidy in the battery compartment. All the electronics in my boat, plus the ship to shore get connected directly to the battery.


http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...ectric+Trolling+Motors_Accessories|USA&rid=20


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## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

Hetfieldinn said:


> I've been using these for ten years. Keeps everything nice and tidy in the battery compartment. All the electronics in my boat, plus the ship to shore get connected directly to the battery.
> 
> 
> http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...ectric+Trolling+Motors_Accessories|USA&rid=20


Just wondering, do you not use a switch to disconnect your battery(s) from your electronics and motors? Sorry if I misunderstood.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

Workdog said:


> Just wondering, do you not use a switch to disconnect your battery(s) from your electronics and motors? Sorry if I misunderstood.


No. I do not use a battery switch to cutoff power to the electronics.


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## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

Hetfieldinn said:


> No. I do not use a battery switch to cutoff power to the electronics.


OK, sounds like you weighed your options and what you feel is an acceptable level of risk. For Evileye, he should know that spurious electrical issues are part of that level of risk when the electronics and motor are always "hot." For example, someone on OGF once had a problem where the motor would raise uncommanded after a fishing trip due to water in the tilt switch (he didn't have a battery shutoff switch). I once had a battery charge level guage that went bad and was draining battery juice (the battery charge level guage was actually showing that there was a voltage drain, and it was the one instrument wired directly to the battery). When working on wiring issues, he would need to unbolt the battery leads to ensure he didn't accidently cross wires while he was trouble-shooting the electricals. Also, If the motor was connected to one battery, and that battery died while out on the water, he would not be able to connect to the house battery just by flipping a wafer switch. This last fall, for the first time, I had one of my two batteries go low on charge, and I switched the two batteries to parallel so I could start my other engine (I have twins). These problems here don't "usually" happen with brand new boats. But, ya pays yer dues and takes yer chances, as they say.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

Thirty plus years of owning boats (about two dozen), and I've never had an issue with not using a battery shutoff device.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Hetfieldinn said:


> Thirty plus years of owning boats (about two dozen), and I've never had an issue with not using a battery shutoff device.


I've never used one either. Heck, I've never heard of one.


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## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

crappiedude said:


> I've never used one either. Heck, I've never heard of one.


Hmmm, sounds like from the other thread http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=195909 that a battery switch between the undercharged main motor battery and the battery bank up front, placing the batteries in parallel, may have saved a trip to the lake for a few people???? I feel vindicated!  Never can tell with batteries, can ya?


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