Rewire switch panel. Who has done it?

[mcsd63]

Considering rewiring my switch panel. I've been having a few small issues that I can't really track down but the factory wiring is terrible. I have a 2008 sv 1900. My boat is about 2 hours away so I'd like to be able to have most parts on hand before I get there. Is it best to just use a couple bus bars and wire from the bars to each switch? I'm trying to clean up the rats nest of jumpers everywhere.

[gnrphil]

I got rid of the breakers and installed a blue seas fuse box with negative bus, from there I ran power to each switch

[mcsd63]

I don't see the grounds in this pic. Am I missing something? Did you rewire the gauges also?

[gnrphil]

Sorry I don't seem to have one with the grounds from the switches, basically I daisy chianed the grounds across each switch and then hooked it up to the ground on the fuse box. Each powered item (gps/vhf/radio etc) has its ground run to the fuse box. something like this

[mcsd63]

Thanks. That's a very clean setup you have.

[gnrphil]

Apr 11, 2016 19:56:11 GMT -6 mcsd63 said:

Thanks. That's a very clean setup you have.

Thanks, still a bit to do but it's functional and a lot better than it was. 
It's worth the effort as you then know all connections are good and then trouble shooting is so much easier.

[mcsd63]

What size wire and ring terminals do I need for that fuse panel?

[gnrphil]

Apr 11, 2016 20:28:45 GMT -6 mcsd63 said:

What size wire and ring terminals do I need for that fuse panel?

Good question, I had a kit from an auto parts store and just used the ones that fit the best so don't really know what size they are. Screws are #8-32 Screws as per Blue seas web site.

[985crabs]

That's really nice work. I could do that. If I had room to work, patience, time and a frontal lobotomy.

[mcsd63]

I ordered all of the needed parts and will try to get this done next weekend. Trying to find a good spot to mount the fuse box. I'm considering putting it on top of the console tackle box.

[Flycableguy]

I will be doing to same soon to resolve some intermittent issues. Any one have any input about rocker switches? Ancor, Seadog, Blue Sea? Pros and cons. Any seem to work or be built better than others. Thanks

[freezerfiller]

I have had nothing but good to say about blue seas. Fair price and good product.

[mcsd63]

Apr 23, 2016 7:56:26 GMT -6 Flycableguy said:

I will be doing to same soon to resolve some intermittent issues. Any one have any input about rocker switches? Ancor, Seadog, Blue Sea? Pros and cons. Any seem to work or be built better than others. Thanks

I pulled one of my switches and it is a carling. You will likely be ok with any of the ones listed.

[fraydknot]

looks nice great job

[mcsd63]

I got mine done. Nowhere near as clean as what's pictured but it works. Complete pita to sort out the negative and switch light jumpers.

[gnrphil]

May 4, 2016 20:56:49 GMT -6 mcsd63 said:

I got mine done. Nowhere near as clean as what's pictured but it works. Complete pita to sort out the negative and switch light jumpers.

As long as it works that's all that matters, you can always improve it later 

[mcsd63]

I was tired of screwing with it and ready to go fishing. Everything works for now. I'll clean it up later. And by later that probably means when something doesn't work anymore. Hey. It's fishing season.

[AHHHH-Spray]

I just replaced all my breakers because they were all broken. The threaded part that sticks through the panel had broken off of the body of the breaker on all but one of them (see pic). I figure the combination of bouncing through rough water and the heavy bundle of wires that runs along the back of the breakers must have put enough force on them to break them off. I installed new Blue Sea Systems breakers (made by Carling-see pic) and then supported the bundle of wires with a couple of gear ties connected up to the metal brackets behind the guages. I supported the bundle in a couple more places along its route where I could attach it to something stable. There shouldn't be anything pulling on the breakers now and they should last a good long time.

Attachments:

[GreatBigTuna]

Apr 23, 2016 16:19:16 GMT -6 mcsd63 said:

Apr 23, 2016 7:56:26 GMT -6 Flycableguy said:

I will be doing to same soon to resolve some intermittent issues. Any one have any input about rocker switches? Ancor, Seadog, Blue Sea? Pros and cons. Any seem to work or be built better than others. Thanks

I pulled one of my switches and it is a carling. You will likely be ok with any of the ones listed.

I just crawled out of my bilge doing some rewiring and saw this post. All of the sources listed will be Carling switches. They are Carling Contura V rocker switches. They are the good ones. Sea Pro might not have been the best at wiring, but they did use good switches

The nice thing about these is that they are two components, the switch body and the actuators. The actuators are the part you see and press and the bodies are the part that is clipped into the dash with the wiring attached. The nice thing about this is you can get pre-printed actuators all over the net without having to buy new switches. This is handy when you have some phantom switches like I do. On my boat the factory wired my freshwater pump to the ACC-1 switch, and while it works just fine, you have to know what that switch does. Simple fix - I ordered a new actuator that says "Fresh Water" and voila... my wife knows which switch to hit when she wants to rinse with fresh water.

The opposite is true also, if you have a switch go bad, just get the replacement body and you don't have to worry about finding a matching switch or have an oddball in your dash panel.

One last thing after spending the last 3 days in my boat's nether regions, I will 100%, without any hesitation or uncertainty, back up the claims of all those before me when they say that Sea Pro did a really crappy job wiring these boats. C'mon, really? splicing the DC - wire all through the harness to tap ground for all the fixtures instead of running all the negatives back to a bus bar? That totally sucks! Now ask me why my courtesy lights were intermittent!!!

Ok, rant over

[biscoiv]

I'm thinking about trying to clean up the rats nest the factory left in my 05 220CC. None of the pictures of your work are view-able anymore. Could you repost or send them to me?