LMS 332C wiring question

  • jhalfen
    Posts: 4179
    April 7, 2005 at 3:58 pm #1233334

    This is a fairly specific question about wiring the new LMS 332C that my father in law and I just bought from Jolly Ann (thanks Wade!).

    The LMS 332C has two connections that must be made to the main battery: one to power the unit and one to power the “network” that includes the GPS receiver puck. The manual indicates that if the supplied power wires are too short (and of course, they are), then one can splice 18 GA wire onto the leads to reach the battery.

    My question is regarding the leads that will power the “network”. There are three leads in this bundle: red, black, and shield. The shield and the black leads are supposed to be connected to the same battery terminal. Can I splice 18 GA wire onto the shield lead as well in order to reach the battery? The shield is basically a bundle of very small gauge silvery wire and is clearly not 18 GA wire. Is this gauge mismatch going to cause a problem?

    Maybe if I wasn’t such an ignoramus when it comes to electricity, I wouldn’t have these kinds of problems. Thanks in advance for your input!

    fishingscout
    Saint Paul
    Posts: 156
    April 7, 2005 at 4:13 pm #355480

    What kind of boat do you have?

    If your boat has a console then you will probably have 12 volts and ground fairly close to where you will mount your unit. You could use a volt meter to find the connections you need near the unit rather than running wires directly to the battery.

    If you are mounting the unit on the bow, then you could possibly use the same 12 Volts and ground as your lights. I wouldn’t use the trolling motor power though, it can add quite a bit of noise on the wires.

    jhalfen
    Posts: 4179
    April 7, 2005 at 5:01 pm #355486

    This is going to be installed in a Crestliner Fishhawk 1750 with a console.

    jon_jordan
    St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 10908
    April 7, 2005 at 5:13 pm #355489

    Just hook up the red to pos (+) and the black to neg (-). You don’t need to do anything with the networking bundle.

    -J.

    jhalfen
    Posts: 4179
    April 7, 2005 at 6:12 pm #355502

    This isn’t part of the networking bundle, which contains 4 wires (orange/black/white/blue I think). There are a total of three bundles, two of which that are supposed to be hooked up to power. One has red/black/white wires, this is to power the main unit. The other has red/black/shield, and this is supposed to power the NMEA 2000 “network” that contains the GPS puck. If this second power bundle isn’t connected to power, the manual suggests that the GPS functionality won’t work as the puck won’t be able to listen for the satellites.

    jon_jordan
    St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 10908
    April 7, 2005 at 6:59 pm #355516

    Yes, you need to connect power to the GPS puck. You will know if it’s not connected correctly when you power up the unit. A message will display on your screen that says “GPS Module not responding”

    Also, do not reverse polarity on the power to the GPS puck. It will fry it….

    -J.

    john23
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 2578
    April 7, 2005 at 7:25 pm #355528

    I cut the bare sheild wire off of the sheath and just connected the red and black. Mistake??? I don’t know, but it works perfectly so far.

    John

    rlamar
    Davenport, Iowa, USA
    Posts: 293
    April 7, 2005 at 8:37 pm #355538

    one thing to think about is the gps module will be a draw on the battery all the time unless you run it thru a switch. Ron Lamar

    derek_johnston
    On the water- Minnesota
    Posts: 5022
    April 7, 2005 at 9:22 pm #355549

    Ditto what Ron said.. Get a switch on it..

    jhalfen
    Posts: 4179
    April 7, 2005 at 10:30 pm #355558

    Will do. Thanks everybody.

    teamcrappie
    Palo,IA
    Posts: 89
    April 8, 2005 at 1:20 am #355585

    Hey Brooky did you hook the power source to the same battery lead or did you run a seperate power line. I’m going thru the same trouble only with the 3500 GPS. I want to use the same power line for both the reciever and the unit. I will fuse both seperatly and need to know if one battery lead will work???? Any one know? Thanx, R.D.

    wade_kuehl
    Northwest Iowa
    Posts: 6167
    April 8, 2005 at 2:46 am #355603

    Guys, I also have the 332C and although Lowrance suggest that we connect directly to the battery I did connect both power lines to my electronics at the console. I have both set with a separate in line fuse. I have not had any trouble with interference and if I ever do I will connect directly to the batt. I am not suggesting that anyone else should do it this way but it has worked for me okay. If I had a stereo of VHF radio running off of the same electronics panel I would probably get bad interference but I don’t so I’m able to get away with it.

    wade_kuehl
    Northwest Iowa
    Posts: 6167
    April 11, 2005 at 3:21 am #356026

    One bit of info to add here for anyone who may get the “GPS not responding” message on any unit that takes the LGC-2000 antenna. Besides the dual power connection, you also have to make sure you have the NMEA wires taped off (the third set of wires, multi-colored). Some guys have run into this problem and simply taping off the wires solves the problem.

    jhalfen
    Posts: 4179
    April 11, 2005 at 3:27 am #356028

    Well, everything has turned out great with my LMS 332c. I wasn’t planning on spending almost 12 hours on Saturday getting the job done, but that’s what it took. If nothing else, I now know a LOT more about how my Fish Hawk is put together after running wire behind a bunch of access panels and tinkering with the fuse block. I ended up running both power feeds directly to the battery rather than attaching them to 12V at the console. Took it out on Pool 5 this afternoon and both the GPS and the sonar ran in tip-top form. Thanks to everyone who posted!

    wade_kuehl
    Northwest Iowa
    Posts: 6167
    April 11, 2005 at 2:19 pm #356084

    Good deal! The 332C is a really nice unit. You’re gonna love it!

    kellyb
    Prior Lake, MN
    Posts: 18
    April 15, 2005 at 2:13 pm #357115

    Thanks for the “heads up” on this one guys. I was not looking forward to sitting down and reading the instruction manual to figure out what was wrong with mine.
    Brook – Did you install a switch at the console for the power to the puck? I installed mine awhile back and am having battery drain. (no switch) Going to tackle that project this weekend. Wondering if a battery switch would be better??
    (sorry Wade, my wife and kids suprised me with the 332 for my birthday and did not go through you. We will hook up next time.)

    jhalfen
    Posts: 4179
    April 15, 2005 at 2:24 pm #357122

    Kelly: I installed the switch right after the 3A fuse on the puck power line. Coming away from the battery I have the fuse, the switch, and then 14′ of red wire up to the unit. The only thing I have to remember to do is flip up the battery compartment door and toggle the switch before using the unit. Not as convenient as having the switch at the console, but all in all not too bad.

    kellyb
    Prior Lake, MN
    Posts: 18
    April 15, 2005 at 6:21 pm #357209

    Yeah, I’m torn on that one. Do I install in the battery compartment for easy access on the install but not so convenient for use or do I try to jam myself under that console one more time to install in the dash. Again, thanks for the info. KB

    wade_kuehl
    Northwest Iowa
    Posts: 6167
    April 16, 2005 at 2:01 am #357316

    Quote:

    (sorry Wade, my wife and kids suprised me with the 332 for my birthday and did not go through you. We will hook up next time.)

    Kelly, No problem. That’s a great gift and you’re gonna love it!

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