Boat electrical help needed.

So i’m rigging the boat back up for the season and found i have electrical issues.

Voltage gauge, bilge pump switch, front and back livewell switches and light switch all are out.
1 graph up front is out while the other one work.
The trolling motor up front works.
The power tilt and trim from up in the bow and at the throttle control work
The graph at the drivers seat works
The motor turns over

I have checked all fuses and they are good

All wires are connected

Any suggestions or what i might be missing to check?

Thanks cause P4 is in the plans for this Thursday-Sunday!

Should have killed that coon earlier.

Get out a volt meter and check from your ground post on your battery to positive on both sides of any accessory switches and then to the positives at the accessories themselves. If you are getting proper voltage then you have a bag ground.

Use a ohm meter to check continuity from the battery negative post to the grounds at each accessory and if it does not have continuity you have a broken link somewhere in between…

Ok…serious.

What’s common to all items that aren’t working?

1 battery?

If you have a voltage tester start at the battery check the voltage then move up the wire to the first connection. Check for voltage. If good, follow the wire to the next location until you find the terminal or connection that is bad.

Sounds easy enough…good luck.

get out a multimeter and start at the power source and follow the wires that aren’t giving you power. That should tell you what you need to know.

Hi,
My guess you have a “cold flow” somewhere in your electrical system. Re-seat and clean every junction connection in the unpowered part of your boat circuits. Or, you might even have a loose crimp connection in the unpowered network. A 12v light probe (every mechanic has one) would aid you in isolating either of these kinds of problems.

You will find it eventually. Good luck.

Roger

You need a new boat!

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You need a new boat!

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Yea i was waiting for that response…

Tell you what… You send me the check and i’ll let you pick out the color

Ok if I send a money order. I’ll make it out for more then the boat. Just return the extra cash to me.

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Ok if I send a money order. I’ll make it out for more then the boat. Just return the extra cash to me.

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Mmmmmmm. Not good. Stuff like this happening this time of year has thinking of possible rodent damage. Not good.

You’ve checked all the obvious items. Since items in the boat have power and are working correctly, therefore the battery is hooked up correctly, and corroded connections on the terminals have been checked and eliminated as a cause?

If that’s the case, start tracing with a multi-meter. This is where having one with alligator clips and one that gives an audible tone when there’s continuity is really handy.

Personally, I’d disconnect the battery and start tracing the wires from the fuse block and trace outward toward one of the items that’s not working. Remember if you have a switch in the run between the block and the item you’re testing, the switch has to be on.

You may need to make some longer leads for your meter so you can trace the full length of a given wire and see if there’s an open (broken or cut wire).

See if you can figure out where the issue is and hopefully when you uncover that, all your other problems are in the same place.

Good luck.

Grouse

if I buy the boat, does it come with the offending varmint included?

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Ok if I send a money order. I’ll make it out for more then the boat. Just return the extra cash to me.

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BK sending spam – also cooks it – and now is full of it

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if I buy the boat, does it come with the offending varmint included?

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That’s the thing that perplexing…. i put in the high quality dryer sheets as usual, i see no signs of critters but now i have this problem? 1st time in 7 years of storing it and now i’m dealing with this?

Corroded connections can cause many issues. I’d clean all connections at the battery first, given no sign of critters yet. It’s a good place to start and is good preventive maintenance. A weak ground is always problematic. Anything wired or re-wired?

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Corroded connections can cause many issues. I’d clean all connections at the battery first, given no sign of critters yet. It’s a good place to start and is good preventive maintenance. A weak ground is always problematic. Anything wired or re-wired?

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Everything is clean
All connections are good
Got juice from the battery to all connections at the terminals except for the bilge and livewell switches.
Now the voltage meter is working but not the bilge switch nor the livewell switches nor the graph up front?

What the heck?

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Corroded connections can cause many issues. I’d clean all connections at the battery first, given no sign of critters yet. It’s a good place to start and is good preventive maintenance. A weak ground is always problematic. Anything wired or re-wired?

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Now the voltage meter is working but not the bilge switch nor the livewell switches nor the graph up front?

What the heck?

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Weird, did you do anything that could have caused that change?

There should be a ground bar located somewhere n the boat. I have had similar problems and a thorough scouring and greasing of ALL the conections on the ground bar cleared my issues up.

Just a thought……

First, the battery is fully charged, correct? Bilge and livewell are pumps and as such are higher drain and will not run on a very low battery. Just looking at gauge means nothing, you can have a batt at 12 volts but with almost no amps left.

When you say: Got juice from the battery to all connections at the terminals except for the bilge and livewell switches.

What are the terminals and how is this wired? Are you talking about the fuse block? Is there just one pair of heavy leads coming from the battery to the the fuse block, or are there multiple leads coming from the battery to the fuses?

Did you continuity check any of the leads from the battery to the fuse block?

Do you have a multi-meter? Without one you’re shooting in the dark.

Grouse

it might be the pumps themselves. they can get sand and weeds in them freeze them up. i can’t remember the brand name of mine, lund prov boat, but you can remove/replace the guts real easy if they are bad. pull them out and see if they spin freely. very common, after a few years to have the pump go bad

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First, the battery is fully charged, correct? Bilge and livewell are pumps and as such are higher drain and will not run on a very low battery. Just looking at gauge means nothing, you can have a batt at 12 volts but with almost no amps left.

When you say: Got juice from the battery to all connections at the terminals except for the bilge and livewell switches.

What are the terminals and how is this wired? Are you talking about the fuse block? Is there just one pair of heavy leads coming from the battery to the the fuse block, or are there multiple leads coming from the battery to the fuses?

Did you continuity check any of the leads from the battery to the fuse block?

Do you have a multi-meter? Without one you’re shooting in the dark.

Grouse

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X2

A weak battery is more troublesome than a dead one.

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Got juice from the battery to all connections at the terminals except for the bilge and livewell switches.
Now the voltage meter is working but not the bilge switch nor the livewell switches nor the graph up front?

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I’m assuming you’re using a volt meter to know you have “juice from the battery to all terminals”.

Jumper the ground terminal at the two pumps to the metal hull of the boat. If that doesn’t work take out the pumps and move the pump blade with a screw driver. Many pumps “freeze up” over winter and need a little push to get them going. Sometimes just flipping the power on and off a few times will get them going as well.

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Corroded connections can cause many issues. I’d clean all connections at the battery first, given no sign of critters yet. It’s a good place to start and is good preventive maintenance. A weak ground is always problematic. Anything wired or re-wired?

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Now the voltage meter is working but not the bilge switch nor the livewell switches nor the graph up front?

What the heck?

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Weird, did you do anything that could have caused that change?

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All i did was put the main power cable of the pos and neg side down first on the post then added the accessorie wires on top of the main power wires

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First, the battery is fully charged, correct? Bilge and livewell are pumps and as such are higher drain and will not run on a very low battery. Just looking at gauge means nothing, you can have a batt at 12 volts but with almost no amps left.

When you say: Got juice from the battery to all connections at the terminals except for the bilge and livewell switches.

What are the terminals and how is this wired? Are you talking about the fuse block? Is there just one pair of heavy leads coming from the battery to the the fuse block, or are there multiple leads coming from the battery to the fuses?

Did you continuity check any of the leads from the battery to the fuse block?

Do you have a multi-meter? Without one you’re shooting in the dark.

Grouse

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X2

A weak battery is more troublesome than a dead one.

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Got fresh, fully charges batteries.

Still working on it to answer your other questions.

Problem solved!

It was a 15 amp fuse which was loose in the fuse panel

Thanks for everyones advise which i will use in the future when i have issues again

Glad to hear you got it fixed.