wiring info for depth finder

Hello I need to wire a depth finder 14 feet from the battery what size do i need would speaker wire work or can you get 2 strands hot and negative together. Thank you

Speaker wire barely works for speakers so the answer to that is no.

I would run 16ga wires. You can find paired wires, but you’ll probably have to order it online. Make sure all your connections have good crimps, or better yet soldered, and they’re sealed really well. I heat shrink and then go over the heat shrink with liquid neoprene/liquid electrical tape. Electrics tend to be very sensitive to poor wiring.

What kind of machine and model number do you have man???

Wrong info sir^^^hillhikwr

9” unit or larger, I would run 10 ga. or a minimum of 12 ga. You can get paired red and black wire, I have bought on Amazon.

From Humminbird, you can extend power wires with 18awg wire..

tbruno wrote:

From Humminbird, you can extend power wires with 18awg wire..

Not sure where you got that info, but I’ve seen lots of posts on Birds that shut down from low voltage when starting the outboard. It all depends on how many things are running at once, distance from battery and battery capacity. Modern large screen sonar units can be power hogs. Personally, I’d use 12-ga. minimum and cut back the factory-supplied spider-thin wire as far as possible. Fuse the positive wire as close to the battery as you can with the size fuse the manufacturer recommends.

This wire is made for boats. It is nice. I have bought from them a number of times. https://www.genuinedealz.com/marine-wire

Just curious….didn’t the finder come with wire? I’d personally send an email to said manufacture but no, generally speaking speak wire would not work.

Denny O wrote:

Wrong info sir^^^hillhikwr

ABYC wire chart attached. You are right.

I was thinking 14′ total run not just to the battery, which is probably what the original post meant. At 2-4A, which covers most fishfinders, and 28′ total run you would need a 12ga assuming you want to hit within the 3% volt drop chart. Volt drop is the enemy here so don’t skimp.

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Does anyone know what the amp requirements is of the OP’s unit?

I didn’t think so.

My point is a lot of you maybe right but,,,,,,?

Do you understand??

I have a Solix that on paper should only need a 12 gauge ran straight to the battery but it is still having voltage issues when I start my motor. I’m going to install 8 gauge. Then If I still have issues with both Solix’s and starting my motor than I may need to add a battery.

Just interjecting that there are many variables here, not just a clear cut answer.

Ron had the best answer in my opinion.

Sorry guys it is a Lowrance fish reveal 5 the finder has roughly 2 feet of power cord I need roughly 2 wires hot and negative going 12 feet from battery to locator

mrpike1973 wrote:

Hello I need to wire a depth finder 14 feet from the battery what size do i need would speaker wire work or can you get 2 strands hot and negative together. Thank you

I have used speaker wire and had no issues on a VHF radio.
of course there is different size speaker wire also.

not super heavy but heavier then car speaker wire.
VHF radio draws more then a depth finder…

I recommend you run awg 10ga. tinned wire. There’s a post above that lists it.

Go with tinned marine wire, preferably 10ga, but 12ga minimum. Only a couple of dollars difference in cost. My last new boat purchase, dealer upgraded wire to 10ga from the 12ga that it came with. No more low voltage alarms, and I have a 22′ boat. My last 20′ boat before this, was always getting voltage alarms. Also with undersized wireing, a lot of users with new locators are experiencing them shutting off on an engine restart. Use 10ga, it’s cheap, and foolproof.

No need for 10 ga. with that small of a unit. 12 ga. is probably even overkill but run 12 so you could easily upgrade in the future without having to run new wire.

So 12 gauge should work?

I had 16g when I was running two echomap 7 inch screens. I switched to Helix 7s one a mega DI and the other a G2N SI. Couldn’t keep the bow graph running because the 16g wire couldn’t run enough voltage. Switched to 12 and haven’t had any problems.

12g should work great for your needs.

I think 12 is good. A lot of people having problems are hooking up to a fuse block and not doing a dedicated line to the battery.

Denny O wrote:

Does anyone know what the amp requirements is of the OP’s unit?

I didn’t think so.

My point is a lot of you maybe right but,,,,,,?

Do you understand??

I understand that the OP gave insufficient details for anyone to be able to answer his question with absolute certainty, a common occurrence here. Therefore I gave my opinion on what he should do.

No problem I did not realize that some depth finders take more amps than others something I did not know but do know otherwise I would have provided more details. Thanks for everyone’s help