Boat wiring advice required

[danc]

Yesterday, I attempted to wire a cigarette lighter plug in on my boat so that I can plug in my GPS or cell phone while fishing. With a tester, I found a good ground and then tied the power end into the line that feeds my fish finder. I won't be using it for lighting cigars and such, so the current draw will be minimal. So I got it all wired up, plugged in my GPS adapter and noticed that the red power indicator light on the adapter didn't light up. I tried plugging in the GPS and of course, had no power. So next I tried my cell phone adapter. Same thing. No red light and no power. I tested the socket of the plug in with my tester and it showed power. It is one of those testers that lights up when a circuit is complete, which it did. I didn't have a volt meter to tell me how much power was there. I got a little frustrated and left it as is. I'd get back to it later. This morning I took my cell phone and adapter to my truck and was going to top up the charge on my way to work. No red light and no power to the phone. I tried my cigarette lighter and it worked fine. So again there was power at the plug in. Now I started to worry. I thought that some how I might have fried both my cell phone and my GPS adapters. Later in the day I was fiddling around with my cell phone adapter and discovered that the end screws off and there is a glass fuse inside, which was blown. I came home to discover the same thing has happened to my GPS adapter. An easy fix, but why did the fuses blow? The only thing that I can think of is that I had reversed the polarity on my wiring. Hooked up the ground to the power and the power to the ground. Could this be the problem? Would this cause both fuses to blow? The cigarette plug in had a gray wire and a white wire. I hooked up the gray to the ground and the white to the power.

 

Help guys...

[Gerritt]

Hey Dan... I assume it is a cigarette socket... there is a difference between a cigarette adaptor and a power outlet... one is DEEPER then the other... I know in my truck I have two.. and the one that is label Acc. is definably deeper... perhaps this could solve your mystery?

 

 

Gerritt

[misfish]

Dan,I hear Irish has an opening for Wednesday,bring it down to him.

The ranger has one, and it is a great saver as I use mine for the gps.

[danc]

Hey Dan... I assume it is a cigarette socket... there is a difference between a cigarette adaptor and a power outlet... one is DEEPER then the other... I know in my truck I have two.. and the one that is label Acc. is definably deeper... perhaps this could solve your mystery?

Gerritt

 

It's a power outlet then Gerritt. It's quite deep. I bought it at CTC.

[Fisherman]

Wiring codes for DC are different from AC. White on my trailer is 12 - and the other colour is 12+. The other way to look at it, the center contact in the socket is 12+, the ouside is 12-. If you're lucky, you only toasted the fuses.

[Terry]

when you said you found a good ground

do you mean a good ground wire

or do you have an aluminum boat and using the boat as a ground?

which I feel is a bad thing to do

and could be your problem..i

[sonny]

ok here is an easy way to find the polarity,,,the outside is supposed to be the ground and the inner contact is supposed to be the power,,,thats all ther is to it!

[irishfield]

Dan,I hear Irish has an opening for Wednesday,bring it down to him.

 

As long as you're here before Noon !

 

Others have it covered Dan...center is Positive..case is ground. Thank god your adapters had fuses..many don't!

Edited June 5, 2007 by irishfield

[danc]

As long as you're here before Noon !

 

Others have it covered Dan...center is Positive..case is ground. Thank god your adapters had fuses..many don't!

 

 

OK. Thanks guys. The boat is all covered up and I don't feel like looking at it now. Maybe tomorrow. I'll report back if this fixes it. Also, I did ground it right to a bolt on the console Terry. Why is this not a good idea?

[Terry]

aluminum and electricity really don't like each other...it can cause corrosion on lose joints and rivets problems where the copper wire meets the aluminum to make the boat a ground or other types of metal and if any positive wire falls off it almost has to hit the boat causing a short or a meltdown

[danc]

aluminum and electricity really don't like each other...it can cause corrosion on lose joints and rivets problems where the copper wire meets the aluminum to make the boat a ground or other types of metal and if any positive wire falls off it almost has to hit the boat causing a short or a meltdown

 

 

OK Thanks Terry. Good advice. I'll find a proper ground. Actually there's a ground block just out of reach of my ground wire so I'll extend it and ground it there. Also, I'll pm you shortly about that little deal that we have discussed.

[JPD]

I agree with Terry on this one Dan. Use a ground wire from your graph or any other gauge that runs off the battery negative. What goes out, goes right back in!!!

[tjsa]

It's a power outlet then Gerritt. It's quite deep. I bought it at CTC.

 

I highly doubt the "deeper socket" accessory outlet is the problem, unless you did not push the cig. lighter adapter in all the way. I have one myself, bought at CTC also. But didn't blow the fuses for my GPS unit on my dashboard. It is most probably the wiring indicators.

We often "assume" that the white is positive voltage, with regards to DC wiring, when it is actually the ground in most cases. I said most cases!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I just checked a couple of "adapters" I own, both cigarette lighter adapters. One cable I own, bought it over 20 yrs. ago, it came with a rechargeable Maglite flashlight, and both wires are black, but one has a white tracer line on it.

 

Guess what, its the positive lead!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

On the other, newer one, the white is the GROUND!!!!!!

 

Thats why I own a digital multimeter, and an analogue one also, both serve their purposes, but for general figgering out DC, digital tells you right away. Gives you a -minus sign, or a +plus sign(sometimes not on cheaper units) for DC voltages, and you can then make the proper connections.

 

Dan, those fuses probably saved your electronics, as most DC electronics in sealed units often times do not have protection from getting the polarity wrong, at least not that you can service yourself. They either rely on external fusing, or they employ internally surface mounted fuses, which require special tools, soldering irons, etc. to replace them. Damn near need a scanning electron microscope to replace them, they are that small(dealing with 2 pieces of electronics at work presently with this exact situation, gonna have to spend about 400 bucks to get the proper tools to service these 2 units, but its cheaper than sending them away for service).

 

I put an alligator clip across the fuse, and the units worked just fine, but I cannot leave the darned thing there, . Yah know, risk of fire and all that crap.

 

Most of the building should survive, at least the superstructure, we can rebuild it.

 

Here are a couple of units available locally that can save you a lot of heartache.

 

http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/Product....product=2211813

 

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_...fromSearch=true

 

And, the many uses of a multimeter are not reserved for just DC, or AC voltages, you can use them for finding out if there is a wire break by using the continuity function. Put the lead at one end of a wire, and you do not see a reading at the other end of said wire, you ultimately know, its broken. Have used this function for testing extension cords, many, many, many times.

 

It does not tell you where the break is, but at least it tells you its broken.

 

OK. Thanks guys. The boat is all covered up and I don't feel like looking at it now. Maybe tomorrow. I'll report back if this fixes it. Also, I did ground it right to a bolt on the console Terry. Why is this not a good idea?

 

Dan, boat ground, and electronics grounds are 2 widely different things. You want the electronics ground. If that bolt on the console has a ground wire attached to it, you should be good to go. If not, find another piece of electronic equipment on your boat, follow its ground wire to its terminus. If it is isolated on a "buss bar"(spade lug connection most likely) thats where the ground for your adapter should be grounded.

 

Now, you may have run out of available space for grounds, not uncommon, not to worry. Go to The Source, or maybe InterComm Supply locally, on Victoria Ave. You can get spade lug adapters, that allow you to attach more than one ground, or connection, to one spade lug.

 

I have seen way more than one boat severely lacking in available ground connections, but they all seem to have just enough positive connections.

[danc]

Thanks JPD and tjsa. And I thought that this was such a simple job.

 

Damn good thing that I didn't blow up my GPS. I paid about $500.00 for it and it's only about a month old.

[tjsa]

Thanks JPD and tjsa. And I thought that this was such a simple job.

 

Damn good thing that I didn't blow up my GPS. I paid about $500.00 for it and it's only about a month old.

 

 

 

BOATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SIMPLE???????????????

 

:lol: :lol: