OMC Wiring Harness

Electrical and electronic topics for small boats
Spc337
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:44 am

OMC Wiring Harness

Postby Spc337 » Fri Sep 28, 2018 5:02 pm

Now that I've removed all the wiring from my console, I noticed that the main rigging wire bundle from the engine was butt spliced to extend the wires at some point. The splices look well made.

Considering have everything disconnected and the deck off, is the replacement of this rigging wire bungle worth the cost and time?

The splices would be located just above the floor inside the console, thus mostly dry.

HarnessSplice.jpg
Fig. 1. The spiced main rigging wire bundle
HarnessSplice.jpg (56.32 KiB) Viewed 7015 times


[Topic has been moved to SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL--jimh]
Boston Whaler 1979 V-22 Outrage

jimh
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Re: OMC Wiring Harness

Postby jimh » Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:53 am

The splices appear to be made with heat-shrink insulation--as you described, a good job.

WIthout knowing what engine you have or the year, it is impossible to know the cost for a replacement wiring harness. If the wiring harness pre-dates the conversion by OMC to their modular wiring system (MWS) engine harness, I don't know if you could even buy a replacement for the existing harness from new stock. I am not sure if that older harness is still being made available as a repair or replacement part.

If the wiring is a MWS harness, a new replacement should be easily found at an Evinrude dealer. Consult the dealer for the cost.

As for the present wiring harness, the electrical connections should not affect the operation of the circuits involved as long as the connections are solid and add minimal resistance. However the splices do represent a reduction in the mechanical integrity of the assembly.

As a general rule, on a small boat there should never be any particular conductor whose circuit is so long that it demands that two conductors be spliced together for that service, and on that basis I would recommend against having any splice that could be avoided. In this instance, the splices may be tolerated because there is no easy, inexpensive, or perhaps even available replacement.

Also, based on the appearance of the two segments that are spliced together, I infer that both sides are OEM wiring, and perhaps the splice was made to repair damage to the original assembly, and not necessarily to extend the assembly. If the purpose were to extend, the wire insulation colors would likely be different, as coming up with the exact same wire size and insulation to make an extension might be difficult.