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Author Topic:   No power to electronics

the_FishMaster posted 10-04-2010 05:40 PM ET (US)
My chart plotter and fish finder suddenly stopped working. They are two separate devices (not a combo unit). The fact that both of them don't work leads me to think that it is not a fuse problem (unless there is a common fuse for both devices somewhere in the circuit). I checked under the center console and there are no loose wires. I checked the circuit box near the bilge opening on the transom. Everything looks connected. There is a little corrosion on a few of the connections, but otherwise everything looks connected. There was a 30 amp fuse connecting one of those wires. I took it out and checked it. The fuse is still good. Perhaps there is a break in one of the wires? I was going to check the integrity of the wires running the bilge tunnel. Is there an easy way of doing this? Everything else works (tilt/trim, radio, bilge pump, raw water washdown, etc.). I have dual batteries connected to a Perko Switch. The electronics do not work on "A", "B" or "All". Both batteries are good (one of them is almost brand new). Any advice on how to troubleshoot this? Sorry, I'm don't know that much about electrical stuff.
Thanks.
jimh posted 10-04-2010 08:12 PM ET (US)
You have two options:
--hire someone who knows about electrical stuff to diagnose and repair your problem; or,
--learn about electrical stuff.
For guidance in basic electrical troubleshooting procedures, please see:
Basic Electrical Troubleshooting Procedures
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/001139.html
contender posted 10-05-2010 08:17 AM ET (US)
Fish. you need to get a length of wire (2/16 should be good enough) to reach your battery to the electronics, The electronics have two wires to run the unit positive and neg. make a small length of wire with some alligator clips. 1st disconnect the connections from the rear of your unit , then use the clips to reconnect to the new wire. If it works you know you have a bad wire/fuse/connection in your old lines, if it does not work something is wrong with your unit. Now to figure out which wire is bad connect the pos. of the new wire to your unit, and use the old neg. If the unit works you know you have an old bad pos. line. If not your neg old line is bad...good luck
jimh posted 10-05-2010 08:00 PM ET (US)
I have found that you cannot teach basic electronics to people who have no understanding of basic electronics in a few sentences, and, accordingly, I do not try to to that.
L H G posted 10-07-2010 02:48 AM ET (US)
Sounds fairly straight forward to me. If ALL of your connections and fuses are good as you indicate, you have a bad wire, or bad wire crimp, supplying the electronics, either the pos or the neg.
Wires in a tunnel can often go bad or get nicked, and even if the insulation looks perfect on the outside, the wire inside can be bad. I have had that happen to me twice over my boating career, once where the original BW furnished new wire used under the boat rubrail was literally defective with no wire continuity under the insulation.
As mentioned, do a temp connection using new wire to make sure the electronics themselves are still good. For any wires being run in the boat's tunnel, Ancor marine sheathed cable is highly recommended. Even though BW did it in the older boats, do not run bare wires of any size taped togther in the tunnel.

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Author	Topic: No power to electronics
the_FishMaster	posted 10-04-2010 05:40 PM ET (US) My chart plotter and fish finder suddenly stopped working. They are two separate devices (not a combo unit). The fact that both of them don't work leads me to think that it is not a fuse problem (unless there is a common fuse for both devices somewhere in the circuit). I checked under the center console and there are no loose wires. I checked the circuit box near the bilge opening on the transom. Everything looks connected. There is a little corrosion on a few of the connections, but otherwise everything looks connected. There was a 30 amp fuse connecting one of those wires. I took it out and checked it. The fuse is still good. Perhaps there is a break in one of the wires? I was going to check the integrity of the wires running the bilge tunnel. Is there an easy way of doing this? Everything else works (tilt/trim, radio, bilge pump, raw water washdown, etc.). I have dual batteries connected to a Perko Switch. The electronics do not work on "A", "B" or "All". Both batteries are good (one of them is almost brand new). Any advice on how to troubleshoot this? Sorry, I'm don't know that much about electrical stuff. Thanks.
jimh	posted 10-04-2010 08:12 PM ET (US) You have two options: --hire someone who knows about electrical stuff to diagnose and repair your problem; or, --learn about electrical stuff. For guidance in basic electrical troubleshooting procedures, please see: Basic Electrical Troubleshooting Procedures http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/001139.html
contender	posted 10-05-2010 08:17 AM ET (US) Fish. you need to get a length of wire (2/16 should be good enough) to reach your battery to the electronics, The electronics have two wires to run the unit positive and neg. make a small length of wire with some alligator clips. 1st disconnect the connections from the rear of your unit , then use the clips to reconnect to the new wire. If it works you know you have a bad wire/fuse/connection in your old lines, if it does not work something is wrong with your unit. Now to figure out which wire is bad connect the pos. of the new wire to your unit, and use the old neg. If the unit works you know you have an old bad pos. line. If not your neg old line is bad...good luck
jimh	posted 10-05-2010 08:00 PM ET (US) I have found that you cannot teach basic electronics to people who have no understanding of basic electronics in a few sentences, and, accordingly, I do not try to to that.
L H G	posted 10-07-2010 02:48 AM ET (US) Sounds fairly straight forward to me. If ALL of your connections and fuses are good as you indicate, you have a bad wire, or bad wire crimp, supplying the electronics, either the pos or the neg. Wires in a tunnel can often go bad or get nicked, and even if the insulation looks perfect on the outside, the wire inside can be bad. I have had that happen to me twice over my boating career, once where the original BW furnished new wire used under the boat rubrail was literally defective with no wire continuity under the insulation. As mentioned, do a temp connection using new wire to make sure the electronics themselves are still good. For any wires being run in the boat's tunnel, Ancor marine sheathed cable is highly recommended. Even though BW did it in the older boats, do not run bare wires of any size taped togther in the tunnel.