CONTINUOUSWAVE

I want to install a trolling motor on my 2019 170 MONTAUK My boat did not come with the trolling motor option and has the high bow rail. I have the project just about all spec'ed out with a local shop I trust to include the bow rail modification, but the shop is very concerned about running the wire to bow. By the drawings in the owner's manual it looks like thereis a wire run (in side a tube for the wires) along the starboard side of the boat running to the bow for the navigation lamp. If you buy the trolling motor option at time of purchase, the tube will also have the trolling motor wires.

What I can't confirm is:

Q1: that tube actually there, or if you didn't get the trolling motor, did was the [navigation lamp] wire just laid in the hull and foamed-in-place?

Q2: if there is a wiring conduit, does the conduit extend to bow, and can I wires still be run through it?

Q3: or if there was a conduit but no trolling motor, was the conduit filled with foam at the ends?

I have noted there are two ports on the deck in the center console near the battery for wire to run out. The one with a rope pull goes to the stern for the transducer wire. The other one is full of every other wire and cable which must include the bow wires. I filled with expandable foam. See the illustration in Figure 1.



What I don't know is [the foam that closes off one of the routes] is just a foam cap to prevent water intrusion or the foam runs deeper.

Please help.

ASIDE:
Hi All. I am new to the forum. I've spent hours trying to research this online with no success, so I wanted to ask your help.

Andy

For some guidance, read the existing discussion on a very similar topic at

2010 170 MONTAUK Trolling Motor Wiring Path
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8213

The most important information for you in your situation is this comment, which I have excerpted from the long discussion that tended to wander a bit:

[The installation of new wiring between the console and the bow] was as follows:

• the [combined sidelights lamp at the bow was removed] and the wires [attach to the lamp] were cut;
• the [remaining wires that were routed to the center console] were attached to an electrician's fish wire
  at the console, and the existing wires for the navigation lamp were pulled out, pulling in the electrician's fish wire to the console, using the already existing path;
• the installer connected two 8-AWG wires [and an additional 14-AWG conductor] to the fish tape, and pulled back to the bow.

The installer noted that two people were needed to get the new 8-AWG wires pulled through [the path from console to bow].

I interpret that last comment (about difficulty in pulling new wires into place) to be due to having to bust through some foam somewhere that was constricting the path.

To access the wires at the bow, the owner cut an exploratory circular hole at the bow. This is illustrated in the thread linked above.

The essential element to implementing this method is to locate the power wires at the console that provide power to the navigation lamp at the bow. You should be able to deduce where these wires are by starting at the three-position switch on the helm console that controls the navigation lamps. The navigation lamp at the bow is only illuminated in one position of the switch. This can be easily identified with some testing and observation. Determine which wire on the back of the switch when disconnected cause the bow navigation lamp to extinguish. (Usually the wire at attached to the switch with push-on spade connectors. If your boat has soldered-on connections, just find out which terminal on the switch loses power when the bow navigation lamp is extinguished using a test meter and probe.

Also, if you have the factory drawing that shows the wiring in schematic form, the drawing should include the WIRE NUMBER that will be attached to the actual wire. Every wire should have a unique number. The insulation color and wire gauge should also be denoted in the schematic diagram. In other words, it should not take ESP to deduce what wire connects to the navigation lamp at the bow.

Regarding the cited article being on a 2010 model and your boat being a 2019 model, there could be some differences. The hull was changed quite a bit in 2018 models and after.

But since the boat you have is less than ten years old and is still a current model in production, you darn well ought to be able to call Boston Whaler customer service and ask them about this. Based on reports I have heard, Boston Whaler is now deflecting inquires about older boats to use the continuousWave website to get answers, but in this case, your 2019 boat should get any question you have answered by the factory support people--in theory at least.

ASIDE
For decades if you called Boston Whaler to ask a question about a boat they built, your call would be routed to Chuck Bennet. Chuck was at the factory, was familiar with practically every boat Boston Whaler ever made, and would know the answer. If Chuck did not know he would find someone in the factory that did know.

I think now customer service might be farmed out to people who are not even at the factory, work from home, and perhaps have never seen a 170 MONTAUK boat being built. Good Luck. And I hope you don't have to reply and tell me you already called the factory and they sent you here.

Another consideration: when pulling in any new cables for a trolling motor, consider getting a 24-Volt trolling motor. The higher voltage will reduce the amount of current needed. Also the higher system voltage will allow for a greater tolerance in voltage drop in the wiring to the motor from the battery. Both factors will allow use of smaller wire gauge.