Electrical question?

[steplift20]

I am doing to rewire my boat, do I put the inline fuse by the battery end or by the other end, lights,bilge pump, lights ? I think they should be at the battery end, thanks

[phatdaddy]

not sure what inline fuse you are referring to. id run a hot wire from the battery (or battery switch) to a fuse panel under the dash and then individually fuse the items u mention.

[steplift20]

It's my small boat, I was going to run the wires direct to the battery hot line , battery to switch

[Destroyer]

If you're going to a dash board with lots of gauges, lights, etc then do what Phatdaddy said. But if you're just going to an ignition switch like in a car than put the inline fusible link near the hot terminal of the battery just like they do in cars.

[SkunkBoat]

Fuses should be near the power source because the purpose is to protect the wire from burning if there is a short circiut.

If a fuse is 15 ft from the battery and the wire damaged and shorted to the negative (ground)between the battery and the fuse, then the wire is unprotected and will burn.

If you are going to run a Pos & Neg back to the battery for every circuit then the fuses should be within 7 inches of the battery. This becomes a mess of wires and fuses when you have 2 ff/gps, a VHF, running lights, stereo, horn, wipers,12v Acc socket (cig lighter)...

Often the instructions for electronics tell you to run separate wires and fuse all the way to the battery. This is for their benefit because it rules out the unknowns about your boat wiring if you call them and say it doesn't work.

If you are going to run a Pos & neg feed (8 awg) to a fuse panel under the dash then you need to protect the positive feed with a fuse at or near the battery with a 30A fuse. That panel then, in essence, becomes a power source and the separate circuits are appropraitely fused at the panel.

[SkunkBoat]

Another way to go on a small boat is to put a fuse block and ground bus near the battery if you have a protected area. At least that way you can use blade fuses (ATO) instead of glass fuses. Much easier to identify and replace. You'll still have a lot of wires but it can be organized better than a bunch of ring terminals on a battery.

[steplift20]

Thanks guys ,that's what I thought Near the battery end I just wanted to confirm it cause I was not 100 percent sure, I knew you guys would come thru with the right answers, you always do Thanks again. And just in case you are thinking of getting a steering knob I bought one on Amazon for 12 bucks and it's real nice but the bracket didn't fit over my cushioned steering wheel so I had to make one It works fine ,on land lol Hopefully it will work on the water, only time will tell

[scook]

You don’t need any confirmation but here it is anyway - Skunk absolutely, completely nailed it with his comments and of course so did Destroyer.

I won’t comment on the padded steering wheel

[scook]

Oh, and Phat too.