Newb Questions About 1984 Wellcraft Sportsman 228

[smokeonthewater]

You can have BOTH on float switches and BOTH on a dual pole switch or separate switches..
Yes they should both be switched in case of a failure of the float switch.

It's all about redundancy.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by smokeonthewater

You can have BOTH on float switches and BOTH on a dual pole switch or separate switches..
Yes they should both be switched in case of a failure of the float switch.

It's all about redundancy.

Yep...that's what I meant in my previous post about having a switch that has 2 poles...one for auto (float switch) operation, the other for manual operation.

My main pump in the rear of the boat is a Rule 2000. My pump up forward is a Rule 1200. Like Smoke said, it's all about redundancy. BTW, You can never have too big a bilge pump. Ask MJ about the time a wave came over his windshield...

[smokeonthewater]

D what you're talking about is an on/on or on/off/on switch.

I'm referred to a switch with two sets of contacters so both pumps could be controlled by one switch. IE 4 or 6 terminals. Wouldn't be my firs choice tho.

Best IMHO tho would be a simple on/off switch for each pump with the float switch always hot.

[macojoe]

Yep that was a day!! no pumps at all that day, but she floated still with a **** pit full of water!
after that my next boat had 3 pumps! I had two auto one manual, I also put the 2 autos on seprate batterys with the 2nd float a bit higher. This way if it started to leak at the mooring it would kill the first battery then the water would get the 2nd flot and have a full battery for the 2nd pump. hopefully it would give enough time that someone would see something was wrong before it sank!

[SkunkBoat]

My recommendation is buy a new lighted 6 or 8 switch panel. Cut a hole right where the switches are now & mount it there. Replace any questionable wire with MARINE GRADE wire. Don't skimp!

NAV&Anchor/off/Anchor (I'm assuming you have an AllAround white light.)

Horn (momentary ON) get a red switch cover for that one

Bilge1ON(manual)/off(both will be Auto)/Bilge2ON(manual) (wire them both AUTO to electronic sensor switches to the battery with in line fuses)

Wiper on/off

Deck lights on/off

Electronics On/off ( you want to be able to switch off the power to FF/GPS/VHF cables to prevent corrosion, ask me how I know...)

The Compass was probably originally connected to the Engine Key On power. If not, connect it to your Anchor light.

You didn't mention Fuel Gauge. They usually came with a momentary switch but an on/off is better for when you're by yourself...

SO...

The new question is "How is 12V power fed TO your switches?"

Do you have separate 12V feeds from battery, thru an inline fuse, to each switch or is there a fuse block fed by a heavy (8 gauge) wire from the battery?
Is the main feed fused at the battery?

[Destroyer]

Smoke, the switches I use are the on/off/on type you mentioned. Up position is manual on, off in the middle position and automatic in the down position. I also have a bright red LED light wired to the switch. When the pump on, it also turns the LED on, signaling me that the pump is running. That way if I have it in manual mode and I forget it's on, it reminds me to turn it off (so I don't run down the battery), and if it (the light) is on in auto mode it tells me to check and see why the pump is running.

[smokeonthewater]

An indicator is a good idea...
Another idea, especially if you plan to moor or sleep on a boat is to hook up a horn or siren to a float switch mounted higher that the normal one and on a second battery... That way, if the maintenance pump doesn't keep up you get warned or woke up when things get serious.

[A ReelCool Chick]

Originally Posted by destroyer

smoke, the switches i use are the on/off/on type you mentioned. Up position is manual on, off in the middle position and automatic in the down position. I also have a bright red led light wired to the switch. When the pump on, it also turns the led on, signaling me that the pump is running. That way if i have it in manual mode and i forget it's on, it reminds me to turn it off (so i don't run down the battery), and if it (the light) is on in auto mode it tells me to check and see why the pump is running.

nice!!!!

[A ReelCool Chick]

Originally Posted by SkunkBoat

My recommendation is buy a new lighted 6 or 8 switch panel.

Done. You know, I was just going to do toggle switches until I read this...then it dawned on me how much sense it made! I'll know at a glance if a device is getting power, or not.

Originally Posted by SkunkBoat

You didn't mention Fuel Gauge. They usually came with a momentary switch but an on/off is better for when you're by yourself...

Yup! I have fuel, tach, water pressure, voltage and trim (I think I can do without trim). And I didn't even consider including them in my wiring schematic....told ya I was green!

Originally Posted by SkunkBoat

SO...

The new question is "How is 12V power fed TO your switches?"

Do you have separate 12V feeds from battery, thru an inline fuse, to each switch or is there a fuse block fed by a heavy (8 gauge) wire from the battery?
Is the main feed fused at the battery?

I have two batteries with a battery switch....please see the pics below of the cluster I'm facing. Disclaimer: When I looked at this crap, I felt overwhelmed. Instead of trying to jump in and immediately figure it out, I instead took pictures to analyze at home with a clear head. I'm feeling good again.



Connectors at the pos and neg with missing wires, more positive wires than there are negative wires!!!. That cream colored wire at the pos is going into the cabin....could be the lights...could be the stereo. Obviously, removal of the empty connectors, tracing all those positive wires and figuring out where the negatives are going is in order.



That little harness.... That large black cable is the steering cable. I believe my first and easiest traces will be to identify all the thick black cables, as they SHOULD be steering, throttle and trim tab controls.



That thick white cable is coming from the cabin and running ALLLLL the way to the battery...nice...real nice.



The creme de la creme. And I have yet to find any busses near the battery.

Any input, comments, questions or jokes are welcomed!

[A ReelCool Chick]

Originally Posted by SkunkBoat

You didn't mention Fuel Gauge. They usually came with a momentary switch but an on/off is better for when you're by yourself...

I do have a fuel gauge (that I thought I had to replace...'nother story, 'nother thread), and it seems like it's grounded to a switch. Can you please shed some light as to why it would be and why it needs to be on a switch?

UPDATE:

I'm slowing, but surely working my way through it. I have discovered an additional bus bar that must be the original, and it is buried behind a tangle and does have heat coming to it....sigh.

The majority of the switches on that dash have been disconnected...no wonder why nothing works. As you can see in the earlier picture, there is a sad little wire harness that's running loose.

Also, my stern bilge pump (Sahara S750) isn't getting any heat, evidenced by the test knob that I turned. It may need to be replaced, as it was sitting in a block of ice a couple of days ago, and is now sitting in the middle of gunk.