# Rewire Project - '05 Ranger Phantom - (and Wiring Diagrams)



## not2shabby

I'm going to tackle rewiring my skiff.

I'm asking for a quality control (QC) check on my diagram. Shoot holes in it and help me avoid issues in the future. Any feedback is more than welcome! I really appreciate the help.

Apologies for the image resolution. The original diagram is accessible on my google drive here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_oeE_LufFakNHF0eE1MbGJwT2s










**I strangely feel the need to write a disclaimer on here. Do not use this wiring diagram to wire your boat. I am not a professional electrician and I know little to nothing about electrical systems. This diagram is posted for review purposes only.


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## Smackdaddy53

I think you need 50A fuse/breaker within a foot of each positive battery terminal.


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## jmrodandgun

Not too shabby, but what are you doing about a charging circuit?


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## not2shabby

Smackdaddy53 said:


> I think you need 50A fuse/breaker within a foot of each positive battery terminal.


Thanks, Mac. The little maroon ovals are supposed to be 50A breakers. Do I need to ADD one between the starting battery and the switch or can I move the one between the switch and the motor to upstream of the switch?


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## not2shabby

jmrodandgun said:


> Not too shabby, but what are you doing about a charging circuit?


Great question. The skiff currently has a 3 bank charger installed in one of the bow hatches. I hadn't planned on changing that wiring/configuration. It's a good charger, I think.


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## MariettaMike

That's a pretty good diagram.

You need a full time power feed to your bilge pump auto float switch from the line side of the battery switch with an in-line fuse.

Personally I would NOT waste time and money wiring up one of your TM batteries as a back up for cranking. If you carry the right tools you can move a TM battery if you have to. Or just carry jumper cables.

Lastly I would add a large post terminal for landing all negatives. (Don't use the battery terminal as a junction point.)


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## permitchaser

I like your diagram, look simple but you haven't seen under my console. Spaghetti of wires and a fuse box. As long as the motor starts, lights work, pumps work and GPS/depth finder I am good to go. But some day I'd like to change it to a neater plastic fuse box
Good luck with your project. Post pictures so I can decide if I want to tackle it


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## Smackdaddy53

not2shabby said:


> Thanks, Mac. The little maroon ovals are supposed to be 50A breakers. Do I need to ADD one between the starting battery and the switch or can I move the one between the switch and the motor to upstream of the switch?


Between the cranking battery and battery switch. Just move the other one that's coming off the right side of your battery switch. 
I am no wiring expert either but I'm pretty sure you need a fuse on the positive cable within a short distance of the terminal. There is a formula somewhere.


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## jmrodandgun

Are you sure about fusing the starter feed line? Doesn't seem necessary and starters draw far more than 50 amps.


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## Smackdaddy53

jmrodandgun said:


> Are you sure about fusing the starter feed line? Doesn't seem necessary and starters draw far more than 50 amps.


There is a marine wiring website that explains it all. You are probably right because I looked at mine and there is no fuse on the cranking lead.


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## not2shabby

jmrodandgun said:


> Are you sure about fusing the starter feed line? Doesn't seem necessary and starters draw far more than 50 amps.


That's a good thought. Right now, skiff has a 50A breaker in the positive feed from the starting battery and it trips all the time. I thought it was a bad breaker, but perhaps it's just in the wrong place. Plenty of mysteries and gremlins in this new-to-me boat. 

In the case that the 50A breaker on the starting circuit can be eliminated (I'll do a bit more research), then the rest of the wiring would be protected by the fuses in the block. The TM would have its own breaker on the 24v wiring.

@MariettaMike I agree that wiring the TM #1 battery as a backup starting battery is probably not worth the effort. It would be a relatively long run of 6ga wire that I can eliminate. Thanks for the great feedback. I'll get a large post terminal, too.


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## jmrodandgun

See if this helps. https://www.paneltronics.com/atimo_s/news/E11Excerpts.pdf

The breaker should be between the switch and the fuse panel, not the switch and the starter solenoid.


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## not2shabby

Parts have started arriving. Now I just need some time.

Blue Sea ST Blade Fuse Block - 5026
Blue Sea e-Series On/Off Battery Switch 
Blue Sea 187 Series Circuit Breakers

Updated the diagram and decided to NOT wire in one of the TM batteries as a backup for starting. I relocated the breaker - no longer showing it on the starting circuit. It will go very near the battery on the 6ga positive wire between the battery switch and the fuse block. I decided against a separate busbar for negative and bought the fuse block that has 12 terminals for landing negatives.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_oeE_LufFakNHF0eE1MbGJwT2s (best viewed in excel)

Now just waiting for tinnedmarinewire.com to start back up after their vacation so I can order wiring and terminals. I'll make sure to take some photos along the way.


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## permitchaser

not2shabby said:


> Parts have started arriving. Now I just need some time.
> 
> Blue Sea ST Blade Fuse Block - 5026
> Blue Sea e-Series On/Off Battery Switch
> Blue Sea 187 Series Circuit Breakers
> 
> Updated the diagram and decided to NOT wire in one of the TM batteries as a backup for starting. I relocated the breaker - no longer showing it on the starting circuit. It will go very near the battery on the 6ga positive wire between the battery switch and the fuse block. I decided against a separate busbar for negative and bought the fuse block that has 12 terminals for landing negatives.
> 
> https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_oeE_LufFakNHF0eE1MbGJwT2s (best viewed in excel)
> 
> Now just waiting for tinnedmarinewire.com to start back up after their vacation so I can order wiring and terminals. I'll make sure to take some photos along the way.


I don't have excel on my kindle so I could not see it. Probably better cause I wouldn't understand it. I have a breaker on my 24v TM battery. I don't think I have one on my cranking battery, don't think you need one
Good luck with your wiring. 
I'm so bad at wiring when I pulled the transducer wire through the hole that carries all the wires from the back, I knocked out the lights and bilge pumps and had to take it to my mechanic to fix it


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## MariettaMike

not2shabby said:


> Parts have started arriving. Now I just need some time.
> 
> Blue Sea ST Blade Fuse Block - 5026
> Blue Sea e-Series On/Off Battery Switch
> Blue Sea 187 Series Circuit Breakers
> 
> Updated the diagram and decided to NOT wire in one of the TM batteries as a backup for starting. I relocated the breaker - no longer showing it on the starting circuit. It will go very near the battery on the 6ga positive wire between the battery switch and the fuse block. I decided against a separate busbar for negative and bought the fuse block that has 12 terminals for landing negatives.
> 
> https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_oeE_LufFakNHF0eE1MbGJwT2s (best viewed in excel)
> 
> Now just waiting for tinnedmarinewire.com to start back up after their vacation so I can order wiring and terminals. I'll make sure to take some photos along the way.


Good choice on the fuse block.

Using heat shrink ring lugs for all your wiring connections to the fuse panel is worth the extra effort. Just don't make a jig for the first foot of wire near the panel, then butt splice on an ass load of slack wire that is hidden away with tie wraps under the dash/gunnel like some builders do. (Butt splices add four failure points per circuit.)


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## not2shabby

A few additional questions I've come up with while digging in and trying to understand the current wiring on the skiff:

1. How important do you think it is to have lighted rocker switches? The switches on the console panel each have a little light that illuminates when the switch is "on" but that requires each switch to have a complete circuit with the battery instead of just being a pass-through for a positive feed. I could eliminate a lot of jumpers/terminals/heat shrink if I decide that I don't need those little lights. Thoughts? Resale implications?

2. Dielectric grease on terminals after making good connections or no? I was planning to crimp, heat shrink, and torque all of my connections and then lightly coat each exposed lug/terminal with dielectric grease. Is this worth it? Obviously none of my connections will be in wet spaces, but several are in very HUMID spaces.

3. New switch panel? The panel that came on this 2005 has the little fuse breakers built in, so there is a little push-button reset next to each switch and a whole ton of wiring on the backside to jump each little breaker to the switch. Since I plan on using a fuse block, I will eliminate all of these breakers from the circuits, but would kind of like to eliminate them all together...but that leaves holes in the front of my switch plate. I could try to find small stainless bolts to fit each hole or replace the switch panel completely. Can I make a custom switch panel? Buy one? Is either worth the effort/cost? I was actually thinking teak or purpleheart (with lots and lots of coats of polyurethane) would be interesting.

4. Horn. My skiff has a horn. Is this a USCG requirement?? I'm super tempted to take it off and eliminate one more switch with associated wiring. Open to feedback on this one.


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## not2shabby

@Smackdaddy53 or @MariettaMike or @DuckNut - any thoughts on my previous post? Thanks in advance.


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## not2shabby

As with any project, it has taken me a while just to find a little time to tinker. Progress is slow, but I managed an hour in the shop this weekend. 

I got a 30" x 30" piece of white 1/2" starboard on eBay to use in the construction of a small electrical box which will mount in the rear hatch near the battery. It's my first time working with starboard and, for the most part, I'm pretty impressed. The little box will be just deep enough to flush mount my switch and breaker and I'm sure I have over-designed it structurally. Fasteners seem to be holding much stronger than I had anticipated.

The only issue I ran into was my large holesaw "walking" a little bit and then melting some of the starboard as it worked through the 1/2" materials. I might fill the gap with lexel, but it's not too noticeable.

Here's the preliminary layout. 9" x 13" x 3.5" starboard box. 
View media item 1898
Getting the holes marked and aligned for the switch and breaker. 
View media item 1899
Here's as far as I got this weekend. The switch and breaker are mounted with stainless steel hardware including stainless nylock nuts. The fuse panel will be mounted on the right with 1" holes on either side of it to pass wires through and smaller holes above and below to feed the 6ga wires to the fuse panel. 
View media item 1900


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## Smackdaddy53

not2shabby said:


> A few additional questions I've come up with while digging in and trying to understand the current wiring on the skiff:
> 
> 1. How important do you think it is to have lighted rocker switches? The switches on the console panel each have a little light that illuminates when the switch is "on" but that requires each switch to have a complete circuit with the battery instead of just being a pass-through for a positive feed. I could eliminate a lot of jumpers/terminals/heat shrink if I decide that I don't need those little lights. Thoughts? Resale implications?
> I don't think lighted switches are that important...KISS principle!
> 
> 2. Dielectric grease on terminals after making good connections or no? I was planning to crimp, heat shrink, and torque all of my connections and then lightly coat each exposed lug/terminal with dielectric grease. Is this worth it? Obviously none of my connections will be in wet spaces, but several are in very HUMID spaces.
> Yes, it couldn't hurt and soldering/heat shrinking connections is never a bad idea IMO.
> 
> 3. New switch panel? The panel that came on this 2005 has the little fuse breakers built in, so there is a little push-button reset next to each switch and a whole ton of wiring on the backside to jump each little breaker to the switch. Since I plan on using a fuse block, I will eliminate all of these breakers from the circuits, but would kind of like to eliminate them all together...but that leaves holes in the front of my switch plate. I could try to find small stainless bolts to fit each hole or replace the switch panel completely. Can I make a custom switch panel? Buy one? Is either worth the effort/cost? I was actually thinking teak or purpleheart (with lots and lots of coats of polyurethane) would be interesting.
> Matter of taste, I like to fab what I can. The wood "wood" be a cool idea. There are also a million ways to go about it or just have one custom made. I have a link to a site that makes custom acrylic panels but they are pricey.
> 
> 4. Horn. My skiff has a horn. Is this a USCG requirement?? I'm super tempted to take it off and eliminate one more switch with associated wiring. Open to feedback on this one.
> Naa, just yell!


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## not2shabby

Haven't had much time to work on Phantom, but I completely rewired the 24v TM system last week with new 6ga tinned marine wire, plug, and receptacle. I also finally got around to pulling off old wiring, breakers, and switches from stern to bow this weekend. I have several piles that look like this.










My goal is a simple and reliable electrical system that is also easy to troubleshoot. I was able to go from about 16 wires on the starting battery to 5. 2 x charging wires, 2 x leads to the electrical box, and 1 x negative for the starting circuit. The positive for the starting circuit will go to the battery switch, as shown in the latest version of the wiring diagram.

I decided to refurbish the original switch panel (aluminum), so I pulled it off and did some sanding and priming. I think I'll paint it with hammered Rustoleum and then a couple of coats of poly. Blue Sea makes 1/4" plugs for the breaker holes in the panel, so each of them will be plugged.










Every connection is getting a heat shrink terminal with double-wall adhesive heat shrink on top. My standard for each run (terminal to load) is a maximum of one butt connector to keep troubleshooting simple and any run under the deck will have no interruptions or connections.


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## not2shabby

Hammered Rustoleum in a rattle can is actually impressive. I’ll clear coat it tomorrow.


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## not2shabby

Finished the little starboard electrical box. Ready to start running wires.


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## not2shabby

A good reference for wiring common Carling rocker switches.


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## not2shabby

Really happy with the switch panel rehab. Added a Blue Sea dual USB quick charger and traditional 12v socket.









Turns out the Blue Sea breaker plugs are 5/8”. These older breaker holes are 3/8”. I should have put some calipers to them, but assumed it was all standard. Grainger has the 3/8” panel plugs.


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## not2shabby

12 pairs of these to do. A good pair of ratcheting crimpers is invaluable.


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## not2shabby

Project complete! I’ll put together a list of best practices and lessons learned. Not a project for the faint of heart, but having a great electrical system provides tons of confidence in skiff reliability! Love it!


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## nautilott

As an electron challenged person, I'm impressed with your re-wire project...very nice professional looking job, congrats.


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## Cam

Looks great. I am sure you figured this out but if your bilge has a float switch, you want to wire that straight to the battery 1 side of the battery selector. That way your bilge pump can run independent of the battery selector when necessary.

BTW, what program did you use for the diagram?


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## not2shabby

yes, I wouldn’t have thought about that but somebody mentioned it to me early on.

I created that version in Excel.


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## JJHang20

not2shabby said:


> Project complete! I’ll put together a list of best practices and lessons learned. Not a project for the faint of heart, but having a great electrical system provides tons of confidence in skiff reliability! Love it!
> 
> View attachment 19448
> View attachment 19449


Wow what a detailed and quality job.
I know I am a little late but did you do "a list of best practices and lessons learned" and or any other wiring pictures? I am starting a very similar but smaller project soon.
Also which Titan ratcheting crimpers did you use, was there different crimpers for the ring terminals verse butt connector?
Thanks you


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## not2shabby

Thanks for the positive feedback. I didn’t do a follow-up, as promised.

The crimpers are Titan 11477. They were economical and perform great. They handled all of the crimping except for the battery terminals which were 6ga, if I remember right. I got a big set of hexagonal crimpers for those. 

Here are some tips I would propose:

1. Start by mapping your electrical system and all accessories. A wiring diagram will help you think through your project. I did a schematic diagram and a map showing wire runs from accessories to switches to fuse panel to power. This helped to identify numbers and gages of wires I would be running through specific places.

2. Add a lot of detail to your map. Terminal types and sizes, wire gages, etc. For instance, 12ga ring terminal for 1/4” stud. This is what I used to develop my materials list.

3. Get good tinned marine wire and terminals. I got mine from tinnedmarinewire.com and was very happy with their service and products.

4. Use heat shrink terminals AND double adhesive heat shrink.

5. I believe a cardinal rule of marine wiring is no wing nuts. It’s worth repeating...no wing nuts. Use lock washers and hex nuts everywhere you can.

6. Use terminal blocks to minimize wire runs and simplify wiring.

7. Minimize butt connectors. Each one introduces two possible points of failure.

8. Where you make an exposed connection (switch, fuse panel, battery) use a little dielectric grease AFTER you make a good connection. Dielectric grease is an insulator, so make a good connection with your terminal and then add some dielectric grease to help prevent corrosion.

9. If you can afford to, buy good quality accessories. I really liked Blue Sea Systems battery disconnect switch and fuse panel. If you shop around, you can find good quality components and not have to pay retail.

10. Inventory the wire gages of your accessories and make sure you are within the range of application for your connectors and terminals. I ran into a couple of spots where I planned for larger gage wires but the accessory had 16ga or something 2+ sizes smaller than I had planned to use.

Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy your project and start a thread to document your progress!


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## jboriol

Nice work, it takes time and planning but knowing your electrical system to that level is priceless when something fails.


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## not2shabby

jboriol said:


> knowing your electrical system to that level is priceless when something fails.


Too true.

Also too bad I sold the Phantom a month after the rewire and took on a whole new project...haha! I have plans for my Whipray soon!


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## JJHang20

not2shabby said:


> As with any project, it has taken me a while just to find a little time to tinker. Progress is slow, but I managed an hour in the shop this weekend.
> 
> I got a 30" x 30" piece of white 1/2" starboard on eBay to use in the construction of a small electrical box which will mount in the rear hatch near the battery. It's my first time working with starboard and, for the most part, I'm pretty impressed. The little box will be just deep enough to flush mount my switch and breaker and I'm sure I have over-designed it structurally. Fasteners seem to be holding much stronger than I had anticipated.
> 
> The only issue I ran into was my large holesaw "walking" a little bit and then melting some of the starboard as it worked through the 1/2" materials. I might fill the gap with lexel, but it's not too noticeable.
> 
> Here's the preliminary layout. 9" x 13" x 3.5" starboard box.
> View media item 1898
> Getting the holes marked and aligned for the switch and breaker.
> View media item 1899
> Here's as far as I got this weekend. The switch and breaker are mounted with stainless steel hardware including stainless nylock nuts. The fuse panel will be mounted on the right with 1" holes on either side of it to pass wires through and smaller holes above and below to feed the 6ga wires to the fuse panel.
> View media item 1900


I am not able to view the 3 pictures from your post above.
If possible I would love to see them and any other additional pics you have from your wiring project. Thanks again.


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## not2shabby

Sure thing. Those three photos are just layout & progress on the switch & fuse box. I don't have any photos that are not included in this thread. If you want to PM me your email address, I can send you my wiring diagram and some other spreadsheets/tools I used for you to edit for your application.


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