# Need input for rewiring a Mitzi 17



## privateer (Dec 6, 2013)

Need some input. I recently purchased a Mitzi 17 that needs some love and attention. 

The area requiring the most immediate attention is the wiring and distribution system.
The boat currently has a main battery and trolling motor battery located in the console. It is a very very tight fit. There is no battery switch. The motor is connected directly to the battery. The fuse panel is also directly connected to the battery. The ignition switch and other loads (bilge pump and lights) are connected to the fuse panel. There are no gages other than one gage with alarms and warning lights. Both batteries are connected to a marginal battery charger that is also located in the console.

My plan is to connect the main battery to a battery switch. I intend to use a Blue Seas combination fuse and switch panel as well as positive and negative bus bars.

My questions are -

Should I have both the main battery and the trolling motor connected to the battery switch? Or is it ok to use one only for the main battery.

Is it ok to move the trolling motor to the bow compartment, forward of the 12 gallon plastic gas tank? Any issues with having the gas tank and the trolling motor in the same compartment. The rear of the compartment is open.

I would especially appreciate it if anyone has a Mitzi 17 and could share with me their setup.

Thanks.


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## D. C. Ward (Oct 26, 2015)

Now this is just my opinion, if you're using a separate battery for just the trolling motor then I don't see a need for a battery switch, just disconnect the plug or terminal leads from the battery and trolling motor depending on how its setup..

As for moving the battery to the forward compartment with the fuel cell....thats going to be your call, if its vented out side the hull then i guess it would be ok, but the last thing you would want is fumes building up in that area and god forbid you get a loose connection that causes a spark and boom! there goes the front of your boat at the least.

hope this helps somewhat


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## salt_fly (Apr 23, 2012)

D. C. Ward said:


> Now this is just my opinion, if you're using a separate battery for just the trolling motor then I don't see a need for a battery switch, just disconnect the plug or terminal leads from the battery and trolling motor depending on how its setup..
> 
> As for moving the battery to the forward compartment with the fuel cell....thats going to be your call, if its vented out side the hull then i guess it would be ok, but the last thing you would want is fumes building up in that area and god forbid you get a loose connection that causes a spark and boom! there goes the front of your boat at the least.
> 
> hope this helps somewhat


If you put the TM battery in with the fuel cell, use stainless nylok nuts on the battery posts to prevent sparks from loose connections. Cover the posts with dielectric grease to also decrease chance of sparks.


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## privateer (Dec 6, 2013)

Thanks for the input gents.
I ended up leaving both batteries in the console as the Mitzi seems to run perfectly balanced that way. Between work, fishing and life it's taken me a while to get things the way I like but I'm definitely making progress. On the electrical side all I have left is to finish wiring the trolling motto plug with a new Battery Tender one.

Here's a pic of how the main wiring looks for now (still need to upgrade the switches later).


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

privateer said:


> Thanks for the input gents.
> I ended up leaving both batteries in the console as the Mitzi seems to run perfectly balanced that way. Between work, fishing and life it's taken me a while to get things the way I like but I'm definitely making progress. On the electrical side all I have left is to finish wiring the trolling motto plug with a new Battery Tender one.
> 
> Here's a pic of how the main wiring looks for now (still need to upgrade the switches later).


Good job! (My neck hurts just looking at your picture.)

Sorry I didn't see your original post earlier.

I would have run your engine power feed to the common/load terminal on the battery switch for the positive, and the negative to that ground bus you put in. I know that puts an extra termination in your starting circuit but you can still start the engine with the battery switch off with the way you have it wired. Make sure there is a fuse in that black cable with the red heat shrink.

I also would have run that brown wire for the auto bilge pump to the line side connection of the battery switch to clean that up to just one wire on the positive terminal of the battery.

Lastly if you had bought a 4 position two battery switch for about the same price as the on/off you would have had the option for using or charging your trolling motor battery just by turning the switch to 1/2 or 2.

You did good work, and you really don't need to do anything but check that there is a main fuse for the engine wiring harness.


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## JJHang20 (Apr 27, 2017)

Privateer your wiring and setup looks great. 
You have a very similar console and battery setup to my custom classic gheenoe. I am planning on using same switch, fuse panel, and bus bar you did.
I only have one battery though.
Do you have any more pics of the installation or anything you have changed?
Thank you.


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## privateer (Dec 6, 2013)

I’ll check but I think I lost all the pics when I had a computer crash.


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