# Emergency Wiring Question



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Heavy gauge from positive terminal to positive buss/fuse bar/switch panel
then feed smaller gauge to individual accessories,
and from accessories back to ground buss bar,
then heavy gauge back to negative terminal.
Kind of like the cooling system in the car.
Big hose from water pump to radiator inlet
where flow is spread through small passageways of radiator
back to collector side of radiator and big hose back to block.

previous post with diagrams

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1250548769


Did you really run a wire from the positive bus back to the negative terminal? :-?
If so then you literally connected the positive terminal
direct to the negative terminal with no intervening circuitry.
You're lucky you didn't smoke your whole boat...


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

Wow, that's it Brett. There are two larger studs on my positive terminal, and I thought I had heard somewhere that the terminal itself needs to be grounded. When things got squirrely I first flipped the main power switch off, then had a hellacious time trying to spin the wingnut off the battery to remove the positive wire amongst the fire, smoke and flying sparks. Luckily, I believe the only casualties are my two main wires but I'll have to check further tomorrow. 

Unfortunately, elementary electrical engineering is not enough, as I don't completely comprehend why the wiring is not acceptable.

Thanks Brett!!!! [smiley=1-thumbsup1.gif]


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

Nevermind my previous post Brett. After a little bit of thought I now realize how asinine it was to wire my setup the way I did. Hopefully there will come a time in my life where I don't act as reckless; I had reservations about how to wire the positive bus panel but instead of asking, or even thinking rationally about the solution, I just went along my merry way. I guess it's the impatience land lack of focus. Anyways, I've got someone to thank before I go to sleep for the fact that I didn't just burn my boat to the ground... :-?


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Install a 50 amp circuit breaker between your positive terminal
and the positive buss bar to prevent this from happening again.



I do not understand why battery manufacturers still put wing nuts on the terminals.
Just about the stupidest thing they could do. Wing nuts do not do an effective job
of securely fastening the lugs to the posts in a manner which will prevent loosening.
When the wing nut loosens it allows the cable lug to shift position
and causes intermittent contact with the post. This can lead to arcing
and wiring/terminal melting. That's a major fire hazard on any vehicle.
Get rid of the wing nuts, replace them with stainless steel ny-locs



> From the West Marine site:
> 
> Wing Nut Battery Terminals
> Until recently, most marine starting and deep cycle batteries (including our batteries made by East Penn Manufacturing) have included wing nut battery terminals. If you own batteries with wing nuts, we advise you to replace them with nylock hex nuts. Here's why.
> ...



This has been a public service rant, brought to you by the school of hard knocks...


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

FSU are you planning on running a trolling motor? if so you might want to upgrade that 10 ga. I'm running 4 ga. for my battery cables.


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

Good idea Brett. I never thought of the wing nts coming loose and I'll make the upgrade ASAP.

Firecat, my troller runs on it's own battery up front. I can't imagine 4 ga. wire! I have a hard enough time finding hardware for 8 ga. wire!


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

That's funny, cause I have a easier time finding stuff for 4ga and above. The little connectors are a pain to find.


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