Adding new circuits on an old boat

jdr999

New Member
Aug 8, 2016
27
Barnegat Bay, NJ
Boat Info
1986 SRV250 Cuddy Fisherman
Engines
260 Mercruiser w/Alpha One
Hi all,

I've got an '86 cuddy and need to power some new electronics. I've added a new VHF, a Simrad GO9, a Wetsounds Stealth sound bar, and a rechargeable hand-held VHF.

Oddly enough my old VHF was spliced into my trim tab power. That doesn't seem horrible at first, but when I hit my tabs the accessory cuts out. Not ideal so we will have to fix that.

I didn't see terminal blocks mounted so I'm assuming they weren't used back then?

Ideally I'd like to add a (+) and (-) terminal block and run my fused power cables to it. That would probably be the most versatile in the long run as I could easily add new circuits or tie existing ones to the block.

I do have dual batteries with a selector switch. Can I tie off the main battery cable coming from the switch or am I better off directly connecting to a battery?

Currently I have 4 wires in addition to my main (+) connected to battery #1. Two are pumps, one is trim, and the last I haven't figured out yet.

Any advice or suggestions welcome!

Thanks,
Joe
 
I would take the power off the output of the battery switch. Run a heavier wire to the terminal block in a convenient location. That way you wont accidentally run down batteries if you leave something on (like a VHF with volume low or the stereo amp).
 
I would take the power off the output of the battery switch. Run a heavier wire to the terminal block in a convenient location. That way you wont accidentally run down batteries if you leave something on (like a VHF with volume low or the stereo amp).

That's how I would do it.
 
FWIW I rewired a runnabout a couple of years ago - summary of setup:

Dual battery setup with a yandina combiner on the batteries so the batteries are charged from a single charging source.

Ran the pos of each battery to the each input to a blue sea e series dual circuit switch. Off one of the the live switch input I also added a fused wire run to the bilge pump - this way it can't be turned off accidently via the battery switch.

Ran one output from the switch to the outboard. The other switch output was fused to 6ga cable run up to a blue sea st 12 blade fuse block (pos & neg with cover) and mounted this under the dash. I then ran the house electrics off the 12 blade fuse block.

On the neg side of things I used a blue sea bus bar and mounted it behind the battery switch. At this bus bar I tied the neg's from the batteries, neg for outboard, neg for bilge pump and 6ga neg run up to the blue sea st 12 blade fuse block mounted under the dash.

The stereo amps had there own dedicated run (fused) direct to the house battery.
 
Do I branch off from the main feed coming into the helm or connect directly to the battery switch?

What connects directly to the main battery feed on an 86 Sea Ray?

Is there a bus bar?
Does it feed directly into the dash?
Or a relay?

And is the factory wiring heavy enough to support an 8 gauge, 12 circuit 100A max draw fuse box? (Will probably never use more than half that though).

Or should I run another set of wires from the battery switch to the dash?

Thanks,
Joe
 
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