Mystery Wire

Alibuma

Alibuma

New Member
Jun 24, 2009
140
Hudson, WI
Boat Info
250 Sundancer, 1973
Glastron GT-140
Engines
350 Merc
Since it was pointed out to me in another thread that I don't really have a "house" battery, it made me start thinking more about this mystery wire I have. This orange wire is fused at the deep cycle battery and run to this ignition type of switch in the bathroom. From here, I cannot trace where it goes. I do see what appears to be hot glue on these terminals and on the terminals of the ignition switch on my dash. I am wondering if this switch could have been put in to run accessories even when the battery selector switch has been turned off. The fuse is a 25amp fuse but is blown. Because I don't know what the wire is for and the fuse was blown when I purchased the boat, I thought I should ask around before simply throwing another fuse in. Do you have any ideas?
 
Last edited:
Looks like an emergency destruct switch to me......

Maybe it's a lock-out switch for your macerator to keep it in compliance with local laws?
 
Redhook98 said:
Looks like an emergency destruct switch to me......

Maybe it's a lock-out switch for your macerator to keep it in compliance with local laws?
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you about the macerator Redhook. As for the blown fuse, the pump may have "crapped" out or it may just be jammed full of crud that is has a death grip on the macerator blade causing an over-current situation. It may be time to do the dirty deed and open up the pump. Free up the macerator, change the fuse & try to run it while the pump is still open. If it motors freely, then put it back together & try it again. Good luck ... some guys get all of the good jobs.

~Ken :thumbsup:
 
Redhook98 said:
Looks like an emergency destruct switch to me......

Maybe it's a lock-out switch for your macerator to keep it in compliance with local laws?
Click to expand...

My thoughts, too... The mac part, anyways :smt001. It could also be to activate the mac. I can tell you by looking at it that it's not OEM, so any of your factory wiring diagrams will be of no use. Also, we will just be taking educated guesses... some, I'm sure, more educated than me :lol:

While it sounds a bit high for the "normal" mac, the fuse is in the right range for that. But, then, that does depend on the specific mac.

Can you tell us more about how the entire head system is set-up?

Put the fuse in and see what happens!
 
Alibama said:
Since it was pointed out to me in another thread that I don't really have a "house" battery, it made me start thinking more about this mystery wire I have. This orange wire is fused at the deep cycle battery and run to this ignition type of switch in the bathroom. From here, I cannot trace where it goes. I do see what appears to be hot glue on these terminals and on the terminals of the ignition switch on my dash. I am wondering if this switch could have been put in to run accessories even when the battery selector switch has been turned off. The fuse is a 25amp fuse but is blown. Because I don't know what the wire is for and the fuse was blown when I purchased the boat, I thought I should ask around before simply throwing another fuse in. Do you have any ideas?
Click to expand...

Definitely not OEM with that gigantic gob of silicone on the back of the switch.:grin: That switch was installed after the horizontal roll up door was removed permanently removed. You can see the top and bottom tracks in the pic.

~Ken
 
As far as I know, the head is original. Its just a pump out head with a water tank ontop (with a hand pump), a trap door to let the goop down, and the tank on the bottom. I dont believe there is any pump in my setup. I thought that maybe it was used to run the step down pump originally, but there are no orange wires running down there and the fuse would be a bit much - or alteast that's what I had thought.
 
Just to be sure, you have something like this? http://www.sealandtechnology.com/productpages.asp?pid=41

And then you have two lines (one big and one small) that exit the "holding tank" part... they go directly to the deck fitting for pump out?

Hmmm... if that's the case, I really don't know.

By the way... on your bilge floor (usually somewhere directly forward of the engine)... do you have a thru-hull seacock - probably for 1-1/2" hose? It should have a large, 1/4 turn handle on it. I'm just thinking that maybe the boat used to have a mac.
 
Yes, that looks exactly like my toilet.

No, there are no thru-hulls on the boat such as what you describe. I am fairly sure this is the original toilet because there's no unused screw holes around the area - what's there looks completely factory.
 
Well, I finally found the pump you were all talking about. Yeah, I do have one. The ground wire was pulled out of the crimp connection so the pump didnt work anyways. Well, now that I figured this out I am pretty happy because I can use the ground wire from the pump and have a nice 12v power source for my inverter. To take this thread in a new direction now, the power wire goes directly to the battery but I have been unable to determine where the ground wire goes. Any thoughts - could it be grounded directly to the block?
 
Is the 'ground wire' green or black? Green is part of the bonding system and should not be used as part of an electrical circuit.

Personally, I would run completely new set of wires (pos and neg) for an inverter.
 
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