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Jcol6268

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
So I'm not the sharpest when it comes to electronics but I'm learning. Trying to install a new switch panel and fish finder. So I have the new panel in, wired straight to the battery, no piggy backing off any other power or anything. So I go to hook up my new fish finder connect the power to the positive but where do I place my ground? On my other side I have my old switch panel but the main power goes to a terminal for the positive, and negative. The fuse for the old circuit is 20 amps and I try to hook up my fish finder to that rig and it blows the fuse. On my new circuit the fuse in the instructions says 60 amps, so that's what I put. So I am assuming I cannot add anything more to the old circuit. So the fish finder I'm trying to install isn't "new" but it's a used 2 time Lowrance Elite 4 from my kayak that's been sitting in my shed for years. Now I wanted to see if it would just power on so I connected by hand my power to the power and ground to the ground and it sparked a little but my unit wouldn't turn on.

Few things:

Is my unit or power cables bad?
Did I hook anything up wrong?
How do I connect to ground?
Where should I go from here?

I appreciate any help guys.

Some photos, idk why I got hit with the sideways feature.

New Switch Panel

Rear of Switch Panel


Side View of Switch Panel
 
#3 ·
The black wire is there to ground the cigarette lighter outlets and the lights on the actual switches. That black should go directly to battery ground, the red goes directly to battery positive and the male tabs in the middle should supply your devices with positive via the switches on/off. You should be able to tie in your ground for the fish finder on the screw that holds the black wire to the circuit board and the positive to any of the male tabs in the middle
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
makosnax said:
My fish finder runs off a 5 amp. If your blowing a 20amp fuse you have a dead short. You have a ground hooked to positive or vice versa.
Click to expand...

The 20 amp fuse is for the entire old circuit. Connected online right off the battery. When I connected the fish finder (3amps) to these terminals:



It would blow the fuse. I feel like 20 amps isn't much?
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
makosnax said:
The black wire is there to ground the cigarette lighter outlets and the lights on the actual switches. That black should go directly to battery ground, the red goes directly to battery positive and the male tabs in the middle should supply your devices with positive via the switches on/off. You should be able to tie in your ground for the fish finder on the screw that holds the black wire to the circuit board and the positive to any of the male tabs in the middle
Click to expand...

I I connected the power to the tabs in the middle and then tried to put the ground right on that screw and it sparked a little then nothing. Didn't blow my fuse or anything either. Think the unit is bad?
 
#6 ·
Could be a short... but maybe it's the type of fuse, a fast blow or slow blow... with a fish finder, you'd probably want a slow blow.

Slow blows open based on "average" amps running thru it, (takes a few seconds to fry)
Fast blows open based on "instantaneous" amps. (frys instantly)
Not sure what's recommended but its easy to install the wrong type of fuse...(been there done that)
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Hybrid said:
Could be a short... but maybe it's the type of fuse, a fast blow or slow blow... with a fish finder, you'd probably want a slow blow.

Slow blows open based on "average" amps running thru it, (takes a few seconds to fry)
Fast blows open based on "instantaneous" amps. (frys instantly)
Not sure what's recommended but its easy to install the wrong type of fuse...(been there done that)
Click to expand...
Well I don't even want to hook it up to my old circuit so I'm not gunna worry about that fuse, it works fine with my old FF and everything else on it the way it was before. I'm starting to think either my power cable is bad or the unit itself is
 
#8 · (Edited)
Remove the fish finder leaving the wiring connected. Use a multi-meter to check for 12vdc (you will probably read 13-14 vdc) at the end where the fish finder connects. Also verify the polarity is correct. If your meter is connected red to red and black to black you should read positive voltage ex +13.5. If its negative voltage ex -13.5, your polarity is reversed. If the fuse still blows, you have a dead short with no load on it. If you have voltage, your fish finder should work. Also try making a jumper straight from the battery with nothing else connected. If it still doesn't power on, most likely something wrong with it. Sparks on a dc circuit is either a heavy load or a short
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
tcook8296 said:
Remove the fish finder leaving the wiring connected. Use a multi-meter to check for 12vdc (you will probably read 13-14 vdc) at the end where the fish finder connects. Also verify the polarity is correct. If your meter is connected red to red and black to black you should read positive voltage ex +13.5. If its negative voltage ex -13.5, your polarity is reversed. If the fuse still blows, you have a dead short with no load on it. If you have voltage, your fish finder should work. Also try making a jumper straight from the battery with nothing else connected. If it still doesn't power on, most likely something wrong with it. Sparks on a dc circuit is either a heavy load or a short
Click to expand...

Try putting the meter on the pins of the plug you mean??
 
#11 ·
I'm assuming you are powering the new switch plate from the old buss bars(that worked fine). If that's the case, and the switch plate appears to be hooked up correctly, then it's either too much load on the circuit or a dead short in the fish finder harness. One 20amp fuse working everything on that buss bar is probably overloaded. Definitely need a meter to troubleshoot this. There is a slim chance I could give you hand on Saturday but I can't make any promises right now because my schedule with kids sports and graduations is friggin ridiculous right now.
 
#12 ·
overloaded. Definitely need a meter to troubleshoot this. There is a slim chance I could give you hand on Saturday but I can't make any promises right now because my schedule with kids sports and graduations is friggin ridiculous right now.
Click to expand...
Loaded camera[up]
 
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#13 · (Edited)
Jcol6268 said:
Try putting the meter on the pins of the plug you mean??
Click to expand...
Yes. Trouble shooting is an art. Whenever troubleshooting, use a technique called divide and conquer. Keep cutting your circuit in half. You will save a lot of time and by checking your circuits and it will give you a direction to chase the trouble. First thing I would do is verify voltage at the pins. 2nd put voltage directly to the fishfinder. You will have a good idea which direction to trouble shoot after you do those 2 things. If the fish finder is beat, you can trouble shoot the wiring all day and you will never fix the problem. If you are going to own a boat and fix things yourself, you need a meter. Everything runs off that battery
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
makosnax said:
I'm assuming you are powering the new switch plate from the old buss bars(that worked fine). If that's the case, and the switch plate appears to be hooked up correctly, then it's either too much load on the circuit or a dead short in the fish finder harness. One 20amp fuse working everything on that buss bar is probably overloaded. Definitely need a meter to troubleshoot this. There is a slim chance I could give you hand on Saturday but I can't make any promises right now because my schedule with kids sports and graduations is friggin ridiculous right now.
Click to expand...
I didn't go from the old bus bars because it seemed like to much load, so I ran the power straight to the battery. I'm circumventing that bus bar (old circuit I'm calling it) for now. Hopefully I'll get this worked out in the next few days between work. If I don't and you could lend a hand anytime that would be awesome, but I get how crazy schedules can be. I'll keep my fingers crossed for now.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
tcook8296 said:
Yes. Trouble shooting is an art. Whenever troubleshooting, use a technique called divide and conquer. Keep cutting your circuit in half. You will save a lot of time and by checking your circuits and it will give you a direction to chase the trouble. First thing I would do is verify voltage at the pins. 2nd put voltage directly to the fishfinder. You will have a good idea which direction to trouble shoot after you do those 2 things. If the fish finder is beat, you can trouble shoot the wiring all day and you will never fix the problem. If you are going to own a boat and fix things yourself, you need a meter. Everything runs off that battery
Click to expand...
now I have an inline fuse in the middle of the power cable for the cables of the unit. I put the meter to the inside of the fuse holder closest to the battery and had power. Then I connected the fuse, went to the end of the power cable to where it plugs into my unit. At that point it's a female end that accepts 7 or so pins. It was a tight squeeze and it seemed like I made contact with the metal but I'm not sure. BUT when I did that I didn't have power. So am I safe to assume one of these is possible?

1. I didn't make good enough connection to the end of the plug, maybe I have to be deeper like a pin would be?

2. There is a short between the fuse and the end of the power cord.

3. Maybe the fuse holder isn't connected well, or the fuse isn't making good contact? I don't think it's either of those.
 
#17 ·
Just had a brainstorm, this problem is bugging me lol. On some fish finder models there is a power out option wich means one of the extra wires will be hot to power an additional device. If that wire touched another wire or metal it will create a dead short. Make sure all the extra wires are separated and taped up.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
makosnax said:
Just had a brainstorm, this problem is bugging me lol. On some fish finder models there is a power out option wich means one of the extra wires will be hot to power an additional device. If that wire touched another wire or metal it will create a dead short. Make sure all the extra wires are separated and taped up.
Click to expand...
So I didn't get to it today, but hopefully will get to it during the day tomorrow. With this unit there are no extra wires, there are ports for temp add on and things like that but no extra wires. I still feel like there is a short in the wire, I am going to try the paper clip thing tomorrow, if I still don't have power to the end of the plug then I suppose I will order a new power cable and just hope the unit isn't fried and im not wasting my money.
 
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Jcol6268
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