Battery Cable/ Electrical Questions

Hey guys so it has been about 4 years since I had my battery cables in the boat and connected so I do not remember the exacts about how the batter cables ran and I did not get any pictures of this specifically. I need to order some new cables and am going to have them made up at this place. I have the following questions before I make my order though.

1. I do not remember where the ground mounts to the motor. My best guess is starboard side towards the front there is a bolt running from the back to the front that has nothing on it. Is this where it connects?

2. I am looking at 1 AWG cable in the following lengths.
Red - Positive battery terminal to starter Relay - 8'
Red - Starter Relay to Starter - 2'
Black - Battery Negative to engine block - 5'

Are these lengths OK, I measured off my existing cables but do not remember exactly how they fit. Should I add some length or take any off?

On another note I am also planning on going ahead and running an 8awg wire from the engine ground to the dash and to the tank to upgrade the ground to these locations. Any contact point that is bolt on I will be cleaning up and coating in some dielectric grease. And splices will be made with crimp on heat shrink "water proof" connectors.

Are there any other wiring upgrades I should make while I am in the process and have fairly easy access?

4.Solder all connections and not relying on just the crimp.

8awg would work, yup.

TRBenj wrote: 8awg would work, yup.

Cool, thanks

Bri892001 wrote: If you crimp, it's well worth it to spend a little extra and get a good quality ratcheting crimper. It will help you hold your connections in the jaw while you insert the stripped ends of your wires. It will give a stringer crimper, and the jaws are wider, so it's not just "pinching" it connected in one little spot. I'd also grab a bus bar for your ground. Then you can reinforce the ground from several places on your daisy chain under the dash and tie back to the bar.

Nice tip, Thanks!!

Gary S wrote: I use connectors that I had Kris and after soldering put on my own shrink wrap. Your way might work out ok, I just don't like it when you rely only on the crimp.

Dito!
What I don't like is the non plated connector per the picture.

Thanks guys I will have to go track down some non insulated ends so I can solder them on and then heat shrink. I actually tried this method last night with one of the ends on my 8awg ground wire that I am running to the dash. I think it turned out pretty good.

This was Crimped, then soldered then heat shrinked.


It was also mentioned about adding a bus for the ground at the dash. Well I went under the dash last night and found this. I am guessing that it is not stock? I found what looks like some other new wiring (No upgraded + or -) and a few other things that needs to be addressed while I am under there.


So is this Bus good enough if I run my larger ground to it? I have not traced the wires yet but most of the grounds on here look as if they go to the port side of the dash.

Since I have another bus that I was going to use for a ground should I use this one for a Positive bus?

Hmmm, maybe the buses were stock on the older boats. They should have stayed stock on the newer ones as well.

It's funny, the one above initially looked to me like a terminal strip... the type for all separate circuits. When I looked closer, it does look like they are all linked together with metal on the upper portion.

As long as you have continuity, and it is indeed all grounds going to it, this should be fine to use.

The positive side is just a little bit trickier. You could use the bus, but you can't just have all the positive wires going to it universally the way you can on the ground. You would have to have it tie in after the ignition breaker (or ignition switch) so you wouldn't be changing the logic of the circuit.