Wiring up a new fish finder...how difficult?

[just ducky]

Looking at a real basic fish finder for my boat, and all I've ever owned was a portable/battery powered unit. My question isn't what kind to buy...I already have a couple picked out. My question is how hard is it to wire a fish finder back to the battery? I reviewed the instructions for this particular unit on the manufacturer's website, but I don't see a lot of detail on wiring it in. Is this a "do it yourself" type of a job, or do I need to have a marine dealer wire it up? Just need some advice before I mess with it and potential mess up the boats electronics.

[Duckman1]

JD,

I have wired in a few in my boats, very simple to do usually. It may depend on the brand you are using. The transducer position is usually the most critical for proper operation. You should get a spliter type wire harness where an end will attach to the unit. The other end will have the transducer wheel attached to it. There will be a wire with some wires coming off of it, that is what you need to hook into the battery or a terminal block. The directions included with the unit should be very clear.

Good luck!

[just ducky]

JD,

I have wired in a few in my boats, very simple to do usually. It may depend on the brand you are using. The transducer position is usually the most critical for proper operation. You should get a spliter type wire harness where an end will attach to the unit. The other end will have the transducer wheel attached to it. There will be a wire with some wires coming off of it, that is what you need to hook into the battery or a terminal block. The directions included with the unit should be very clear.

Good luck!

So I'm assuming these units don't draw enough power to wear down my battery and cause a starting issue? Has anyone ever used a separate battery to power the sounder? I'm thinking it may be good to have a spare on board anyhow. I'm also thinking some kind of in-line fuse would be advisable? The transducer isn't an issue...I have that part figured out. Was just concerned about the connection to the battery. Sounds like a pretty simple thing.

[Duckman1]

JD,

I believe you could run finder all day without the motor running and your battery should be fine if it is a good quality and fully charged battery. Your motor will put charge back into the battery when it is running.

An inline fuse is a very good idea also and the directions with the finder usually point to this.

[just ducky]

Thanks for the input. I bought the unit Saturday, and was reading the instruction manual last night. Yeah, it looks like a pretty simple thing to connect it in. Hardest part will probably be fishing the wires back to the battery, but I think I can go through my storage bins along the side and follow the other wiring. And the manual does recommend having a fuse somewhere in the line, so I'll pick one of those up too. I knew the battery is charged when the engine is running, but not knowing a whole lot about electrical systems for a boat (I've only had the boat less than a year), I wasn't sure how much current a fish finder would draw, and whether you normally carry a battery just for it. Thanks again for the input. Now if we can only get a bit of warmer weather, I can head out to the barn and work on installing it on the boat.

[icemancometh]

Definetly want the inline fuse.