need an electrical guru

[FIJI]

installed the starting battery in the boat today and immediately fried the wires to the in-dash radio in a puff of smoke. That was the only problem (I think).

I don't have the tools, or the knowledge, to check to see if it was just a bad wire or something more serious going on. I need someone who knows what they're doing to check it over.

anyone? :help:

thanks

[greyghost]

Sounds like you have a wire crossed or it has a short in it somewhere. Check your wiring at the battery if no problem found then follow your wires looking for any bare spots. If ya dont find it by then i would be looking at the radio itself.

[Blue Skeeter]

Alot of times a problem like that is caused by moisture in the radio it self. It probely had a moisture on the circuit board. It still might be good if you dry it out really well, and as long as the heat didnt damage the audio finals or capicators

[FIJI]

much of the boat's wiring is not accessible (under gunwales or flooring) which is why I wanted to test the wires. I guess there could have been condensation inside the radio as I had just recently removed the shrinkwrap. I never use the radio so its no great loss. It was just the factory cheapie. I'm more concerned about the rest of the elec system. The wires melted right where they exit the back of the radio at a bend. Likely scenario for a problem but no way to tell now that they are melted and some wire is flat out GONE.

Thanks for the advice, I have someone coming to take a diagnostic look and we'll go from there.

[Priority1]

When wire start frying there is a dead short somewhere.

[SalmonBum]

Call me if you need me to come over

[STEINFISHSKI]

Mike, I'm pretty sure the radio had moisture in it. It gave me fits a few times and I saw moisture on the inside of the display a few times. It is mounted right out in the open and I would bet it is just the radio. I would just pull some new wires for a new radio.

[double trouble]

I live in oakland county.the short is pretty easy to find. i can walk you through it over the phone or come out.

[FIJI]

Just had a tech stop by to take a look and this time the VHF radio fried :SHOCKED: Everything seems to be hooked up properly - just like always.

Its off to the shop to have the panels pulled off and wires traced :sad:



If it were'nt for bad luck ...............

[double trouble]

is this happening when the boat is running? if so your voltage regulator could be shot and you are putting out way too much current. wires would burn at contact points.

[FIJI]

I never got that far


all this happened just hooking up the battery !

[kbkrause]

Bummer Mike. I have Tonga looking at mine right now for an engine problem... We'll be on the water soon enough.

[FIJI]

I quote you ?

[FIJI]

Dropped 'er off this morning at 10:00 and by 2:00 had a voicemail to "come get her" !

had me:confused: and :tdo12: that it was "done" so soon. I took the VMS to mean that it was beyond a simple fix. Figures.

To my surprise when I arrived, not only was the problem (short in factory hot lead in the gunwales) found and expertly repaired........BOTH am/fm & VHF radios were.......FIXED !! :yikes: Turns out the guy is also a radio techie and tore into them out of curiosity and found things better than expected inside.

:woohoo1:

kbkrause.......you ready for the water ?

OK...now who has the eyes and/or salmon pinpointed so I can keep busy until my turkey season starts ???

[kbkrause]

kbkrause.......you ready for the water ?



That great Mike. Nice when things work out like that.

I'm ready, the boat's not. I need to ping Tonga, see what the prognosis is...

[ih772]

The problem you had illustrates why the fuses should be located right at the battery and not up under a dash board. The fuse would have blown before the insulation could have burned off the wires. When there is a short between the battery and the fuses, you have no over current protection, and things get very hot, very fast. You're lucky it didn't burn to the ground on you.

[FIJI]

there are fuses at the battery. In fact the fuses are redundant and of proper amperage and style.
There never was any insulation at the point where the short occurred. It seems that the factory installed an inline quick disconnect in the power feed at a hidden point where it served no purpose. This connector had no insulation whatsoever - not even electrical tape !! My luck is that it just finally came in contact with a shorting surface.

[STEINFISHSKI]

Good deal Mike, nice to have good guys like that around to take care of you like that. Sounds like great honest service.

[ih772]

there are fuses at the battery. In fact the fuses are redundant and of proper amperage and style.
There never was any insulation at the point where the short occurred. It seems that the factory installed an inline quick disconnect in the power feed at a hidden point where it served no purpose. This connector had no insulation whatsoever - not even electrical tape !! My luck is that it just finally came in contact with a shorting surface.

Fiji, go through it again. Something isn't fused properly if you burned insulation off nearly instantaneously, like you described. A fuse protects the insulation on the wire, not necessarily the metal part of the wire. If it had been fused properly, a fuse would have blown before the insulation had a chance to smoke. The connector that touched a shorting surface and caused the problem should have blown a fuse if the boat is wired properly. The shorting of the connecter and the burning of the insulation is a big red flag that something isn't right. Simply taping up the connector isn't fixing the problem of improper fusing somewhere in the boat's electrical system.

I'd hate to see you lose your boat because something isn't wired and fused properly.

[brdhntr]

-snip
OK...now who has the eyes and/or salmon pinpointed so I can keep busy until my turkey season starts ???

Lots of eyes on Erie right now. Will be out there tomorrow and Saturday morning if the wind allows.:D