Battery wireing help

[Michael Guzzo]

Hi guys. Hoping for some quick help as I am supposed to be taking the boat out in a couple hours. Took the boat to the dealership for some maintenance. Among other things, they said I needed a new house battery but were going to charge me $250. I said I could do it myself but have run into a little issue.

I hooked it up and the boat starts and the blower and radio etc work fine. However the gauges on my dash arent powering up and the amp which powers two additional speakers is not functioning. When I disconnected the old battery I took note that there was one wire hooked to positive and two hooked to negative. After rehooking them up the same way I noticed that the opposite end of one of the wires hooked to negative was hooked to nothing. I feel like this must have been unhooked at the dealership and now I dont know where it goes. Pic attached. Any help is greatly appreciated as I am no expert on this stuff (Obviously)

 

[Dave burke]

On mine (2017 212x), there is a cable between the two negatives on both batteries. By the look of your picture, you don’t have the two batteries connected so I would imagine that’s where this cable goes.

That being said, not sure if things changed between 2012 and 2017 but the switches look the same.

Good luck.

 

[haknslash]

It's hard to tell from your pic but the battery in the left side doesn't look like it's even connected to a ground as all of the cables connected to the negative battery terminal look small. I'm guessing the way your boat is wired that large cable in your hand goes to the other battery negative terminal.

 

[Michael Guzzo]

Ok thanks so much guys. Going to try it now and I'll let you know!

 

[haknslash]

Just don't connect it to positive

 

[Michael Guzzo]

No luck. Looks like it's back to the dealership for this guy

 

[Michael Guzzo]

Good news update! I did a little digging around before bringing it in and discovered that they had unhooked all the connections to all 3 gauges underneath the dash. Plugged them back in and everything is back to normal. Now I am just hoping that that 2nd negative wire is really supposed to be hooked up to the negative on the starting battery.

 

[Chief]

Good news update! I did a little digging around before bringing it in and discovered that they had unhooked all the connections to all 3 gauges underneath the dash. Plugged them back in and everything is back to normal. Now I am just hoping that that 2nd negative wire is really supposed to be hooked up to the negative on the starting battery.

Yes...all the neg(-) cables should be hooked together.

 

[tdonoughue]

Agree... But I wonder why they would have disconnected the gauges. Sounds fishy to me. Someone might have been pissed that you didn't drop $250 on a battery. Hmmm...

 

[Fish]

Agree... But I wonder why they would have disconnected the gauges. Sounds fishy to me. Someone might have been pissed that you didn't drop $250 on a battery. Hmmm...

Researching battery connections and ran into this thread. I have the same thing with a cable connected to the neg terminal on one end of a battery and the other not connected to anything. Like the above comments (and read in other posts), I'll try connecting it to the other battery's neg terminal. Did it end up working for you @Michael Guzzo?

 

[dgfreeze]

Your negatives can all be hooked together, all the time. If it's a ground, hook it to another ground. Just be sure you're dealing with ground wires. It's your positives that are run through the selector switch, to determine if you're using battery 1, battery 2, both batteries, or no batteries. The grounds, however, get connected all together. Did you recently get this boat? Do you know the history/condition of this battery? Reason I ask is, if that battery is bad, it will actively drain the other battery when they're connected in tandem. If you're not sure of the history or condition of said battery, you may want to do some checking to make sure you're not going to shoot yourself in the foot here...lol

 

[dgfreeze]

Here’s a hilariously crappy sketch of dual battery wiring. Forgive me, lunch break is over...lol

 

[Fish]

Your negatives can all be hooked together, all the time. If it's a ground, hook it to another ground. Just be sure you're dealing with ground wires. It's your positives that are run through the selector switch, to determine if you're using battery 1, battery 2, both batteries, or no batteries. The grounds, however, get connected all together. Did you recently get this boat? Do you know the history/condition of this battery? Reason I ask is, if that battery is bad, it will actively drain the other battery when they're connected in tandem. If you're not sure of the history or condition of said battery, you may want to do some checking to make sure you're not going to shoot yourself in the foot here...lol

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Now I think I know why I've heard of some members talking about one cable not being connected - if in fact disconnecting one end keeps from draining both batteries. Mine was this way (one end not connected) when I bought it used a few months ago. Although not had in on the water yet, the engines start and all the electrical works fine. I'll check to see if it's a ground.
Thanks again!

 

[Fish]

Here’s a hilariously crappy sketch of dual battery wiring. Forgive me, lunch break is over...lol

Totally makes sense. Being a drummer (and yes, I also play Yamaha Drums) I do better with pictures/drawings than words! Thanks for taking the end of your lunch break! I appreciate it!

 

[dgfreeze]

Lol, no prob! Now, I should mention, a battery can only drain the other one if the switch is turned to 1&2. As long as your switch is set to 1 or 2, or off, they shouldn’t be able to leech off each other. Good luck!

 

[Fish]

Lol, no prob! Now, I should mention, a battery can only drain the other one if the switch is turned to 1&2. As long as your switch is set to 1 or 2, or off, they shouldn’t be able to leech off each other. Good luck!

Thanks again! Much appreciated!