tdonoughue
Jetboaters Admiral
- Messages
- 4,926
- Reaction score
- 4,052
- Points
- 417
- Location
- The Woodlands, TX 77381
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2012
- Boat Model
- AR
- Boat Length
- 24
Saw a note on here from someone recommending getting a Bosch connector kit to hook up the VHF GPS to the boat's GPS puck. The 3-pin connector is apparently a Bosch. I thought that would make for a much cleaner install and help cleanup my rats nest of a helm area, so I bought one of the 3-pin kits on Amazon:
Getting the connector disassembled, I was able to see better how it works (hindsight: probably could have done that from the Amazon pic...). Using that information, I was able to tackle the existing connector. For the male side of the connector, use a small flat screwdriver to pry off the orange cap. Then down the center you will see little prongs holding the pin receivers in place. Gently pry one of those back and use a needle nose pliers to pull out the pin receiver through the front of the connector.
The back of the connector also easily comes off and will slide down the wires--that will make access a bit easier. I snipped the old pin receiver off the wire and then fed the VHF radio wire through the back rubber boot and then snaked it through the connector (be sure you don't strip the wires until after they are fed through the connector):
(you can see the crimped-on fork at the back where I previously had screwed the wires to a block--that is what I was cleaning up)
Then, I took one of the new pin receivers that came with the kit. Stripped the wires and twisted them; then put them into the new pin receiver and crimped it:
Then, pull the wire from the back as you push the pin receiver back toward that tab on the inside. I used the screwdriver to again gently pry that tab as I pushed on the receiver to get it to set the rest of the way (prying may not be needed--but it worked and made me feel better that I was not going to push and break something). Once it gets under the tab, it pops into place pretty easily.
I repeated that with a second wire to connect. Then just pop the orange top back onto the connector.
I wish I had known how these connectors worked a long time ago. Could have made a lot of installs a lot more clean. A couple of notes, tho:
1) Feeding 2 wires in that back rubber piece may compromise the watertight connection a bit. For me, it is still much better than the way I had it, so I was not worried there.
2) Feeding 2 wires through also only works if the second wire is tiny. You can see from the pic that the wire from my radio is like an 18 or 20 ga. If I had a much thicker wire (like a 14 or 12 ga), this technique may not have worked as both wires might not fit through the rubber and also through the housing of the connector and also on the pin crimp.
3) I didn't take apart the other side, which is keyed with a green thingy rather than the orange cap. But it has to be relatively similar... I looked to see if I could do this on my ignition switches, but I didn't have a tool that could pull out that key (going to try a bent pick and/or one of those curved-screwdriver-looking can openers).
Hope that is helpful.
Getting the connector disassembled, I was able to see better how it works (hindsight: probably could have done that from the Amazon pic...). Using that information, I was able to tackle the existing connector. For the male side of the connector, use a small flat screwdriver to pry off the orange cap. Then down the center you will see little prongs holding the pin receivers in place. Gently pry one of those back and use a needle nose pliers to pull out the pin receiver through the front of the connector.
The back of the connector also easily comes off and will slide down the wires--that will make access a bit easier. I snipped the old pin receiver off the wire and then fed the VHF radio wire through the back rubber boot and then snaked it through the connector (be sure you don't strip the wires until after they are fed through the connector):
(you can see the crimped-on fork at the back where I previously had screwed the wires to a block--that is what I was cleaning up)
Then, I took one of the new pin receivers that came with the kit. Stripped the wires and twisted them; then put them into the new pin receiver and crimped it:
Then, pull the wire from the back as you push the pin receiver back toward that tab on the inside. I used the screwdriver to again gently pry that tab as I pushed on the receiver to get it to set the rest of the way (prying may not be needed--but it worked and made me feel better that I was not going to push and break something). Once it gets under the tab, it pops into place pretty easily.
I repeated that with a second wire to connect. Then just pop the orange top back onto the connector.
I wish I had known how these connectors worked a long time ago. Could have made a lot of installs a lot more clean. A couple of notes, tho:
1) Feeding 2 wires in that back rubber piece may compromise the watertight connection a bit. For me, it is still much better than the way I had it, so I was not worried there.
2) Feeding 2 wires through also only works if the second wire is tiny. You can see from the pic that the wire from my radio is like an 18 or 20 ga. If I had a much thicker wire (like a 14 or 12 ga), this technique may not have worked as both wires might not fit through the rubber and also through the housing of the connector and also on the pin crimp.
3) I didn't take apart the other side, which is keyed with a green thingy rather than the orange cap. But it has to be relatively similar... I looked to see if I could do this on my ignition switches, but I didn't have a tool that could pull out that key (going to try a bent pick and/or one of those curved-screwdriver-looking can openers).
Hope that is helpful.
