Hole for cig lighter?

[David D]

OK, so here are my pics.

This is the power cutoff switch I was talking about. Don't be confused by what looks like a black wire -- it's a red wire with a sleeve on it. They should all be red. You need to remove the 2-4 screws holding it on. Check the back side -- it likely has a nut and washer on the back. You don't want to drop them into the engine bay.


Remove the cover from the back of the switch. It will look like the next picture. One side is the input from the battery; the other side sends power out to the various fused components of the boat.


Put a wire connector on each end of your short red wire. One end will connect to the output side of this switch and the other end to the positive end of your BlueSea fuse block. Put the back cover back on and remount the switch. Don't judge my handiwork on wire shrink -- I used what I had!


You'll need a negative wire to connect to the negative terminal on the battery. Connect the other end to the negative pole on the BlueSea fuse block as shown in this picture. Mount the fuse block. I mounted mine closer to the battery and horizontally. It just fit the space better and is easier to read with my head tilted! lol. WATCH OUT for the fuel filter and fuel lines on the back side of your mounting positions.


From here, you just run positive off of the terminals next to the fuses and the negatives from the block at the top (in my case right) of the BlueSea block. I am running 3A fuses for each of my LED circuits and a 30A fuse for my on-board high-pressure toy inflater. All the other black stuff you see in this photo was already there.

 

[billyb]

Thanks so much @David D. You are correct, a piece of cake once you know what you are doing.

 

[internationalmarinemike]

For you guys are adding electronics and circuits take a look at this new one from Blue Seas. We have been using this for a little while on installs and that are really nice. The advantage here is you eliminate all your inline fuses and go with resettable breakers. No more fuses to carry around and you add the breakers in the size you will need for each device. We normally feed them with 4 gauge, a little overkill but wire is inexpensive.

http://www.internationalmarineservice.com/Blue-Sea-5052-ST-CLB-Circuit-Breaker-Block-6-Pos-p/blu-5052.htm

Mike

 

[tdonoughue]

Ooh. That is nice. Too bad I just put the fused Blue Sea box in...

 

[ArmyChief]

A couple things. Call me old fashion. However, on a boat..u think I feel better with fuses. I've had CB's stick closed.

I looked at the link above. How do you set what amperage each breaker trips at? With a fuse box, I can set that with the fuse I insert (up to a max of course).

I have the blue seas fuse boxes and love them

 

[tdonoughue]

@ArmyChief, you don't set the amps for the breakers. You buy different breakers for different amperages. The pic just shows one installed. You would have to buy the right size breakers for your application.

That said, of course, I have fuses as well. They are certainly cheaper than the breakers.

 

[David Analog]

If we are talking most amplified audio applications then the Blue Sea breaker bus has very few usages with a maximum individual breaker value of only 32 amps and small #8 studs and screws. Certainly not applicable at the battery supply end where you would have one large trunk line for the audio and one large helm bus supply line to protect.
Useful in some applications, such as instrumentation and extra lighting for example, at the termination end but again too small for most amplifiers.

 

[Glassman]

Jeesh, some of you guys have your boats all wired up , breakers, buss bars, franastanzes, doohickeys,etc. if I didn't know better I'd think I was on Osama's boat - the Chuckie V !

I'm going for simplicity this season.

Foot pump for inflatables, and ice for the cooler.

 

[billyb]

Thanks again guys. I got it wired up very quickly...I was shocked how quick it went in. I was fearing running the wire over the gas tank, but my boat did not have the hex screws, so it was really quick.

The only problem I had was unscrewing the four power cutoff switches and screwing them back in. That was more a pain in the ass then it should have been, but whatever, it's done and I will never need to do it again.