Switch panel Q 97 248 Voyager

[SteveM]

I pulled my switch panel today and saw that my ACC switches, which to the best of my knowledge do nothing.
However, they all have a wire coming off the load side and appear to be factory. Why?
Where would I find where the ACC load wires terminate so I can use them rather than pull new wire to the switch?
Another item..I have no power to my livewell pump but do have power coming off my livewell switch ( orange with black tracer).
I am not clear as to why, but the wiring from the pump ( brown) has been spliced to another brown and was run up the port side to an unknown location rather than the starboard side with all the other wiring..
I assume that the aftetmarket brown once once met with the Orange/black....Anyway, where would the factory orange/black from the switch and the other load side ACC switch wires be accessible?

Thank you for any insight you may have.

Steve

 

[seasick]

The factory wires on the unused ACC switches could be for options you don't have. Look at the colors of those wires. If they were itended for some 'standard' option, they would follow the color chart for wires. Common options you may not have are things like raw water washdown or perhaps fresh water washdown

How did you determine that you have no power at the livewell pump? Just connecting a meter to the two motor leads won't show juice if either the hot line is dead OR the ground is bad.

 

[Hookup1]

Not sure of the year of your boat. Grady White has user manuals for all models on their web site. The user manuals are very handy for electrical and hose routing. The electrical gives wire color pairs.

The ACC switches are wired but unused on my boat. I replaced my forward fuel tank this year and came across a hanging wire pair. Same color code as the accessory pin. This was under the helm panel covering my water tank.

The livewell pump and washdown pump come out of the switch panel and enter a wire chase (2" PVC pipe) to the aft end of the boat on starboard side. These wires wrap behind the batteries and come over on the port side to the pumps. You may be able to find the original wires. Trace the new wires back to see where they go. They may splice into the old ones. This a common problem with second owner boats. Owners are sometimes too quick to replace a wire rather than figure out what is wrong.

 

[SteveM]

The factory wires on the unused ACC switches could be for options you don't have. Look at the colors of those wires. If they were itended for some 'standard' option, they would follow the color chart for wires. Common options you may not have are things like raw water washdown or perhaps fresh water washdown

How did you determine that you have no power at the livewell pump? Just connecting a meter to the two motor leads won't show juice if either the hot line is dead OR the ground is bad.

I determined there was no power by cutting the brown wire off the pump and used my meter from the brown line side and the negative on the battery.
I then connected both leads from the pump directly to the battery and the pump work fine.

 

[seasick]

I determined there was no power by cutting the brown wire off the pump and used my meter from the brown line side and the negative on the battery.
I then connected both leads from the pump directly to the battery and the pump work fine.

You say that the wire is brown but the feed from the dash was orange/black. I would expect the wires to be the same color.

 

[SteveM]

You say that the wire is brown but the feed from the dash was orange/black. I would expect the wires to be the same color.

And run up the port side....That is the canundrum.
This week I will be pulling the batteries out to see what is going on with/in the wire bundle back there.

 

[ttles714]

Pull up the owner's manual for the model and year of your boat .. Grady has them all on line ..Take a look at the schematics for the systems you are trouble shooting ... In general the electrical system is as follows ... Your switches will have a Line side terminal (HOT from battery or distribution Box which will be fused or a circuit breaker ) Usually the hot. LINE VOLTAGE of the switch comes from a circuit breaker mounted below or above the switch. >> A load side terminal ( going to the pump or what ever accessory ) >>> a Ground terminal for the lighted switch indicator light ....

Your bilge pump will have 2 wires, one going to the load side of helm switch , one to the ground, and one to the auto float switch . The auto float switch should have it's other wire fused and going directly to the + battery (make sure it's fused ),,... Other accessories will have one wire of the accessory connected to a ground and the other wire attached to the LOAD side of the switch .. You will see a "daisy chain" of grounds on the switches >>> these are for the switch lights if you have lights... You will also see a "daisy chain " of LINE (hot) connections going to the circuit breakers and then to the LINE side of the switches .. These are usually coming from a HOT source that feeds them all.

Helpful trouble shooting ... An OHM meter or continuity tester , a long 14 or 16 ga test wire capable of reachng AFT to helm and extending the test probes of your meter, and of course a DC Volt meter. Keep in mind that wires may look good on the outside but are all corroded internally,,,,, Wiring is a weak point in Gradys (IMO) ... Not all wiring is tinned.. SO !!! basically test a wire from point "A" to Point "B" for continuity (with power off) and again for 12VDC for power (power on)... Hint !!! If you have 12.6 VDC at the battery terminals and you have 11 volts at an accessory, start looking for a bad or loose ground !!...All should have battery voltage or within a fraction of a volt.. All of the above is kind of general everyday trouble shooting .. Again, download the owners manual and look at the specific wiring schematics.
LINE SIDE IS HOT FROM A MASTER SWITCH >>> LOAD SIDE IS POWER GOING TO AN ACCESSORY, FROM THE SWITCH, WHEN A SWITCH IS ACTIVATED. >>>> Hope this helps a little ..

 

[SteveM]

Pull up the owner's manual for the model and year of your boat .. Grady has them all on line ..Take a look at the schematics for the systems you are trouble shooting ... In general the electrical system is as follows ... Your switches will have a Line side terminal (HOT from battery or distribution Box which will be fused or a circuit breaker ) Usually the hot. LINE VOLTAGE of the switch comes from a circuit breaker mounted below or above the switch. >> A load side terminal ( going to the pump or what ever accessory ) >>> a Ground terminal for the lighted switch indicator light ....

Your bilge pump will have 2 wires, one going to the load side of helm switch , one to the ground, and one to the auto float switch . The auto float switch should have it's other wire fused and going directly to the + battery (make sure it's fused ),,... Other accessories will have one wire of the accessory connected to a ground and the other wire attached to the LOAD side of the switch .. You will see a "daisy chain" of grounds on the switches >>> these are for the switch lights if you have lights... You will also see a "daisy chain " of LINE (hot) connections going to the circuit breakers and then to the LINE side of the switches .. These are usually coming from a HOT source that feeds them all.

Helpful trouble shooting ... An OHM meter or continuity tester , a long 14 or 16 ga test wire capable of reachng AFT to helm and extending the test probes of your meter, and of course a DC Volt meter. Keep in mind that wires may look good on the outside but are all corroded internally,,,,, Wiring is a weak point in Gradys (IMO) ... Not all wiring is tinned.. SO !!! basically test a wire from point "A" to Point "B" for continuity (with power off) and again for 12VDC for power (power on)... Hint !!! If you have 12.6 VDC at the battery terminals and you have 11 volts at an accessory, start looking for a bad or loose ground !!...All should have battery voltage or within a fraction of a volt.. All of the above is kind of general everyday trouble shooting .. Again, download the owners manual and look at the specific wiring schematics.
LINE SIDE IS HOT FROM A MASTER SWITCH >>> LOAD SIDE IS POWER GOING TO AN ACCESSORY, FROM THE SWITCH, WHEN A SWITCH IS ACTIVATED. >>>> Hope this helps a little ..

Good stuff..Thank you.
I have pulled my switch panel and have a good understanding of what is going on back there.
I also located a load side ( + and -) termination below the aft hatch which are Orange with a brown tracer.
After reviewing the schematics and color code chart and testing from the switches, what I found was/is the factory load end meant for the washdown ...Being 12ga on a 15amp not 16ga on a 5amp as the chart dictates was used for the livewell circuit.
And you are also correct with the wire condition..I cut the + back nearly a foot and the wire was black.
So, I cannot/will not be using a 15a protected circuit for a 5amp application. Nor will I trust the wiring if I do find it.
Fortunately, whomever was in there previously was wise enough to leave a dandy nylon pull cord through the 2" pvc which I will be using to pull fresh wire.