Offshoreonly.com - Switch wiring question

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Boater8987 (Post 4248631)

I agree. What I think is happening is the seat and hatch switches are ahead of the cabin power. When you activate either of those switches there is a momentary high amp draw to get the electric motor spinning in the hatch or seat. This is called the LRA (locked rotor amp) draw of the motor. It causes a momentary voltage drop to the cabin acc. circuit and shuts down the stereo head. You could possibly check that by putting volt meter on acc. switch and watching meter drop. It would be only a slight fluctuation and might not be seen with digital meter. Analog would be easier. After motor armature comes up to speed voltage will return to normal or not depending on if size of feed wire is correct for RLA (run load amp) draw of hatch or seat electric motor. You have already figured out the fix by running a separate circuit to battery.

Good point. My boat did something similar, though it was related to a fault. The stereo would trip off when I activated the bow light, turns out the fixture had a fault in it.

As stated you are experiencing a current draw problem. If a radio voltage drops below say 11.5 volts they will shut down. This is similar to a problem my buddy had with a trim pump breaker. It took me a week to find it, ended up being corroded battery cables and terminal contacts at the helm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diamond Dave (Post 4248560)

Jonesyfxr: It's not only the hatch but the power seats that make it happen so I'm inclined to think it wouldn't be just the hatch but something else?

Cole2534: Mine are actual wires that connect each switch to give them power.

Here are some pics of the switch panel and what I'm talking about. The switch on the left is the "cabin power" switch where in this picture I have removed the jumper (orange wire) that connects it to the switch to the immediate right of it. You can see the other orange "jumpers" to the right in their original locations. The main power feed goes into the "hatch" switch on the far right and is also "orange". I do NOT know where this orange wire originates from as I have not traced it. I thought somoeone here would know and advise on that issue.

IF I run a single power wire DIRECTLY to the battery to the "cabin power" switch (far left with the jumper removed in this pic) and still use the existing switch grounds this problem is GONE. I can actuate both seats and the hatch and the head unit plays uninterupted without shutting down. LIKE IT SHOULD BE! Lol! I do not however think this is the proper remedy as stated before, but maybe I'm wrong and Fountains wiring wizards wired it this way intentionally and all these boats do this? I just want to be sure I am not putting a band aid on this problem by running a new power lead to the battery or wherever and not uncovering the real problem which will bite me in the ass at some later point.

raytart: Interesting you have the same issue! We will get to the bottom of this I promise! If we both have the same issue chances are we are not alone and someone on here will chime in with the super cool solution!

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...pse83f6c58.jpg

In this picture I have temporarily positioned the orange "jumper" wire where I found it to illustrate how it was wired. In this configuration the head unit will shut down and restart when EITHER a seat bolster or the engine hatch switch is activated. The engine hatch is the switch pictured in the far right of this picture.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2c9260ac.jpg

This picture illustrates the side view showing the switches themselves for reference and with the "jumper" temporarily placed in original location again.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...ps782e4b06.jpg

Hard to see at pic angle but if orange feed on hatch switch to other swiches is getting Its power source internally through the hatch switch from power wire from harness. After 20 years of the combination of air, moisture, wear and tear of switch use there could be a high resistance built up in switch causing voltage drop to acc. switch when you activate hatch or seat. Maybe time for new hatch switch. Or if feed is direct from harness trace back to source remove, clean and tighten all connections. Make sure no connection or wire is loose or corroded causing high resistance that is causing the voltage drop.

First thing i would do is take apart the contacts and clean them all....it looks from the pics that there may be some light oxidation on the contacts....you may even want to replace those jumper wires as those crimps are not the best for a marine environment.... it all may be causing excess resistance and upping the amp draw. If that doesn't work then i would swap two switches and see if the problem still lies with that same circuit. If it still happens with a different switch and all contacts clean i would guess there's something on the circuit that's causing the problems and you need to start tracing/testing. :(
The one thing i cant see very well from the pictures is where the positive feed line is coming from....if its going to the hatch switch, then jumping across the the middle two switch's to the end, then i would add a second feed line on the opposite side for more capacity and see if that helps cure the issue

I feel that it's a combination of old wiring and corroded connections. I literally just rewired my whole boat. When I bought it, the gauge would read only 12 volts. After I was done it now reads 14.5 volts, just as it does at the alternator. I upgraded the main ground wire to the helm and made my own 2ga battery cables. Now my trim moves faster, my engine runs better band my gauge barely moves when I use my trim.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diamond Dave (Post 4248697)

TooLateVTEC I will try that but I think I did already I can't remember. Those middle switches are for lights which shouldn't matter unless those switches are bad or the wire gauge is too small and somehow causing this. I think what Boater8987 is saying sounds plausable and must be what is happening.

That's what I was thinking as well, just didn't type it out like Boater did.

That sounds like some good places to start thanks to everyone for the ideas! I will make sure and post up the results.

I also have found some threads on a similar issues and the end results were to install "hatch relays" or a kit like this:

http://www.cpperformance.com/p-13440...tor-relay.aspx

Would this be a solution for this problem do you think?

In case I need it does anyone know where I can get a new switch? The old one has screw terminals so I would like a similar replacement. I know I could just cut it all apart and put new ends on all the wires and use the readily available spade type switches but I'd rather not just for testing purposes.

You may be chasing the symptom not the problem. Perhaps try taking hatch motor to an electric small motor repair shop and have the motor cleaned up and/or rebuilt. Mine cost me $35.00. It can't hurt anything.
Just sayin'

You have a bad connection somewhere. Since it happens with both your seats and hatch, switches and hatch motors are not the issue. Look for the common connection point of BOTH the seats and side panel power lead. Look at the rear seat breaker

That power wire is plenty to do what it's intended for.

The radio draws very little, so use a speaker wire with aligator clips on each end. (Leave existing power wire hooked up) Connect 1 end to cabin switch and then work your way backwards checking at each and every connection between.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLENAMY 242SS (Post 4248911)

True... I definitely want to find the true cause of this issue rather than workaround. I'm no electrical genius and I have no idea how the seats are wired into all of this but since the hatch AND BOTH seats operation cause this issue to happen it would lead me to believe that it isn't the hatch actuator itself.